Our trip to the islands of French Polynesia was incredible. We had high hopes, and they were all met. I can vividly remember as a kid thinking it would be so cool to go to Tahiti and to fly in business class. Two things I never thought would happen, but here we are. Check out our itinerary.
How we got there
Getting there took a little work, but it was really what got us started on an awesome anniversary trip. We flew Air Tahiti Nui out of L.A. I believe all US flights to French Polynesia originate on the west coast, so you’ll likely have to do some repositioning if you’re planning a trip. We flew business class, and it was incredible. Check out our other posts on how we did it.
Many flights are overnight, and ours was no exception. We left LA at 11 pm and landed at 5 am in Papeete, Tahiti. We knew this was the case but we were not very well prepared for it. After landing, we took a taxi to our hotel in downtown Papeete. Taxis take XFP (French Pacific Francs). To get cash, we made a stop at the ATM in the airport. Always use the ATMs and never use the exchange booths.
The ride to our hotel was quick and cost about $30. It’s a little less during the day.
What we did
Once we arrived at our hotel, we asked for early check-in and they told us to come back at 2 pm. That gave us 8 hours with no plan. We are typically very good at planning. This time we failed. To be fair, we were a bit disappointed with the city and its options. There really isn’t much to see and do. Especially in the early morning. I thought we’d be able to easily fill the time by walking around, eating food, and relaxing. I was wrong. Most places were closed or opened late, there’s no beach within walking distance, and other than a single museum and a couple of churches, there really isn’t much to do. We did enjoy exploring the Papeete Market, however. It’s got some touristy stuff but also a lot of local stalls. We passed a bit of time watching people sell fruits and vegetables, as well as large chunks of raw tuna. I’d recommend it, for sure, if you’re in the area. After we wandered, relaxed on a random bench, and explored the market, it was like 10 am.
Had I realized what the city was like, we would’ve planned very differently. We probably would’ve rented a scooter, more on that later, and driven around a bit. We did look for food as we love that about traveling, but everything was crazy expensive. We’re talkin’ fish and chips for $33. After a lot of roaming and moaning, we found a place that was good, gluten-free, and actually affordable. Tahiti Smoothies. After a while, we eventually just went and crashed on the hotel lobby couch. It was a rough start to the trip.
We spent a lot of time relaxing at Place Vai’ete, a plaza across from our hotel. They have some benches and food trucks in the evening.
To be fair, I’m sure there are plenty of great things to see and do in Papeete. We were not prepared, it was crazy early, and we just wanted to get into our hotel.
Our hotel was pretty nice, though. As with the restaurants, everything is expensive. Our hotel wasn’t too bad, and that actually worried me a little bit. It was great and we’d stay there again. Maitai Express Tahiti.
The Ferry
The next morning, we took an Apetahi Express ferry from Tahiti to Huahine. We did this for two reasons. The first is that it’s significantly cheaper than flying, and the second is that we wanted to try it out for the experience. It was fun and gave us some great views of the islands. There are a couple of floors and a rooftop seating area. We sat up top. The sun and breeze were great, but I did get burned a bit on my sun-facing side. At one point, we went to explore the other floors and quickly made our way back to the top after both wanting to vomit. The boat moves quite a bit, and the inside is warm and claustrophobic. For reference, the ferry to Bora Bora takes almost 8 hours.
Huahine
We spent the remainder of our trip here and loved it. Picture Hawaii with very few tourists, local shops and food trucks, slightly better pricing, and lots of peace and quiet. It was great. Our first two nights were spent at an Airbnb just outside of town. We really enjoyed it.
To get around on the island, we rented a scooter from Fare Rental. The whole experience was an adventure and quite hilarious. To start it off, the owners are an older couple who know maybe one English word. “Hi.” Getting our scooter and talking with them was a classic foreign language travel experience. An experience we truly love about traveling. After signing some French papers, we got our scooter and away we went.
It was a great decision. It gave us freedom to roam the island, and it was much better than sitting in a car. The entire island can be driven in about an hour and a half. With so few tourists and people, the roads were always clear, and there were lots of places for us to stop and take in the views. Something nearly impossible to do in Hawaii.
There are a handful of places to eat, but the food trucks were my favorite, and the Yacht Club was Laynie’s. Both had great food, and interestingly enough, it was cheaper than Tahiti.
Our Island
After spending a couple of days exploring the island and enjoying the island life, we took it to another level. We booked an Airbnb on Motu Murimaora. A small island off the southeast coast of Huahine. To get here, we took a pre-scheduled taxi arranged by our host, and then hopped on a small boat to cross the lagoon. From there, we loaded our stuff into a wagon and walked about a half-mile to get to the Airbnb.
It was extremely secluded, and it was incredible. For 3 nights, we were all by ourselves enjoying the beach and the sun. An experience you really can’t get in many places.
We had to bring our own food, so that was some logistical fun, but overall we had a great time and would highly recommend that place to anyone.
Our Journey Home
To get back to Tahiti, we flew. It was much quieter and a lot of fun. The views were incredible, and it was 25 minutes. The plane was a prop plane, and that was interesting as well.
As with our first time in Tahiti, we were also not prepared for our second time in Tahiti. Prior to leaving Huahine, we were looking into day rooms near Papeete airport to help kill some time. There were actually a good handful of options, but they were either fully booked or crazy expensive. Again, absolute unpreparedness.
After sitting around in the airport, we actually found out about Hello Scoot. It’s a self-managed scooter rental. So we got ourselves another scooter and away we went. We mostly just rode back and forth between the airport and Papeete. Turns out we could’ve rented a scooter during our first visit as well… We learned a lot from our unpreparedness.
From there, we took a business class flight back and returned to real life. It was an incredible trip, and we had a great time. The best part was how affordable we were able to make it using miles and points. There are ways to see the world that so many are unaware of. French Polynesia is amazing, and we can’t wait to go back.
What We Learned
It’s a tourist destination, but depending on where you are, it can be very quiet and authentic. We had hesitations about not going to Bora Bora but we have zero regrets.
Food and groceries can be really expensive! We visited a few supermarkets, and it’s the same everywhere. One of the biggest is Carrefour. There’s one by the airport. They are the closest to a Walmart that we experienced. We bought our snorkeling gear from her,e and they have about everything you’d need.
The bugs can be really bad depending on where you are. We really only noticed on the motu, but when we had to deal with them, it was bad. We were eaten alive. Bring bug spray.
They speak French, English, and Tahitian. As with any destination, it’s worth learning some words to better communicate. Where you visit will determine the languages needed, but we certainly experienced both. Tahiti had a lot of French and English, but Huahine had lots of Tahitian.
There’s an ATM at the airport so you can get the cash you will need. I say “will” because it’s about all they use outside of the bigger cities. Huahine was very cash-heavy.
The airport on departure is pretty slick and easy. Not too much going on. There’s not much going on when you arrive, either, but you will spend a horrific amount of time going through customs. We flew business and were essentially first off, and we still waited about 30-45 minutes. The poor people in the back of the line had to have easily been there for 2 hrs. I’ve never seen a worse customs process.