JennieH

I will be in Papeete for 8 hours whilst enroute to Bora Bora and I understand that the airport is only 3 miles from Papeete. Has anyone been in this situation before? Can you suggest any tours or low key things to do and see. I will have just flown in from LA so expect to be a bit jetlagged.

thanks.

DJE

Jennie,

If your pocket book permits, you might want to consider getting a day room at one of the hotels to relax a bit before continuing on with your trip. The long flight from L.A. can be quite tiring and spending some rejuvenation time around the pool and getting a good meal would probably help.

LordBalfor

What day of the week is this going to be & what are your arrival/departure times? These things may make a difference in regards to what is open.

Ken

ALF

I've been in the same situation. You indeed can take the short ride into Papeete in a taxi or 'Le Truck' shuttle, but its a grimy crowded place with not much of interest. The huge multi-story open-air market is worth visiting, but not much else is.

The nice part (IMO) of Tahiti is on the other side of the island from Papeete, in Tahiti-iti. At the very least, you would want to get over to the west coast of Tahiti-nui. There are some tours that do that (Adventure Eagle Tours, for one).

A fun thing to do would be to ride the ferry from the Papeete ferry dock over to Moorea, and back. Depending on which ferry you take, if could be 40 - 60 minutes each way. There's not a heck of a lot at the ferry dock on Moorea, and it would be tempting to take a taxi from there to do some exploring, but you would have to be REAL careful with your time to avoid missing your connection.

You may very well want to take DJE's advice and sleep off your jet lag in a hotel. It might be time and money well spent.

ALF

Ooops! I meant the EAST coast of Tahiti-nui.

JennieH

Thanks for your responses. I arrive on a Thursday at 5.00am!!! My travel agent has now told me that he can get me on an earlier flight so I could go straight to my hotel. The only thing is that my room wouldn't be ready so I would be lying by the pool for a few hours. I am torn between slumping by the pool and spending time in a city (even a grotty one) which I may never see again in my lifetime. French Polynesia is not that accessible from England!!!

PeggyE

Can you pay a sum to check in early at your hotel? Sometimes it is a set rate & sometimes it is 1/2 day rate. We always do that & we have flown long distances, changed planes & arrived at our hotel (I'm remembering Coconuts Beach Club in Samoa) at 4:00 am & we were escorted directly to our overwater bungalow. Three other couples were bleary-eyed & upset since they had to wait until 12:00pm & believe me there is no place to go there! It pays to ask these questions & a good travel agent should set that up. I was willing to pay a 1/2 rate for getting back a whole day almost on our vacation. You've traveled half way around the world, go ahead a slurge a little if need be. Of course if you are young & ready to go on little or no sleep, then go to the city! Like you said you may never be ther again.