Booking Tours At Port in Tahiti Islands

We will be taking a cruise around Tahiti: Tahiti/Papeete, Moorea, Huahine, Raiatea, Bora Bora, Nuku Hiva, Hiva Oa, and Rangiroa. We don't like to book tours from the cruiseship as they're usually extremely over-priced with too many people. Does anyone know if it's possible to book tours while in Port, say in Kiosks?

I would recommend using either the ship's excursions or booking directly via the internet with the local tour/excursion providers on your itinerary. The reason for this is that these islands are small, and I did not see any "on-the-spot" solicitation at the docks, as you might expect in the Caribbean. If you don't make your arrangements in advance then it is likely you will not find anything a the last minute. Also, the most desirable excursion operators often sell out well in advance of the cruise ship arrival date. Polynesia is different.

The only port where it may be possible to book at excursion on the dock is Bora Bora - however from your itinerary it looks like you are likely on the Marina ( bad mistake there is nothing like the PG in FP) and with one thousand people looking for an operator there you may find it difficult to find someone.

If you want to do Moorea reasonably rent a car from Sandrine in advance that way you can drive around the island to the agricultural station, the belvedere and to a hotel for snorkelling. Contact the concierge in advance at the Hilton and make sure you have a booking for your snorkelling. The reason I am suggesting this is in one itinerary ( may or may not be yours) the Marina and Princess will both be in Moorea and there should be a lot of pell mell.

I dont think that the tours in FP will necessarily be large groups - some of the islands dont have any large units. The one le truck in Fakarava for example hasnt been repaired for 2 years! At the most your cruise ship excursions will you Le Truck.

The beauty of FP is the Motus and unlike the PG you will have to make your own arrangements to have the Motu experience. Try Marc in Huahine, Patrick in BB for this.

Hope this helps.

We will be taking a cruise around Tahiti: Tahiti/Papeete, Moorea, Huahine, Raiatea, Bora Bora, Nuku Hiva, Hiva Oa, and Rangiroa. We don't like to book tours from the cruiseship as they're usually extremely over-priced with too many people. Does anyone know if it's possible to book tours while in Port, say in Kiosks?

My experience is somewhat different than what has been posted. You can certainly book tours at or near the dock in Papeete, Moorea, Bora Bora, and Raiatera. Although I have been to the others it was only once for those ports and I do not recall.

Jagoffee ,

You are lucky that you were able to book at the dock. The first time we went to BB we were able to book a tour as well.

Many people who visit FP do it once in their lifetimes (we said that 6 trips ago and have our 7th booked)) so its a chance they would have to take. The Princess ship is only 600 passengers compared to PG at 325 but the Marina has 1000 passengers. This could make it difficult for Marina passengers. Added to that on one itinerary the Marina and Princess ship are in Moorea at the same time and on the same itinerary the Princess ship is in BB with PG at the same time. This will put a strain on the island resources.

In addition from any research I have done there is only one outside operator in the Marquesas. Cars can be rented at Huahine - Europcar rents them in advance if one is interested in the land tour. Marc's circumnavigation of Huahine from the water is spectacular and his motu picnic is great as well.

Rangiroa has a couple of operators - Leon and Oviri but one would have to book them in advance. On the three times I have been to Rangiroa there was no one at the dock to offer anything. The Kia Ora has also declined to allow us to use their facilities for a price.

People come to FP thinking they can walk off the ship to a beautiful beach. This is hardly the case. Yes you can walk to a beach of sorts in Moorea and take a taxi to an OK beach - Matira in BB but the real beauties of Fp are the Motus and you have to usually book an excursion to enjoy them unless you are on the PG which has 2 motus included.

I would agree that the tours from the cruise line are commonly overpriced when compared to other options. More importantly, IMHO, the tours that you can book privately are usually regarded as better. Many times this is due to a smaller group on the tour coupled with excellent tour "guides".

As an example, Patrick and Christopher get great reviews for their lagoon snorkel tours. I have used Christopher twice and he only takes out 8 people maximum in a small new ski boat. It is probably not practical for the cruise line to negotiate a tour with someone like this as they are more apt to negotiate a tour with a company using a 30, 40 or 70 passenger boat for these type of tours.

My take away message would be to research the tours you are intersted on line and book in advance.

Thanks to all for your advice. BTW, we are not booked on Marina, but on the Regatta which is a nice small ship (in comparison to most!).:)

I thought you were on Marina from the itinerary and also because Marina is in FP next year.

Regatta is smaller but is still double the size of the PG.

Check itineraries for PG and Princess - ifyou do not share ports with them you will have a better chance on the dock in Moorea and BB.

Thanks to all for your advice. BTW, we are not booked on Marina, but on the Regatta which is a nice small ship (in comparison to most!).:)

I don't know what date you are sailing but we are on the Regatta, and if you go to the message boards and look under Oceania, then choose Regatta, you might be able to contact people on your particular cruise looking for people to fill their particular tour that they have already arrainged. That is how we chose our tours. We leave on the Regatta this April 22.

Good Luck

Thanks for the info re Oceania/Regatta thread. Indeed we are taking the cruise leaving on April 22, 2012!

We look forward to saying hello on board/ WE are Lynette and Tom.