Renting a car in Tahiti/tours

[AlFrank]

Hi Everyone,

We have some free time in Tahiti before our cruise leaves, approximately 2 days. I was wondering if anyone has ever rented a car/scooter there and was it worth it? Was it easy to navigate around the island? We don't really want to sign up for tours, would prefer to do it at our own speed and not what the tour personnel dictates. I heard some not so nice things about picking up tours there, so we want to make sure we get to see the things we want and not miss them.

 

Also, we have signed up for the Aito Off-road Safari in Moorea, any info on that tour would be appreciated.

 

Thanks,

Al (Alice):cool:

[Iamboatman]

Considering the trip to Tahiti is long, I am assuming you really will only have one full day to see the place. To be honest, though, one day or two, there is no much worth venturing out for in Tahiti. Papeete is a pretty unattractive city but it is worth wondering into Le Marche (The Market) and the surrounding streets for a couple of hours. Other than that, just enjoying the sun, beach, snorkeling, etc. at your chosen hotel will be your probable highlight.

 

Also, there is a lot of traffic in and around Papeete and parking looks to be a nightmare.

 

From the Intercontinental it cost 1700 XPF (about US$20) for a taxi to or from Le Marche, US$20 to/from the airport and US$25 to/from the port. These charges are not based upon distance, but are sort of standard fares. (The airport is much closer than Le Marche but is more expensive.) Considering the cost of the car and of fuel (which is expensive) you may find a taxi is the way to go.

 

I do not know your particular "off road" tour, but I would keep in mind that most of it is probably not off any road, but hits the standard highlights (the Belvedere, pineapple plantations, a couple of marae and the local agricultural school - great ice cream and jams!). Check to be sure if you are really wanting an off road experience.

[canadagal]

We rented a car in Tahiti for the morning before embarking the PG and enjoyed the drive around the island. You can only go so far and can't really circumnavigate the whole island. The roads were fine and we enjoyed it. Never realized how many churches there are on Tahiti until we took this drive and it was interesting to see so many people in different villages walking or bicycling down the road with their daily purchase of baguettes. It's something that is worth doing once just to get a view of the other Tahiti, away from the downtown and tourist resorts.

Pat

[dfb]

We did this. We only drove around Tahiti Nui and did not do Tahiti Iti. It was fun. Traffic is really awful around Papeete, but once you get out and away from the city, you will not see a lot of other cars. Also, signage is bad, practically nonexistant. But, it is a small place and you can probably find all you want to see, plus wandering is fun. Here is a link to our blog.

http://journals.aol.com/dfriia/WestwardWorldCircumnavigation200/entries/2006/01/21/day-23---thursday-jan-19-papeete-tahiti/225

 

Here is a link to the Circle Island Drive instructions we followed.

http://www.frommers.com/destinations/tahiti/0084010036.html

 

Enjoy, Debbie

[RachelG]

We rented a car with Avis for our post cruise. The office is really near the port. We just walked over. Then we turned the car in at the Avis airport location when we left. This definitely cost less than taking taxis everywhere, plus my husband would have gone crazy just hanging around the hotel. We also wanted to eat some different places besides the hotel, and taking taxis to those would have cost a fortune.

Traffic in Papeete is a bit bad, but I have seen and driven in worse. And once you get out of town, it is fine. We drove around the island and went sight seeing. Went to the house of the guy who wrote Mutiny on the Bounty--I would highly recommend. It was very interesting, esp the part about his WWI service.

[AlFrank]

Thanks everyone, I know my husband will get antsy just staying around the hotel all day. We get to Papeete on the 27th and the cruise doesn't leave until the 29th. We will be staying at the Radisson and from what I hear it's in the middle of nowhere. We would really like to see the island outside of Papeete. From what I'm reading, there is a lot to see once you get away from 'the city'.

 

Thanks again

Al

[RachelG]

The drive from the airport to the Radisson isn't difficult--just keep going east. You will go by, but not through, the most congested part of Papeete. The Mutiny on the Bounty house is not far from the Radisson and there is some beautiful shore line just a ways past the hotel with blowholes,etc.

[mythologist]

By all means, get out of the "downtown" and other busy areas. You won't regret it. There is a whole other place to see.

[ChatKat in Ca.]

