Ultimate Tahitian Islands Checklist: Dream Experiences in French Polynesia
You can see it all while taking it easy in French Polynesia. The only things you need are sunscreen and a dream.
- Have breakfast delivered to your over-water bungalow by outrigger canoe.
- Swim with giant sea turtles in a private lagoon (at Le Meridien's turtle sanctuary).
- Arrange a motu picnic, a traditional Tahitian meal prepared on the beach of a small islet. Don't forget the locally brewed Hinano beer.
- Catch the wind: kite-surf, windsurf, or parasail.
- Spend an afternoon on a 4x4 safari excursion on Moorea. Re-fuel with fruit punch at Jus de fruits de Moorea (a charming little distillery).
- Climb aboard a yacht in Cook's Bay.
- Eat hibiscus and tiare ice cream (the latter is tahiti's national flower).
- Try drift snorkeling through the tiputa pass on Rangiroa. Float on the sea surface while the currents carry you into lagoons.
- Reward yourself often with cocktails. Hope they come with tiny umbrellas.
- Get your scuba on. Shallow lagoons for novices, vertical reefs for thrillseekers.
- Take note of Tahiti's burgeoning street art scene.
- Feed the animals (with trained professionals): sharks, manta rays, dolphins, eels.
- Nap on a hammock.
- Tour Taha'a vanilla plantation (pick up vanilla beans and a bottle of noa noa vanilla liqueur, the island's nog-like spirit).
- Dip into the Fa'arumai waterfalls.
- Get a tattoo. French Polynesia is famous for its ink.
- View the volcanic islands — fringed with reefs, surrounded by rings of blue water — by helicopter.
- Get hitched in a glass-bottomed wedding chapel.
- Go horseback riding on the beach.
- Rest in the shade of a coconut palm. Preferably in the Tuamotus.
- Did we mention cocktails?
- Watch Polynesian dances of aparima, hivinau and ote'a. then join in.
- Take a midnight outdoor bath.
Ancient marae. Photo: Courtesy of Tahiti Tourisme.
