What to do on a Saturday afternoon/evening in Papeete, and other Tahiti/Moorea trip questions!
Ia ora na tatou, I had some questions I would love to pose to this wonderful community for an upcoming trip I have planned with my two teenage daughters to Moorea!
We are arriving in the late evening on Saturday, 6/13, picking up a rental car at the airport, and staying that first night at the Hotel Reva Tahiti in Papeete. We have reservations on the Aremiti on Sunday late morning to head over to Moorea, where we will stay for three nights at the Moorea Beach Villas followed by three nights at the Hilton Moorea in an OWB. We head back late morning Saturday 6/20 on the Aremiti to Papeete and fly out that evening at 11:30 pm.
I have been to French Polynesia twice before, but this is my girls' first time.
My biggest question is concerning that last day (Saturday) in Papeete. The ferry we are taking back should arrive around 12:15-12:30 pm, which would give us a little bit of time, possibly, at the Marche (I see it closes at one pm), and I am also planning on some pearl shopping that afternoon (planning on the Blue Pearl which says it is open til 4 pm). I think they would really love this as they are both into jewelry making and I think they could spend an hour or more easily looking through the pearls there in the trays (I was last there in 2019, so hoping it is the same basic set up and prices haven't gone up too too much since then!).
However, if the Marche is mostly shut down by the time we get there, are there any other places open on a Saturday afternoon for shopping in Papeete? The Vaima Shopping Center looks to be closed on the weekends, and it would be great to have somewhere to go for souvenirs, pareos, monoi, vanilla, etc. Any recommendations? It kind of seems like most shopping places are shut down by Saturday afternoon. And, if shopping isn't in the cards, any suggestions on where we might go with a car and a few hours on Saturday afternoon/early evening? I would like to be back at the airport by 8:30 pm or so to return the car.
Related, I am also wondering if there are any recommendations for a place for dinner that last night? I feel like going somewhere like the restaurant at the Intercontinental is a good safe place to kind of hang out before we need to go back to the airport if dinner itself doesn't take that long, but we will be coming off of three days at the Hilton Moorea (which I understand doesn't have terrific restaurants, maybe except the crepe restaurant?) and I have memories of amazing small French restaurants in Papeete (though of course I don't remember any names!). In the past, we did a day room at the Intercontinental for the last day, but I really don't think that is necessary on this trip, plus one of the deciding factors to renting the car at the airport instead of Moorea was to not worry about luggage and cabs that last day in Papeete and it seems kind of silly then to just chill out at the Intercontinental-- especially having just come from the Hilton in Moorea.
Other than that, would love any suggestions on the rest of our plans! We live in Honolulu and the number one thing I want my girls to experience is the lagoon-- I have such magical memories and I can't wait for my daughters to have this experience too. I had the opportunity to visit a pearl farm and vanilla plantation on Huahine many years ago, but didn't see that we could easily do either on Moorea.
Right now, the only things I have booked is a lagoon tour (with lunch) through Captain Taina and reservations at Coco Beach restaurant. Looking at a short hike like Three Pines or Magic Mountain. We should be able to kayak out to the sandbar/motus from the Moorea Beach Villas (located next to Les Tipaniers) and mostly are just planning on snorkeling/swimming, exploring, and relaxing. Anything we are missing?
We are planning on grabbing groceries at Carrefours before we leave Papeete (Champion will be closed by the time we arrive on the Sunday) as the Moorea Beach Villas bungalow has a kitchenette. Any restaurant recommendations? I also want to eat poisson cru every single day :)
Mauruuru all-- truly appreciate all the great information that has been shared here and feel so lucky to have this opportunity to visit such an incredible place!
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u/fleasnavidad 5d ago edited 5d ago
Ia orana! For Tahiti, I recommend Faarumai waterfalls on the north side of the island for a nice walk in the epic cascades, we also enjoyed the vibe at Pointe Venus park. Had a very cool dinner at the rooftop of 3 Brasseurs overlooking the harbor in Papeete. In Moorea, we loved the 3 Pines trail, Pizza Moorea, the nature/ecomuseum, fruit juice factory, and bought some fun souvenirs at Nancy’s Creations. Have a fun trip!!
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u/May-028 5d ago
Mahalo!! This all sounds fantastic. I was a little confused about the fruit juice place because when I looked at their website it seemed more like a distillery and while that looks fun for me maybe not as much for my kids 😂. Is it kid (teen) friendly?
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u/MindfulOnce1992 5d ago
Your girls will be the coolest ever at school in the fall if they can tell their friends that Mom took them to a DISTILLERY.
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u/fleasnavidad 5d ago
Great point about the fruit juice factory. They have a short self guided tour of the facility which is free and interesting (not mind blowing but when’s the last time you were in a juice factory?). We were there on a very slow day so when we did the tour, in the whole facility there was one lone person cutting pineapple. So I’m sure it’s more exciting if you happen to be there when there’s a big production happening :) Once you are done with the tour, they have a cool shop with all sorts of fun and interesting gifts and foods. And there’s a station/bar in the shop offering free samples.. They have unique juice flavors (non alcoholic) and also fruit wine, rum, etc. So I bet your teens could have a cool experience drinking at the juice bar.
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u/wishingandkoppen 5d ago
Only was in Papeete for one night and had a great meal at Maru Maru. Very much has that French bistro feel with the Polynesian influence. Highly recommend.
Did 5 days on Moorea and food was not great where we stayed and I've seen people say that about a lot of the hotels. Lot of good food on the island overall though. Really liked Ke'iki. Good lunch at Chez FouFou. Wish we'd gotten out more nights and tried some other little places. That's awesome you've got the kitchenette option so you can do something easy those nights you just want to crash.
Did the Three Pines hike and the tour with Captain Taina which were both good recommendations. Otherwise I could have spent all day in the water. Still day dreaming about getting back there.
Have a great trip!