Tahiti

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Marché de Pape’ete

A Pape'ete institution. If you see one site in town, make it this market, which fills an entire city block. Shop for colourful pareu (sarongs), shell necklaces, woven hats and local produce in the main hall. Dotted among the meat and fish sellers are lunchtime hawkers selling takeaway Ma’a Tahiti (traditional Tahitian food), fresh fruit juices and local ice cream. Grab an ice-cold coconut before strolling upstairs to peruse pearl shops or sit in the cafe sipping an espresso or smoothie. The most fun time to visit is early Sunday morning when local residents flock in as early as 4am.

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Motu Martin

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Papenoo

There’s a popular surf break just before the headland that signals the start of the small village of Papenoo. A long bridge crosses the Papenoo River at the far end of the village, and the 4WD route up the Papenoo Valley, cutting through the ancient crater rim to Relais de la Maroto, starts up the west side of the river.

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Pointe Vénus & Matavai Bay

Part of Captain Cook’s mission on his three-month sojourn in 1769 was to record the transit of Venus across the face of the sun in an attempt to calculate the distance between the sun and the Earth. Pointe Vénus, the promontory that marks the eastern end of Matavai Bay (Baie de Matavai), was the site of Cook’s observatory. Today Pointe Vénus is a popular beach stop. There are shady trees, a stretch of lawn, a black-sand beach, a couple of souvenir shops and an impressive lighthouse (1867). The beach is crowded on weekends; however, midweek you’ll have it all to yourself. It’s also a popular centre for local outrigger-canoe racing clubs – no doubt you’ll see outrigger-canoe teams training for race events. There's a little sign for Pointe Vénus at the roundabout in central Mahina. The site is about 1.5km from the road to the car park near the end of the point. Near the beach, there is also a memorial to the first LMS Protestant missionaries, who made their landfall at Pointe Vénus on 4 March 1797.

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Administrative District

The Territorial Assembly and other government buildings occupy Place Tarahoi, the former site of the Pomare palace. The termite-riddled 1883 palace was razed in 1960, but you can get an idea of what it looked like from the modern mairie (town hall), a few blocks east, which is built in a similar style. On Rue du Général de Gaulle, the assembly building is fronted by a memorial to Pouvana’a a Oopa, the late pro-independence figure of heroic proportions. The High Commissioner’s Residence that stands to one side of the assembly building replaced the 1843 Palace of the Governor (those pesky termites again). A more recent addition is the Presidential Palace, an imposing building used by the president.

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Bain de Vaima & Vaipahi Spring Gardens

Bain de Vaima (Vaima Pool) is where locals come from all over to bathe in the icy but exceptionally clear waters that are thought to have healing properties. Unfortunately there are so many visitors here on weekends and holidays that the ‘clean’ pools can get filled with rubbish. The Vaipahi Spring Gardens further along is a beautifully landscaped garden with a magnificent natural waterfall. There’s a small network of hiking trails that lead from a signpost with a map up to more waterfalls and forests of mape (chestnut) and pine trees. The longest loop takes a little over two hours to walk if you’re in reasonable shape – some parts are pretty steep!

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Taravao

Strategically situated at the narrow isthmus connecting Tahiti Nui with Tahiti Iti, the town of Taravao has been a military base on and off since 1844, when the first French fort was established. The original fort was intended to forestall Tahitian guerrilla forces opposed to the French takeover from mounting operations against Tahiti Nui from Tahiti Iti. Today the Faratea Port, on the northeastern side of the isthmus, is being built to shift commercial sea trade from Pape’ete (which is getting gussied up for tourists) to Taravao. Although there is little of interest in the town, it does have shops, banks, petrol stations and a number of small restaurants.

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Faarumai Waterfalls

Through the village of Tiarei where the road swoops around a black-sand beach, you’ll see a sign on the mountain side of the road for the exceedingly high Faarumai Waterfalls. Unfortunately you can’t swim here anymore since a tourist was hit on the head by a falling rock, so bring mosquito repellent and just enjoy the view. It’s a couple of hundred metres through a forest of mape trees to Vaimahutu, the first of the waterfalls. Another 20-minute stroll leads to the other two falls, Haamarere Iti and Haamarere Rahi, which stand almost side by side. You technically aren’t supposed to swim here either, but many people do.

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Jardins Botaniques

The 137-hectare Jardins Botaniques has walking paths that wind their way through the garden past ponds, palms, a massive banyan tree and a superb mape forest. The gardens were founded in 1919 by an American, Harrison Smith, who introduced many plants to Tahiti including the large southeast Asian pomelo known on Tahiti as pamplemousse, the French word for grapefruit. Unfortunately, Smith also introduced one or two botanical disasters that Tahiti could well have done without, including the Miconia calvescens, which has caused serious damage to other plants. Mosquitoes in the gardens can be fierce.