The largest island and international gateway to French Polynesia, Tahiti combines vibrant local culture with spectacular natural scenery. Explore the colorful markets and waterfront of Papeete, hike through lush valleys to waterfalls, surf legendary waves like Teahupo'o, and discover black-sand beaches. It's the best island for experiencing everyday Polynesian life, food, and culture.
Tahiti in pictures
Tahiti Tourisme
Tahiti TourismePlaces on Tahiti
55A pareo shop in the centre of Papeete, a few steps from the market.
A pareo shop in the centre of Papeete, a few steps from the market. The pareos are drawn by hand, with patterns that come from nature and from the tifaifai quilts of the grandmothers.
A small restaurant on the lagoon at Punaauia, on Tahiti’s west coast, with Moorea across the water.
A small restaurant on the lagoon at Punaauia, on Tahiti’s west coast, with Moorea across the water. Quiet and intimate, the kind of place for a dinner for two.
The parliament of French Polynesia, behind the main post office in Papeete.
Open in MapsThe parliament of French Polynesia, behind the main post office in Papeete. Its 57 members are elected for five years and vote the country’s laws. The garden around it is open to walk in, and the building stands where the palace of the Pomare queens once was.
Open in MapsA seafood restaurant on the water at Punaauia, on Tahiti’s west coast.
Open in MapsA seafood restaurant on the water at Punaauia, on Tahiti’s west coast. Ask for a table at the end of the pier and you eat with Moorea straight ahead.
Open in MapsA microbrewery in Papeete, open since 2020. Hoa means friend in Tahitian, and the place runs like one: beers brewed on site, concerts and open stages in the evening, and they show you round the brewhouse with a tasting if you ask.
Open in MapsA waterfall deep in the Papenoo valley, on Tahiti’s east coast.
A waterfall deep in the Papenoo valley, on Tahiti’s east coast. You reach it up the valley track, about two hours by electric mountain bike from the valley entrance, with rivers to swim in on the way.
In depth
Tahiti: everything you need to know before you go
Beyond the airport: the market, the valleys, Teahupo'o and the west coast - how to give the main island the days it deserves.
Most visitors use Tahiti as a door to the other islands. Stay a little, and you find the real center of Polynesian life. The biggest island, the highest mountains, the capital, the markets, and the most famous wave in surfing: give Tahiti days, not hours.
Where is it?
Tahiti is the main island of French Polynesia, in the Windward Islands. It is really two round islands joined by a narrow strip of land at Taravao: Tahiti Nui, the big part, with Papeete in the northwest - and Tahiti Iti, the wild peninsula. At its end sits Teahupo'o, where the road stops and the famous wave begins.
How do you get there?
You arrive here: all international flights land at Faa'a, and every island flight and Moorea ferry starts here. The real question is how to get around. Rent a car for the island, and take the ferry for Moorea. Plan extra time on the coast road - it is the only road, and everyone shares it.
When should you go?
May to October is the drier, cooler season. November to April is warm, wet and green. Humpback whales pass from about July to November. The big waves at Teahupo'o also come mostly in the dry months - so surf season and dry season are almost the same.
What to do
- Start at the Papeete market. Two floors of fruit, fish, monoï (the scented coconut oil), flowers and weaving - the island's living room. The market is at its best early in the morning, and earliest of all on Sunday.
- Drive into the valleys. The Papenoo valley cuts through the green heart of the island, past waterfalls and old trails - a 4x4 day trip into a Tahiti most visitors never see. The Faarumai waterfalls, near the north coast, are an easier short walk into the same green world.
- Go to the end of the road. Teahupo'o, at the tip of the peninsula, is a village first and a legend second. From a taxi boat you can watch the surfers on the wave. From the shore, you can feel why they respect it.
- Swim the west coast. Black-sand beaches, sunsets over Moorea, and easy snorkelling along the Punaauia coast. Tahiti's lagoon is simpler to enjoy than people think.
