TAHITI

Tahiti

CHARTER IN TAHITI

Charter a Yacht in Tahiti

A Luxury Yacht Charter to Tahiti

Tahiti isn’t your average piece of paradise. Born out of the heat of ancient volcanoes, Tahiti rose out of the Pacific Ocean high and mountainous, surrounded by swaths of coral reef, thundering waterfalls, surging rivers, seas of citrus groves, and layers of rainforests bursting with biodiversity.

Shaped like a figure eight, Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, endowing its citizens with French citizenship in 1880 when it was proclaimed a colony of France. Tahiti moves the idea of paradise into a tangible reality, but even more so, it’s a country functioning at the political and cultural center of French Polynesia.

To navigate Tahiti, know that the island divides itself: the larger, northwestern part is called Tahiti Nui, and its smaller, southeastern counterpart is Tahiti Iti. Before European encounters, early Tahitians had arrived from Western Polynesia around 500 AD, mastering sea-bound travel as their people migrated across the ocean. Tahitian life revolved around island clans, headed by powerful chiefs, with war and violent clashes erupting between rival clans. And despite Europeans landing on Tahitian shores, their culture survived, even to modern day, in the expressions of dance, art, music, and inherent beliefs.

Planning Your Private Charter Itinerary to Tahiti

The capital of Papeete—it’s French flare meets South Pacific rhythms. As the sun sets, Place Vai’ete is busy with roulottes—or food carts—while in the mornings, Marché de Papeete is noisy with vendors shuttling fresh produce, the smells of ripe fruit and sweet citrus filling the air. Pā’ōfa’i Gardens invites you for a walkthrough of its tropical gardens, shaded by hundreds of trees and sleepy ponds swirling with fish. Explore Papeete’s Robert Wan Pearl Museum and the history of pearls and jewelry making. The Notre Dame Cathedral is composed in a Gothic style like so many before it, but its bright yellow paint and three bells give it a distinctive Tahitian nature. Art explodes in Ono’u Tahiti Museum of Street Art, where barriers and boundaries are broken, and at Maison De La Culture, shows and performances come to life in extravagant gusto.

Head inward towards the peak that scrapes the clouds: Mont Orohena. It’s Tahiti’s tallest mountain, and the climb will honor your efforts with commanding views of the island, lush and green below, an eruption of life. But down on the ground, nature expresses itself in staggering ways: black sand beaches. Plage de la Pointe Venus, a curve of beach around a towering mountain is home to sandy black shores, made a shade moodier against the drama of a setting sun.

Tahiti does not need much to dazzle its visitors, made evident by nature’s handiwork on the island in spots like Arahoho Blowhole, a geyser-like eruption of water near one of the island’s iconic black sand beaches. Tahiti’s interior lakes capture the spirit of its paradise, too, like at Vaihiria, where the quiet waters are encapsulated by the strikingly green hills surrounding it.

There’s no shortage of Tahitian beaches that outline the bowling pin shaped island. Taharuu Beach—where spots of bright green grass encroach on black sand with the distant shapes of mystic mountains visible beneath rolling layers of cumulus clouds; Plage Vaiava, a wide breath of beach with pillowy sands, but this time golden in hue, making for a more traditional slice of tropical paradise as bright blue waters wash against the shores; Plage Lafayette, in the northern part of the island, where one can stand amongst the background of aggressive mountains and look out into an endless sea.

Col du Tahara’s observation deck presents an unrivaled view of Tahiti’s northern coastline, and down on Mahana Park, the bustling bit of beach opens up its sandy shore for water sports or lounging beneath swaying palms. Tahiti is not without its unique architecture, either. Kanti Chinese Temple stands in its bright colors among manicured grounds, a testament to its inspired style, and similarly, the historic Old Colonial Hospital in Papeete is reminiscent of early European designs.

Hidden in Tahiti are natural wonderments like waterfalls, lakes tucked away behind steamy greenery, winding trails that lead to stunning views, and exotic animal life bursting in its trees. Faarumai Waterfall is among these destinations: a triplet of waterfalls isolated in the deep tangle of the jungle, a true flexing of nature’s force. Elsewhere, Tahiti offers the Water Gardens Vaipahi, a calmer manifestation of earth’s beauty. Flat-leafed trees reach out over still waters as slow streams trickle nearby; the Water Gardens are not where Tahitian landscapes peak, but just where they begin.

From Mont Aorai’s heights, witness the forested country below, the sharp peaks of green jutting up from Tahiti’s sun soaked land in angular excitement. The 6,778 feet summit is daunting, but take the well-trodden trails and the hike to the peak will gift you stunning views that will not disappoint. For sweeping views on a smaller scale, climb Point Venus Lighthouse, built in the 19th century in a uniquely square in its design.

Where there are heights there are valleys and canyons, and like the harmony to a mountain’s melody, Tahiti’s canyons like Vallee de Papenoo are a work of art. Green razorback hills snake through the island and create deep, cavernous passageways, a testament to Tahiti’s ancient creation through intense, violent volcanic heat, where it was as if the land rose up in revolution. But tranquility has blanketed this tropical paradise, and there’s peacefulness in the secret lagoons, hidden waterfalls, and winding hiking trails that weave in and out of the island forests.

A Private Luxury Charter to Tahiti, French Polynesia

Even in modern day, Tahiti still holds a level of intrigue and mystery that drives the endless discovery on its figure-eight shaped island. The island never seemed to back down from its origins that were forged from intensity, not with its long-ago past of clashing chieftains, nor with its staggering natural astonishments. This small, drop of land in the middle of the South Pacific is a force of nature in its own right, endowing it with a culture that refused to die and a legacy that would place Tahiti as a more than a paradise island, but as a people who survived and transformed such a wild place.

LUXURY YACHTS AVAILABLE FOR CHARTER IN Tahiti