Tahiti - what dou you think?

The beginning of 2008 I reserve some time for discovering another island country in south pacific. ...Tahiti sounds jolly exotic...
Its far away, airfare ticket is gonna be the costliest and apart from some introductory info I know nothing.
In this post I would like to only touch on the destination.

WELL, BY NO MEANS I do not want to waste my time in any of resorts or hotels, which as a main attraction present their swimming pool:)

My question then is: is there a room for budget travellers? Will I able to get in those islands off beaten tracks? how expensive is it there in proportion to Samoa, Fiji or Australia, and lastly, how to get there from Sydney the easiest way (what airline you flew with and so on...)

much appreciate

jirikoo

Start focusing on Moorea instead of Tahiti, or while on Tahiti, head to the "other" side, Tahiti Iti. Fr. Polynesia is more expensive than Fiji and Samoa, but if you keep your accommodation costs down it is not that bad.

Get an airpass. (The Cook Islands Airpass mentioned there does not exist any more, as far as I know). FP is the most expensive part of Polynesia, expect a price level four times higher than in the Czech Republic (Praha Staré Mesto, of course).

There are cheap places on all islands, but of course many more dear ones on places like Bora Bora.

French Polynesia is wonderful.

From Sydney you can fly either with Air Tahiti Niu or Air New Zealand.

You need to plan and prepare to go to Tahiti on a budget. The least expensive way would be to camp. Bring your own tent. There are pensions that allow camping for a fee.

With over a 100 islands you can get seriously off the beaten track. Olivier Funix is someone who did that.

Parlez-Vous Français?

Because you won't get far without it!

Thanks guys. I cant speak a single french word. Is it gonna be a problem in the islands?

FP is very beautiful but not an easy place to go on a budget. It can be done but hard to overcome the very high accomodation expenses. Tenting is the cheapest option. We slept overnight on the concrete at the airport to avoid a night's accomodation. The cheapest hostel to stay in Papeete was Teamo's and it was still $130 NZ dollars for 3 of us. We took a lot of food over but didn't need to, shopping at the supermarket was a good way to go and baguettes are cheap. The market and roulottes are great places to eat in Papeete.

We didn't get an airpass as they were too expensive but the ferry trip to Moorea is cheap as are buses there and around Tahiti. We hitched around Moorea. There is no campgrounds on Tahiti but a few good one on Moorea, we liked Mark's Place. Beware the invisible biting bugs though! Teachupo in Tahiti-iti is a nice place to go.

Fiji is way cheaper than Tahiti and Samoa is cheaper still, but even so my husband would go back in a shot. May be something to do with the beautiful women! But he also loved the exotic scenery and the whole French influence. They are probably the most beautiful of all the Pacific islands. I however didn't like feeling like the poor kid pressing his nose to the window as the locals ate up big and other tourists lived it up and we couldn't even afford to go to McDonalds, let alone a good restaurant. I prefer Bali where you can live like a king on nothing, or Fiji where at least it is possible to do it on a budget and still eat well. Having said that, I bet some of the outer islands are amazing if you can afford to get to them.

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<hr>I cant speak a single french word. Is it gonna be a problem in the islands? <hr></blockquote>

You won't have problems when asking for a hotel room or making orders in a café or restaurant. But when asking for directions or having any other kind of conversation with the locals, French is absolutely necessary. (I met some Americans there who survived FP with a vocabulary of less than ten words.) Since you travel there at the beginning of 2008, you have time enough to learn some basic French.

I've been to FP 3 times and my French is limited to a few badly pronounced words.
I spent a week at a pension where the owner only spoke a few words of English and there were no other guests for 5 days. Other than that the folks that I dealt with on Tahiti, Moorea, Bora Bora, Tikehau, Rangiroa and Fakarava spoke English. Dinnertime conversation at my pension on Rangiroa (with all French guests) would start in French and by the end of the meal end up in English. Here in the States the common wisdom is that the French are like many Americans and speak only their language but the French (mostly expats who lived on Tahiti island) that I met spoke very good English (I don't mean everyone but...). Of course, if you are really getting off the beaten track you will need to use French.

I agree, a couple of dozen words in French will do for most places.

Even better, get a guidebook that includes some basic Tahitian phrases. Locals will take a liking to you for trying to speak in their language. To start with, try "Maruru!" [Thank you]