We used Le Truck - it was right outside the hotel, we got to be with the locals, it was about $2.00 (they only took FP $) and it dropped us off right at Le Marche. I'd do that again in a heartbeat.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

We did the Aito off-road trip on Moorea. It was very good, but do be aware that with all these jeep excursions, it's pretty bouncy. You go up quite high and can climb to a lookout that gives you a fantastic view over one of the bays. And the obligatory distillery trip, which is okay once I guess. There's always some entertaining guide holding forth at the Belvedere lookout.

 

I've always wanted to drive around Tahiti and get down to Tahiti Iti (the little part of the island), but haven't done it. Just be aware of the traffic, it's bad, in the built-up areas, which are quite stretched out.

[Iamboatman]

I was a bit put off by Le Truck and the recommendations to use it. It is very rustic, you have to walk to a stop and wait up to 15 minutes for it, it takes much longer to get where you are going, there is no comfort and no air conditioning. It may be a way to "go native", but I am on a luxury holiday and if you do the math it really makes no good sense. Killing an hour to go down the same road that a taxi does 15 minutes with no comfort at all is not my idea of a great time. (And an occasional threadbare towel doesn't even bother me.;) )

 

I also think that considering what the other islands have to offer - dependent on what you are looking for in your vacation - there are many that have/will finish their Tahiti car excursion and say, "I won't do that again." That was pretty much the consistent comment I heard from those that circled Bora Bora...which is a much nicer island.

 

As to both, "to each his/her own".

[ChatKat in Ca.]

Well, sorry to disagree, but, we had a great time, went right from the hotel (The Intercontinental Beachcomber) to the Le Truck Stop in directly in front of it and ended up right at Le Marche. The concierge had the schedule It's open air, was quite acceptable and they ran every few minutes.

 

If you haven't tried it, I'd say it's not fair to knock it. All travel is not always about luxury. A step out of the box for a real life experience is part of the travel experience. For the short time we needed transportation it was less time then going to get a rental car and a lot more interesting than a taxi! We did Regent' s Le Truck Tour on Bora Bora and had fun circling the island too.

[twa1011]

We rented a car for the day when we got off the ship in Papeete. We wanted to see Tahiti, and had heard (from this forum) that the tour offered with the day rooms was pretty boring. We later had that confirmed when we spoke with people from our cruise who had done it. We had an air conditioned car which was good the day we had it because it was pretty hot that day. Driving around the island is easy. You should have a tour book or guide which gives you the sights to see along the way. We were impressed with how lush and beautiful the island is, but can now say for ourselves that it doesn't compare with Moorea and Bora Bora. We went to Point Venus to watch the sunset over Moorea and really enjoyed that. I agree with Eric that once you've done it, you've done it and may not want to do it again. However, we were glad we did it that once.

 

We took the Aito 4x4 trip on Moorea about 10 days ago. That tour does go off-road somewhat. There is a steep cliimb up "Magic Mountain" which gives you an incredible view. The tour also takes you to the Belvedere which is also a beautiful, but much lower, lookout. The tour also took us to the agricultural school where we got to see vanilla growing up close (got to hold the beans in my hand -- they really do look like grean beans up close), and to buy jam. If you go there, buy a pineapple drink -- they make it straight from the pineapple right in front of you -- it's like a smoothie and was excellent. We also saw many pineapple fields, getting out and walking into one to see it up close. Of the several 4x4 tours we took on the cruise, it was our least favorite, but was worth doing if you don't rent a car and drive around Moorea on your own (which is the best island to rent a car on, IMO).

[Iamboatman]

I step out of the box regularly...but not just to do it. Le Truck is just unnecessary and is not a cultural wonder. It is very basic uncomfortable way to get from A to B; nothing more.

 

If you can catch No Reservations on The Travel Channel in Frnch Polynesia Anthony B tried it and found it I beieve the word was "lousy".

 

As I said. to each his/her own...but make the choice with the facts. No different than driving around the island; I don't recommend it. others say once is enough and others loved it.

[AlFrank]

Caught that episode on the Travel Channel, he really didn't talk about much but 'The FOOD' on Tahit. My husband has talked of nothing since then but the coconut crabs. He can't wait.

 

I think we may try to see a little of the island other than Papeete on our second day there and it seems a car is the only way. I have read a few travel books and it seems the tours you can book only skirt by some of the places we would like to visit. I think the Radisson has a shuttle we can use to get to Le Mache on the third day.

 

Thanks everyone for all your help.