Tahiti

Tahiti, the largest island of French Polynesia and the gateway to the archipelago, is its vibrant, mountainous heart, blending French-Polynesian culture, natural beauty and island life. Its lively capital, Papeete, offers a colourful covered market fragrant with vanilla and flowers, a lagoon-side promenade, and the buzz of the territory's hub. Beyond the town, the island's dramatic coastline of black volcanic-sand beaches gives way to a lush, jungly interior of soaring green peaks, deep valleys and waterfalls, and the wild Tahiti Iti peninsula is home to Teahupo'o, one of the most famous and fearsome surf breaks in the world. More real and diverse than the resort isles, Tahiti is a rich introduction.

History

The first Tahitians came from Western Polynesia sometime after 900 CE, or by some studies around 1025-1120 CE, at the end of a long migration from Southeast Asia by outrigger canoes twenty or thirty metres long that carried families and animals. Before Europeans came the island was divided among clans, the most important being the Teva i Uta and Teva i Tai, led by chiefs, the ariʻi, who were also religious leaders, wore belts of red feathers and held councils with lesser chiefs, while each clan's worship centred on its marae and priests. Juan Fernández in 1576-1577 or Pedro Fernandes de Queirós on 10 February 1606 may have been the first Europeans to see it, but the first sure visit was by Samuel Wallis in HMS Dolphin, who sighted the island on 18 June 1767 and anchored in Matavai Bay, followed on 2 April 1768 by the expedition of Louis-Antoine de Bougainville (Wikipedia, Tahiti).

What to look for

• Papeete market - the colourful covered market of the capital.
• The black-sand beaches - the dramatic volcanic beaches.
• The lush interior - the green peaks, valleys and waterfalls.
• Teahupo'o - the legendary, fearsome surf break.

When to go

May to October, the cooler, drier season, for the best weather; Papeete is lively year-round, and the surf at Teahupo'o is most powerful in the southern-hemisphere swell season, roughly April to October. The island is the arrival point and hub for exploring the wider archipelago.

Good to know

Tahiti is more developed, urban and workaday than the postcard resort islands, so first-time visitors expecting Bora Bora-style perfection may be surprised by the busy capital and black-sand beaches; its appeal is authentic island life, culture, dramatic scenery and surf rather than lagoon luxury. As the vibrant, diverse heart and gateway of French Polynesia, though, with its colourful market, lush interior and legendary waves, Tahiti is a rich and rewarding introduction to the archipelago.

Nearby

The islands of Moorea, Bora Bora and the Tuamotu atolls are reached by air and sea.