Group Travel to Tahiti - Suggestions?

[u/Klutzy_Community9580]

I have a group of 22 Girl Scouts and their families traveling to Tahiti (1 overnight on Moorea) in November. For the most part, our travel agent has booked out our trip. But on arrival day and departure day, we have no activities scheduled. We arrive at 5am and depart at 11:45pm. Looking for suggestions of 2-3 hour hikes or 1/2 day activities we could do. This isn't part of our trip budget, but I do have a little money to play with.

[u/Lagoon___Music]

Wow! What an experience for them.

That is a very large group to take into the city, but you could do a beach day at Pointe Venus (large black sand beach with good parking and facilities and notable scientific history!) or PK18 Beach which is not too far away but is a very nice, easy beach with great swimming and easy parking etc. -- one of the best on the island for sure, snack truck on site most days.

Also if you aren't already going to the Museum of Tahiti et ses Isles which is brand new and incredible would be a great choice.

You could do that and PK18 together with lunch in the middle for a day.

There's a place called Café Maeva Vaipoopoo in Puna'auia which is near both that beach and museum, also water front, for a casual and affordable lunch. I also very much recommend to call any place you plan on eating or make sure your agent has before going to make sure it's fully arranged and they don't have any questions, by the way. A group your size is going to be a fantastic challenge for any place outside of the hotel.

With such a large group of people, those are really the main things I would recommend. I took a dozen of my friends to Tahiti a few years ago and getting even that many people (with zero kids) deeper into the city or into a more remote natural destination was really a challenge.

bon chance!

[u/Klutzy_Community9580 → u/Lagoon___Music]

Thank you SO MUCH for these recommendations!!! We DO have a large group, but we are used to traveling with them. Our girls are13-14 years old and fairly savvy about traveling, although this is our first international trip with them (2 more on the agenda before they are off to college!)

We have plenty of adults with us, so we could split up into smaller groups for restaurants and bus travel and just getting around. We have kitchens in our hotel, so the plan is to make some of our own dinners and to pack lunches and be out and about. We've followed this model for saving money while traveling and it works very well! But we will have some dinners out and plan on hitting the food trucks and local markets.

I'm adding all of these places to our agenda - thanks again!

[u/Lagoon___Music → u/Klutzy_Community9580]

Of course! The best grocery store is the Carrefour across from the Hilton FYI.

The main thing I can tell you about Tahiti is that it is totally safe, but you all will also stand out like a sore thumb in larger groups. If anyone stares, it's just because they're curious. There's no people on the planet more kind and open than Tahitians... even the ones who may not love tourists.

Knowing French will help but Tahitian French is very very different from anything European based, though it will be enough to get around.

The city is also classic "French style" (think Charleston, Nola old town districts) which means the sidewalks are quite narrow so just moving a large group around can be a challenge. So just keep that in mind!

If you need to find more stops on either side of the island this tour company's itinerary for their tours is a great checklist:

https://www.uniquetahiti.com/#

I would try to catch one of the weekly shows at the Intercontinental-- I believe Wednesday night and Sunday brunch have performances but check their site.

Enjoy!

[u/Hinariiwy]

If you can drive around, I suggest trying out the Vaitavere hike or Belvédère in Pirae

[u/Hinariiwy → u/Hinariiwy]

That's on the way to the top of Vaitavere

[u/Hinariiwy → u/Hinariiwy]

And that's the view from the top

[u/Hinariiwy → u/Hinariiwy]

[u/Klutzy_Community9580 → u/Hinariiwy]

Thanks! I believe Vaitavere is close to our resort in Puna'auia!! We don't have a car - with a group like this we would need 3 seven-passenger vans! We'll rely on local bus routes and taxis if we need them. Thanks so much for the suggestions!