Huahine Transportation Options via Wind Spirit

[jen.claire.389]

We're trying to figure out from some that's traveled on a Windstar cruise if there's any ship provided transportation from the dock where the tender comes in to Fare on Huahine that's not part of a shore excursion. We've asked both Windstar and the travel agent that booked the cruise and have received different answers. We want to go into Fare to rent a scooter to explore on our own or go to the beach just north of Fare. We've read taxis aren't really that available on Huahine either. Any guidance would be appreciated! 

[Piaa]

8 hours ago, jen.claire.389 said:

We're trying to figure out from some that's traveled on a Windstar cruise if there's any ship provided transportation from the dock where the tender comes in to Fare on Huahine that's not part of a shore excursion. We've asked both Windstar and the travel agent that booked the cruise and have received different answers. We want to go into Fare to rent a scooter to explore on our own or go to the beach just north of Fare. We've read taxis aren't really that available on Huahine either. Any guidance would be appreciated! 

 

@jen.claire.389 I will be following and if you have the name of a scooter rental company do you mind sharing please as we want to do the same thing.

[jen.claire.389]

@Piaa We tried a bunch - Europcar, Bougainville (no response), Hotel Le Mahana (only rents to hotel guests), 

Fare Maeva (contact@fare-maeva.com) didn't have any available for our dates, and Isabelle Location (no response). So we are going to try and reserve with Europcar since they've been responsive. We called Windstar again and talked to an agent whose lead sitting next to her had been on this itinerary. She said there was transportation into town the day they were there but made it sound like that wasn't necessarily guaranteed. I haven't been able to get a solid yes or no, so we are just going to hope for the best and wing it if we have to, since I haven't be able to get an answer here or on TripAdvisor. Sorry this isn't more helpful! 

Edited July 11, 2023 by jen.claire.389

[Piaa]

7 hours ago, jen.claire.389 said:

@Piaa We tried a bunch - Europcar, Bougainville (no response), Hotel Le Mahana (only rents to hotel guests), 

Fare Maeva (contact@fare-maeva.com) didn't have any available for our dates, and Isabelle Location (no response). So we are going to try and reserve with Europcar since they've been responsive. We called Windstar again and talked to an agent whose lead sitting next to her had been on this itinerary. She said there was transportation into town the day they were there but made it sound like that wasn't necessarily guaranteed. I haven't been able to get a solid yes or no, so we are just going to hope for the best and wing it if we have to, since I haven't be able to get an answer here or on TripAdvisor. Sorry this isn't more helpful! 

 

Thanks @jen.claire.389 might you have the contact info for Europcar please (what I have doesn't seem to work as it keeps taking me to Europe for some reason)  Good luck 

[oakridger]

15 hours ago, Piaa said:

 

Thanks @jen.claire.389 might you have the contact info for Europcar please (what I have doesn't seem to work as it keeps taking me to Europe for some reason)  Good luck 

 

I'm not jen.claire.389 but I found the Huahine Europcar website here:

 

Europcar - Car Rental Agency in Fare (business.site)

 

~Nancy

[Piaa]

Thanks @oakridger

[flygod]

Hi Piaa,

 

We will be in Huahine on Sep 6th and Sep 16th - so we'll meet of board, I'm sure.

I have tried Europcar to rent for the day - so happy to give you a lift to Fare, if we get a response.

Otherwise, Huahine Dream Tours say they need six people to pick up from the boat.

[flygod]

@Piaa  We got this message back from Europcar regarding the 6th and 16th September.

 

So if you would like to share a taxi?:

 

Iaorana we offer you the preferential rate of the FIAT PANDA at 8000xpf per day

On the other hand, the offer is only available from the europcar agency located in fare.

Here is a number of an ALBERT taxi at + 689 87 74 08 77.

Edited August 12, 2023 by flygod
mis-spelling

[jen.claire.389]

Hi all, just got back from the cruise. There is no ship provided transport. There are also no taxis readily available at the dock where the ship drops us off. The Destination Manager can schedule and coordinate a local taxi they work with in advance for you so she’ll be ready for you at the dock. You pay here when she picks you up and brings you back in full to ensure you have a ride back in time. It was 5000 xpf round trip. Hope this helps! @Piaa

Edited August 13, 2023 by jen.claire.389

[Piaa]

On 8/12/2023 at 10:49 PM, jen.claire.389 said:

Hi all, just got back from the cruise. There is no ship provided transport. There are also no taxis readily available at the dock where the ship drops us off. The Destination Manager can schedule and coordinate a local taxi they work with in advance for you so she’ll be ready for you at the dock. You pay here when she picks you up and brings you back in full to ensure you have a ride back in time. It was 5000 xpf round trip. Hope this helps! @Piaa

 

@jen.claire.389 Thank you so much for this information - what did you end up doing on Huahine ?  It doesn't look like there is much to do?

