Island tour of Tahiti

[RMS Olympic]

This is a question asked many times before......my apologies for asking one last time.

I want to take a tour while staying at the Radisson Hotel Papeete 2 nights precruise.

It looks like the 4x4 tours would be fun. Patricks tours or are there other operators you would recommend?

Full day or half day tour? Things to do or things to avoid?

I am thinking booking via internet would be better than waiting to get to the hotel and try to get on a tour for the following morning.

Any suggestions or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Tom

[Roland4]

We did two nights pre-cruise at the Intercontinental before boarding Crystal Serenity in Feb 2006. We tried booking the 4x4 the day before and it was sold out. We did the circle the island sightseeing tour but I don't recommend it. It's a VERY long drive to see not a whole lot really. Your best bet would be to try and book the 4x4 in advance if you can. We did talk to someone who did it and they really enjoyed the trip. Papeete itself is nice but again, there isn't a whole lot to see/do.

[mythologist]

It probably doesn't hurt to book a 4x4 tour before you begin your vacation via Internet. That way you don't risk disappointment if they're full once you reach Tahiti.

We inquired at the tour desk after arriving and ended up doing a tour of the island. Most of it was quite enjoyable, i.e. the waterfalls and the museums. However, we discovered the blow hole was not worth writing home about and the grotto was also a setting that should have been passed on. All in all, though, we were pleasantly surprised to see that Tahiti did indeed have a charming side once you got away from the hotels and the downtown area.

Or perhaps you would be interested in renting a car. There is some spectacular scenery. I suspect it may cost more to do that than to just take a tour though and you miss out on all the little tidbits you learn, i.e. what looks like the second mailbox is actually where people get fresh bread delivered every day, etc.

[RachelG]

Actually car rental in Tahiti is not that expensive compared to the cost of other things. It was less expensive for us to rent a car for a couple of days than to take a taxi to downtown, out to eat a couple of times and to the airport. Taxis are very expensive for very short distances.

[Tika]

Just my thoughts. We overnighted at the Beach Comber Park Royal.......went to the Conceige and requested a tour of Papeete that morning before boarding. He got us the most wonderfurl driver and a nice car that fit all our luggage. We had a great tour of the island, she dropped us off for lunch in town, picked us up.....toured a bit more and then brought us to the ship to board. Well worth the $$$$$$ sorry I don't remember accept that DH was pleased . Very special!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!