Day tour papeete

I was going to take an organized ship tour in this port but I cancelled it. Can anyone give me a little advice on a way to take an "informal" tour around papeete and the surrounding area? I want to see Pt. Venus, etc.

Are there cabs that can just drive you around? Are they trustworthy, english speaking at all, expensive?

If anyone has done their own thing in and around Papeete, I would appreciate any tips or ideas. THANKS!!

Any cab driver will offer a tour. I have no idea though what you should pay.

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Renting a car here is easy if you book in advance with Avis or Hertz etc. Expensive but everything is in Tahiti. The area around Papeete is fairly busy but once outside the city limits, as it were, the island is a real joy to drive around - take in the beach and Point Venus at Matavai Bay, then go all the way up to Tautira, then across to the Belvedere viewpoint and back the other side, perhaps visiting the botanical gardens near the Gauguin museum which isn't worth the bother. Or go the other way around. It will take you about 5-6 hours with stops - you can swim at a few places, including Point Venus, but don't expect pristine white sand beaches and there are rip tides all over the place as there isn't a protective reef. The scenery is staggeringly beautiful. The only thing you can't do in a rental car is take the road across the mountains. Strictly 4WD territory.

I would 2nd the "rent-a-car" advice suggested above. If costs are a factor, considering the prices for a private tour(for more than one person), it really balances out to be roughly the same to go on one's own. Hiring a private driver for the entire day would likely be cost-prohibitive for some.

Having the freedom to set one's own schedule/stops versus being confined to that of a potentially larger tour group, IMO is absolutely the way to go....And (as also suggested above), while the traffic in Papeete is somewhat hustle&bustle with lots of round-a-bouts, once one gets out of town, there is only one main coastal rim road and it's very easy to navigate and locate points of interest with a basic map.

There are also a couple of (short distance off of the main road) waterfalls on the Eastern side of Tahiti Nui to view as well, and the drive along both accessible sides of Tahiti Iti (beyond the isthmus) provide for some unique vistas as well.

Concur that renting a car is the best option for most people. We used Avis's downtown Papeete location. Be sure to get a map showing the Papeete streets. Once outside Papeete, driving is easy as others have said.

At Pt. Venus, check out the Capt Cook, Bligh, and missionary statues as well as the black sand beach and the views along the coast and into the interior. Despite the modern developments, much of the landscape remains very reminiscent of that depicted in the famous Wm. Hodge's paintings of the area from his visits during Capt. Cook's 2nd circumnavigation in the mid-1770s, e.g.,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hodges,_Resolution_and_Adventure_in_Matavai_Bay.jpg

John

John

Thanks All, great information.

Hi we personally used Carl's Tours back in 2012 with a group of 8 people from our cruise and had a fabulous day with him. He speaks perfect English http://www.papeete.com/carlstours/index.html

Carl is good. Used him a couple of times to pick me up at dock getting off Moorea ferry

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We used Carl in 2013 in both Papeete and Moorea.

Great fun in both locations.

We were able to swim, have a nice lunch, although expensive! and buy souvenirs as well as drink the local beer.

I walked off the ship and booked an island tour at the dock. It was a 7 person van and was a very good trip, other than the van being pulled over for speeding. :eek: That was a first. I think since the driver had tourist, he did not receive a ticket.

There were lots of tours offered at the dock

Don

I walked off the ship and booked an island tour at the dock. It was a 7 person van and was a very good trip, other than the van being pulled over for speeding. :eek: That was a first. I think since the driver had tourist, he did not receive a ticket.

 

There were lots of tours offered at the dock

 

Don

Do you remember what you paid for your island tour for 7 people and how long was the tour?

Thanks,

We did the Day tour with Patrick Adventure to the Papenoo valley. It was excellent. He takes you to a cheap bakery to buy a baguette sandwich if you need it.

Do you remember what you paid for your island tour for 7 people and how long was the tour?

 

Thanks,

The tour was around 4 hours and I thought around $40. My notes said it was about 1/2 of what the ship charged for the same tour.

I don't remember the tour company's name as they were one of many tours at the pier. They were also selling larger bus tours but had the 7 person van almost full so I took it. We did see more sights than a big bus tour would see as he could easily get the van into places a bus could not go.

Don

We were in Papeete just 2 weeks ago and because we had been there before and done tours we thought we'd simply wing it this time.

Just off the dock street side, we noticed a stall offering walking tours and this tour I can absolutely recommend!!! It was a 1.5 - 2 hour walking tour taking in all the main sites around the city. Tracey is English (married to a Polynesian). She also speaks perfect French. Her information was very interesting and we asked many questions on life in Polynesia etc which she answered with candour.

This is a new tour that has just started - we were her first tour :D. The cost of tour was $12US per person - and we walked to places that I doubt we would have found on our own and if we had we wouldn't have had a clue about it's significance. She also took us in to the Pearl Museum (Wans) which we probably would not have done on our own and explained the pearling industry. We were blown away by the HUGE pearls. One single pearl valued at $90,000.00 US!! A strand $450,000.00!!

She also does personalised tours on demand. She can be contacted by email: tracey.gabriel@gmail.com.

I definitely recommend :D:D:D

That's one long walk to the pearl museum!! Stop at McDonald's for lunch? Ha ha. Most people don't even know there is one downtown.

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That's one long walk to the pearl museum!! Stop at McDonald's for lunch? Ha ha. Most people don't even know there is one downtown.

 

 

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Nope. No stopping at MacDonalds for lunch - it was totally filled with cruise pax trying to get on the internet!!!:D

The Pearl Museum was definitely worth a look and we were the only ones there! Anyhow without Tracey we probably would not have ventured inside - sometimes it is a bit intimidating going into places like that when language could be an issue. We loved it. And the staff we're so glad to see us, but they didn't pounce on us and were just lovely.

We saw lots of things on our tour - the town hall, Presidential Palace, War Memorial, Gauguin's Banyan Tree, French Polynesian Assembly etc etc - which without Tracey's commentary wouldn't have been as anywhere as interesting as they were. Her stories and sharing made for fascinating listening. I really loved this tour.

I would second the suggestion to contact Tracey for a tour of Papeete! She is very knowledgable and speaks perfect English (as well as other languages too)

We contacted her from the pier and she was able to walk down an pick us up!

She loves what she does and it shows. Wonderful person to spend a couple of hours with and learn about the ins and outs of Papeete. She is a wealth of knowledge on who to contact on other islands as well. I cannot recommend her enough! Thank you Tracey for your amazing hospitality!

Her contact info is: tracey.gabriel@gmail.com and she also has a Facebook Page!