 

Also, might you tell me what the weather was like (I know it is in the 80's but light sweater needed onboard at night?) 

 

So many questions and getting excited now and I hope your vacation was amazing ❤️ 

[Daddioppp]

Hi @Piaa We really enjoyed the Huahine ITI 4X4 Nature Adventure. It was really beautiful and interesting.

 

[Piaa]

37 minutes ago, Daddioppp said:

Hi @Piaa We really enjoyed the Huahine ITI 4X4 Nature Adventure. It was really beautiful and interesting.

 

@Daddioppp thank you so much - do you have the contact information for them please and did they pick you up at the pier?

 

EDIT ... OK, I now see it is a tour through Windstar (I didn't see it earlier) so thank you 

 

 

Edited August 14, 2023 by Piaa

[jen.claire.389]

Hey @Piaa - happy to give any details you'd like about the whole trip! We booked all tours externally from the ship because they were really overpriced and not super interesting to us in some locations, and we were very happy we did. Specifically, we found out from another couple that at least the day we were there, they didn't take the ship tour to the real drift snorkeling spot in Taha'a and our tour did go to the real one. That was by far the best snorkeling I've ever done and of the trip, so I was very happy I booked separately. 

 

For Huahine, we were going to rent a scooter but chickened out because we had an ATV incident earlier in the trip on Moorea. We rented ebikes from Europcar (where we had the reservation for the scooter). We circled the entire larger island on ebikes with stops in about 3 hours (rental was for 4 hours). We went clockwise and stopped briefly at the marae and fish traps, went over the bridge to the old Sofitel site and snorkeled/swam, went down to Faie and the blue eyed eels, up to the Beleverde where you can see the ship in the harbor, and back around to Fare stopping at a few other beach and pretty spots for pictures along the way. The ride was very easy other than walking the bike up the hill to the view point (steep but not very long to get up). Then, we dropped the bikes off and went over to the beach in Fare in front of the hotel and got some drinks from the pool bar and swam for the rest of our time until the taxi picked us back up. You could also walk around shops in town very easily from here or get lunch. 

 

Had we had the scooter, we planned to go down to Avea bay, as well. Some other on the boat did the bike tour through Windstar that circled the smaller island and said they really enjoyed it if you want to stick with their offerings. However, I think it was $129 and we paid 5000xpf for the taxi plus 7800 xpf for the bikes, so our total for two was about $129 and we went more places. 🤷‍♀️

 

I would definitely recommend a light cardigan or shawl if you tend to get cold. It was very chilly in the dinning room and even on deck when it's windy, it could get cold. Our very last day when we were back on Moorea, we did a jet ski tour and got really cold in the water to the point everyone was shivering because the sun wasn't out. If you have a rash guard, I would bring that too for warmth in the water just in case. 

Edited August 16, 2023 by jen.claire.389

[Piaa]

14 hours ago, jen.claire.389 said:

Hey @Piaa - happy to give any details you'd like about the whole trip! We booked all tours externally from the ship because they were really overpriced and not super interesting to us in some locations, and we were very happy we did. Specifically, we found out from another couple that at least the day we were there, they didn't take the ship tour to the real drift snorkeling spot in Taha'a and our tour did go to the real one. That was by far the best snorkeling I've ever done and of the trip, so I was very happy I booked separately. 

 

For Huahine, we were going to rent a scooter but chickened out because we had an ATV incident earlier in the trip on Moorea. We rented ebikes from Europcar (where we had the reservation for the scooter). We circled the entire larger island on ebikes with stops in about 3 hours (rental was for 4 hours). We went clockwise and stopped briefly at the marae and fish traps, went over the bridge to the old Sofitel site and snorkeled/swam, went down to Faie and the blue eyed eels, up to the Beleverde where you can see the ship in the harbor, and back around to Fare stopping at a few other beach and pretty spots for pictures along the way. The ride was very easy other than walking the bike up the hill to the view point (steep but not very long to get up). Then, we dropped the bikes off and went over to the beach in Fare in front of the hotel and got some drinks from the pool bar and swam for the rest of our time until the taxi picked us back up. You could also walk around shops in town very easily from here or get lunch. 

 

Had we had the scooter, we planned to go down to Avea bay, as well. Some other on the boat did the bike tour through Windstar that circled the smaller island and said they really enjoyed it if you want to stick with their offerings. However, I think it was $129 and we paid 5000xpf for the taxi plus 7800 xpf for the bikes, so our total for two was about $129 and we went more places. 🤷‍♀️

 

I would definitely recommend a light cardigan or shawl if you tend to get cold. It was very chilly in the dinning room and even on deck when it's windy, it could get cold. Our very last day when we were back on Moorea, we did a jet ski tour and got really cold in the water to the point everyone was shivering because the sun wasn't out. If you have a rash guard, I would bring that too for warmth in the water just in case. 

