Tahiti Day #2: Circling Tahiti Nui

Overwater bungalows with Moorea Island in the background

February 7, 2019

TAHITI ISLAND, French Polynesia – Mom and I toured all of Tahiti Nui (“Big Tahiti”) today, seeing waterfalls, a pretty interior valley, a blowhole on a lava-strewn coast, some colorful churches, a historic point, and a few lackluster beaches. Overall we’re finding Tahiti to be disappointing. We’ve been around the entire island in two days and haven’t seen a single nice beach nor that many sights of interest compared to numerous other tropical islands we’ve visited.

Got up at 9:13 a.m. at our villa in Afaahiti on the southwest part of Tahiti Iti “(Small Tahiti).” Yesterday we explored Tahiti Iti, so today it’s time to circle Tahiti Nui. Tahiti Island is shaped like an infinity symbol, with the eastern part smaller than the western segment. I was ready to head out at 10:55 but Mom took a long time getting ready, blaming the horribly hot outdoor bathroom at our villa, part of a four-residence complex called Villa Mitirapa.

At last we departed at 12:18 p.m. in our rental SUV, crossed the isthmus to Tahiti Nui, and proceeded in a counterclockwise direction toward Tahiti Nui’s east coast, the quietest and most isolated section of Big Tahiti. Our first stop was at an unnamed double waterfall.

Double waterfall
Double waterfall

Next we turned left from the coastal road onto a dirt road in the village of Hitiaa en route to the Hitiaa Lava Tubes.

Driving into the Interior of Tahiti Island Unsuccessfully Searching for Hitiaa Lava Tubes

We reached the end of the dirt road at 1:03 at a river in the Hitiaa Valley, but there was no sight of any lava tubes. It appeared you probably had to park the car and continue across the river by foot into the jungle to find the tubes.

Although a bummer not to find the lava tubes, we enjoyed the pretty scenery and watched a woman who lives on the other side wade across the shallow river to her car. She told Mom she was headed out to pick flowers.

Woman crosses a river in the Hitiaa Valley

Mom in the Hitiaa Valley
I’m in the Hitiaa Valley
Mom at the river in the Hitiaa Valley
I’m holding a flower in the Hitiaa Valley

We continued up the east coast and curved to the north coast, passing numerous junkyards and cars scrapped right on the side of the road.

Junked cars on the side of Tahiti Nui’s northeast coastal road

Our next stop occurred at 1:59 at Arahoho Blowhole. Enjoyed a picnic lunch, then strolled along the lava-strewn coastline. A hidden blowhole blasts water skyward as the rough surf fills it up.

Arahoho Blowhole on the North Coast of Tahiti Nui, French Polynesia

We watched for several minutes and the blowhole got the best of us, splashing us with one particularly high burst.

Arahoo Blowhole
Coastline near Arahoo Blowhole
Coastline near Arahoo Blowhole
Arahoo Blowhole
Mom near Arahoo Blowhole
I’m filming Arahoo Blowhole
Beach near Arahoo Blowhole

Continuing counterclockwise toward French Polynesia’s capital, Papeete, we reached the northernmost point of Tahiti Island at 3:22. Point Venus is a historic location for several reasons.

“Part of Captain Cook’s mission on his three-month sojourn in 1769 was to record the transit of Venus across the face of the sun in an attempt to calculate the distance between the sun and the Earth,” according to Lonely Planet. “Pointe Venus, the promontory that marks the eastern end of Matavai Bay (Baie de Matavai), was the site of Cook’s observatory.”

Point Venus was where the famous English ship HMS Bounty had anchored in 1788 on a mission to collect uru (breadfruit) seedlings to transport to British colonies in the Caribbean as a food staple for slaves. Upon departing Tahiti, Fletcher Christian led a mutiny on the Bounty, forcing Capt. William Bligh and 19 of his loyal sailors off into a lifeboat. Christian and his crew returned to Tahiti on the Bounty, later sailing with several Tahitians to the remote uninhabited Pitcairn Island to hide out from British retribution.

Also at Point Venus is a monument to the first London Missionary Society Protestants who made their landfall on Tahiti there on March 4, 1797.

Today Point Venus has a large black-sand beach that is a popular recreation spot for locals.

Boats stored above the water at Point Venus
Man and child in the ocean at Point Venus
Paddlers near Point Venus
Black-sand beach at Point Venus
Flower on the beach at Point Venus
Snack stand at Point Venus Beach

There’s also a lighthouse, constructed in 1867. The 32-meter (105-foot) high lighthouse was the first erected in the South Pacific.

Lighthouse at Point Venus
Lighthouse at Point Venus

Departed Point Venus at 4:06 and crawled in traffic through downtown Papeete.

Driving Through Papeete, Tahiti Island, Capital of French Polynesia

We made our next stop nearly an hour later at Toaroto Beach on the more-developed west coast of Tahiti Nui.

Driving Along the West Coast of Tahiti Nui, French Polynesia

Nothing special there except for our first sightings of overwater bungalows, which French Polynesia is famous for. But Tahiti itself has few of these luxury accommodations. Most are located on other F.P. islands.

Toaroto Beach
Overwater bungalows viewed from Toaroto Beach
Toaroto Beach

Our final stop as we rounded Tahiti Nui was Rohotu Beach at 5:31. This was also unimpressive.

We returned to Taravao, the main town in Tahiti Iti, at 6:22 and picked up some groceries at Super U. There are some interesting options on offer, the most surprising being a 17-kilogram (37-pound) hunk of veal – which has to be the largest item I’ve ever seen for sale in a grocery store worldwide. How would anyone get that in their freezer?!