- Eat at the roulottes. In the evening, the food trucks set up and the whole island lines up together: grilled fish, chow mein, crêpes. It is the cheapest good dinner in French Polynesia, and the most local one.
Where to stay
Papeete keeps you close to the market, the ferries and the little nightlife there is. The west coast - Punaauia, Paea - has the beaches, the sunsets and most of the hotels. The peninsula is for surf and quiet. There are family guesthouses all around the island, and they are easy to reach.
Is Tahiti for you?
Tahiti is for travellers who want to see Polynesia at work: a real city, real traffic at rush hour, and under it all, the deepest culture, food and history in the islands. It is not the postcard lagoon - Moorea and the atolls do that better. Give Tahiti two or three days at the start or end of your trip. It may quietly become one of the reasons you come back.
Practical tips
- Rent a car - the island is bigger than it looks, and buses are rare.
- Go to the market early - by mid-morning the best fish and flowers are gone.
- Rain showers pass quickly on the north and east coasts - wait a little before you cancel a plan.
- Much of the interior is protected land - visit the valleys with a local guide.
- Bring a light jacket for the mountains - the interior is much cooler.
That is Tahiti.
23 places · 34 guides · 25 things to know
Also nearby
Stories · 3 min
Puhi tari’a, the valley eel
The discreet spirit of Tahiti’s rivers
You may have already spotted it, gliding between the rocks of a stream, like a silent shadow. The eel, or puhi in Tahitian, is not just a fish: it is one of the spirits of the rivers. Present, discreet, almost sacred. In Polynesia, eels are not hunted. They are respected. They are observed. They are allowed to live their peaceful lives in the cool waters, where the visible world meets the invisible.
Some can reach impressive sizes, up to two meters long with deep blue, almost hypnotic eyes. For many, they are messengers of the gods, symbols of fertility, prosperity, or balance.
Legend of the Royal Eel of Vaihiria in Mataiea
In stories passed down by word of mouth, the eel is not just an aquatic creature, but sometimes a descendant of the gods. According to legend, the eel brings abundance wherever it swims. In the valleys of Tahiti, particularly in Mataiea, legend has it that Ahu’ura, a woman from this community, united with the god Tetua’airoro. From this union was born a mysterious being, not a human… but an eel.
Frightened, Ahu’ura fell backwards, giving her name to the nearby mountain: Tetufera, which means “backwards” in Tahitian. Not having the heart to destroy it, she placed the eel in the deep waters of Lake Vaihiria.
One day, a warrior from Mahina, Tauarii, came face to face with the eel while crossing a river. Curious and fearless, it wrapped itself around his leg. He captured it and took it to a pond in Papaoa (the former name of Arue). But from that day on, everything went wrong in Mataiea: incessant rain, barren trees, famine. A woman named Tauatea understood that the source of the imbalance came from the lake. She promised the god (the god of the lake) to bring him back the eel. Her daughter, Teaha, a famous dancer, went to Mahina and seduced Tauarii. To recover the eel, Teaha devised a stratagem: she made Tauarii believe she was pregnant and demanded rare food, until he went to sea. During his absence, she placed the eel’s head in a calabash (hue) and brought it back to Lake Vaihiria. An old man told them to consecrate the eel in a marae named “Nuutafaratea” by striking it with “auti” leaves. After the sacred Nuutafaratea ceremony, the eel was consecrated as Fa’aravai a nu’u (royal eel), and Mataiea regained its abundance.
A deep connection with Polynesian memory
Even today, some families and valleys protect “their” eel. They feed it, talk to it, and treat it almost like an ancestor. This is because it represents more than just its form: it is memory. Memory of water, memory of time. It reminds us that nothing is fixed, that everything flows, evolves, and eventually returns to its origin. And then, it teaches us something essential: that we cannot take everything from nature without consequences. As long as it swims in the rivers of our islands, the puhi whispers an ancient lesson to us: to live in peace with water, all living beings, and the spirits of the fenua.
Written by Raimoana Tchin noa
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