Thank you @jen.claire.389  Hubby wants to see the blue eyed eels - are they worth seeing do you think?  I found a great independent tour but they don't visit them so just wondering if they are really great or do they just look like eels as you can't actually see their eyes LOL

[jen.claire.389]

It was really shaded when we were there and really hard to see them unless you got down in the river with them, so they were a bit of a miss for us. You could barely see them let alone their eyes haha. 

[Piaa]

Thank you @jen.claire.389 - I think I will book the drift snorkel and picnic with Huahine Nautique as they do come recommended and it seems good value at $100 pp.

 

Thanks for all of your help and hope you are OK after the ATV incident.

[Piaa]

@jen.claire.389 - quick question if you don't mind (and I just posted this as a separate question as well) .. as you were just onboard,  I am wondering exactly what the dress is for ladies at night ... I know what the "official" description is, but is it silky maxi type dresses for dinner or something a little less "fancy" (not that these are fancy but hopefully you know what I mean 😀)  

 

We are used to SeaDream so very familiar with the type of outfits for evening when onboard but as this is our first time I'm trying not to overthink but yea, thats not happening 😂 

 

Thank you for any help 

[jen.claire.389]

@Piaa I only brought 2 sundresses and one slightly nicer, silky dress. All were short dresses. Most people were dressed similarly I would say. I saw most ladies actually wearing capris and nice tops instead of dresses. There were several people getting away with shorts/jeans at dinner too. The BBQ on deck night, the motu night in Bora Bora, and the night you go to Candles have no dress code either, so I could have gotten away with just 2 dresses. 

[Piaa]

1 hour ago, jen.claire.389 said:

@Piaa I only brought 2 sundresses and one slightly nicer, silky dress. All were short dresses. Most people were dressed similarly I would say. I saw most ladies actually wearing capris and nice tops instead of dresses. There were several people getting away with shorts/jeans at dinner too. The BBQ on deck night, the motu night in Bora Bora, and the night you go to Candles have no dress code either, so I could have gotten away with just 2 dresses. 

 

Thanks @jen.claire.389 I assume wearing stuff more than once (OK maybe more than twice 😂) is OK also 

[jen.claire.389]

3 minutes ago, Piaa said:

 

Thanks @jen.claire.389 I assume wearing stuff more than once (OK maybe more than twice 😂) is OK also 

Oh yes! We had very strict luggage restrictions (size and weight) from the airline we flew. We brought very little with us and did hand wash laundry in the sink about half way through. Had I been able to bring more, I probably would have brought a little more variety, but honestly it was totally fine. You are in bathing suits and your coverups most of the time anyways. 🙂

[Piaa]

48 minutes ago, jen.claire.389 said:

Oh yes! We had very strict luggage restrictions (size and weight) from the airline we flew. We brought very little with us and did hand wash laundry in the sink about half way through. Had I been able to bring more, I probably would have brought a little more variety, but honestly it was totally fine. You are in bathing suits and your coverups most of the time anyways. 🙂

Great .. need to go buy some cover-ups now LOL

 

[JJSoCal]

On 8/12/2023 at 1:50 AM, flygod said:

@Piaa  We got this message back from Europcar regarding the 6th and 16th September.

 

So if you would like to share a taxi?:

 

Iaorana we offer you the preferential rate of the FIAT PANDA at 8000xpf per day

On the other hand, the offer is only available from the europcar agency located in fare.

Here is a number of an ALBERT taxi at + 689 87 74 08 77.

@flygod did you contact that Albert? I tried WhatsApp but it doesn’t get delivered. 

[JJSoCal]

On 8/12/2023 at 7:49 PM, jen.claire.389 said:

Hi all, just got back from the cruise. There is no ship provided transport. There are also no taxis readily available at the dock where the ship drops us off. The Destination Manager can schedule and coordinate a local taxi they work with in advance for you so she’ll be ready for you at the dock. You pay here when she picks you up and brings you back in full to ensure you have a ride back in time. It was 5000 xpf round trip. Hope this helps! @Piaa

@jen.claire.389 how did that work? Did you talk to the Destination Manager earlier on the cruise?

[jen.claire.389]

@JJSoCal yeah, we asked her the first day when she did the overview of the ports and she took and note and said to follow up with her the day before to make sure they had it scheduled. Very stress free. 

[JJSoCal]

1 hour ago, jen.claire.389 said:

@JJSoCal yeah, we asked her the first day when she did the overview of the ports and she took and note and said to follow up with her the day before to make sure they had it scheduled. Very stress free. 

Thanks @jen.claire.389!  
I got in touch with Enite Taxi but they’re asking for 6000xpf each way(!).