Only French citizens can enter French
Polynesia without a passport and the visa requirements are much the same
as for France itself. Western European and Scandinavian citizens are
allowed to stay for up to three months without a visa. Citizens of Canada,
the USA, Japan, Singapore and New Zealand can stay up to one month without
a visa, but all other visitors need a visa to enter.
- Health risks: None
- Climate: Sunny and pleasant year round. Average 26șC. Humid weather December-March.
Clothing: Casual. 'Pareus' are popular worn over costumes to the beach or around the pool.
Papeete is more cosmopolitan.
- Time: GMT minus 10 hours. AEST minus 20 hours. Two hours behind US Pacific Standard
time. The Marquesas Islands are a half hour ahead of the rest of French Polynesia.
- Electricity: Most hotels use 110 or 220 volts, AC 60 cycles.
- Weights & measures: Metric
- Currency: Cour de Franc Pacifique (CFP) - fixed rate to the
Euro [1 Euro = 119,332 CFP)
- Tipping: No tipping.
- Departure tax: There is no departure tax.
Money & Costs
-
Meals
- Budget: US$10-15
- Mid-range: US$15-30
- Top end: US$30 and upwards
-
Lodging
- Budget: US$40-130
- Moderate: US$130-200
- Top-end: $200 and upwards
The cost of living in French Polynesia is about
as expensive as it gets anywhere in the world. There are no taxes levied
on personal income, but indirect taxes and import duties are high and,
given that almost anything that you can buy is imported (and subject to
duties of up to 200% of the product's value!), it's understandable that
nothing's going be cheap. There are, however, cheaper accommodation
options with some dorms in the larger towns and family-run pensions
in the outer areas, and it's also possible to eat relatively cheaply in
the snack bars that abound.
If you eat at the cheap snack bars, stay in
bottom-end accommodation, catch le truck and fill your days with
snorkelling and exploring the archaeological sites and island interiors on
foot, you'll probably get by on US$80-100 a day. If, however, you want to
eat in restaurants, stay in comfortable rooms, hire a car or scuba
equipment, take a tour and dabble in the nightlife, you can easily
multiply these numbers by three or four.
The banks are pretty mean when changing currency
or travellers' cheques and generally you can expect to loose about 5% with
each transaction, although exchange rates and fees vary from bank to bank.
There are plenty of automatic teller machines on Tahiti, and other
touristy islands will have at least one or two. Your Visa or MasterCard
will get you around most of the heavily touristed parts of French
Polynesia, but once you go to the smaller motus or out-of-the-way
places it's strictly cash.
Tipping is not the usual practice in French
Polynesia and you won't be expected pay more for goods and services than
the listed price. But neither can you expect to pay less than the listed
price - nowhere in the Pacific is bargaining accepted and a vendor would
regard it as demeaning for a customer to haggle. Black pearls and
expensive jewellery, however, do have some margin for 'discounting'.
When to Go
The month-long Heiva i Tahiti festivities in
July are to Tahiti what Carnaval is to Brazil and people come in droves to
be part of them. The festival occurs in the drier and cooler
June-through-October period which is, perhaps, the best time to visit the
territory. Visitors during this period should, however, take into account
the maraamu tradewinds which can bring unstable weather from the
south between June and August. The weather gets warmer and more humid
between November and the end of May. The Northern Hemisphere holiday
periods - Christmas to the beginning of January, late February/early
March, Easter, early May and the long northern-summer holiday in
July-August - are busy times and flights can be hard to get. See also next
weeks weather forcast for Tahiti (Papeete)
and the
Marquisas Islands (Atuona)
Getting There & Away French Polynesia is
readily accessible by air from most parts of the world; the exception is
the rest of the Pacific. Qantas, Air New Zealand, Air France, Aircalin,
Corsair and AOM shunt most of the visitors, though Lan Chile can provide
access from South America and Hawaiian Air flies between Honolulu and
Tahiti once a week. All international air traffic comes through Faaa
Airport in Papeete, but a US$46 million redevelopment of the airport in
the Marquesas island of Nuku Hiva might soon change this situation. There
is no departure tax in French Polynesia.
Cruise ships regularly call into the region and
it's also a favourite among yachties - crewing positions are sometimes
available. There are distinct sailing seasons in this part of the Pacific.
Yachts tend to leave the US coast in September or October, and between
January and the beginning of March. From Australia and New Zealand, yachts
depart after the cyclone season, around March and April.
Getting Around Getting around the islands
of French Polynesia can be done by
boat or air, though access to some of
the remote islands can be difficult and unreliable. The French government
kicks in some financial support so domestic air travel is not as expensive
as you might expect, but distances between some island groups are great
and these flights are costly. Apart from some small charter operators,
domestic flights are handled by Air
Tahiti and Air Moorea.
Inter-island boats run regular routes between all
of the island groups and can be a great way to travel within the region.
Huge catamarans ply between Tahiti and Moorea and the very modern Ono-Ono
services the rest of the Society group. Luxury cruises are available on
vessels like Bora Bora Cruises, the
Aranui Freighter Cruise,
Haumana Cruises and
Archipel Cruises.
Tahiti and the developed islands operate a local
bus service known as le truck which is cheap and reliable. Taxis
are available for hire, but they are horribly expensive. Rental cars,
scooters and bicycles are good ways to explore, and 4WDs can be hired if
you want to head inland on some of the tracks. In the Marquesas many
locals and tourists choose to get around on horseback.
Holidays & Festivals
-
March
5 - Missionaries Day
-
May
1 - Labour Day
-
July
14 - Bastille Day
-
July
- Tiurai Fete
-
September
27 - World Tourism Day
-
September
to October - Floralies/Tree Festival
-
November
11 - Armistice Day
-
December
1 - Tiare Tahiti Day
Events The Moorea Marathon is held in early
February, and there's a re-enactment of the arrival of the first London
Missionary Society missionaries at Point Venus in Papeete on 5 March with
celebrations in Tahiti's and Moorea's Protestant churches. Tahitians love
beauty contests and there are events organised for both men and women
throughout most of the year, and these culminate in the prestigious Miss
Heiva i Tahiti contest in July. The month-long Heiva i Tahiti
festival also features music, dancing, sporting competitions and arts
& crafts displays. French Bastille Day, 14 July, falls in the
middle of this festival and is the highlight. A four-day golf
tournament is held on Tahiti in late June and early July, the Heiva No
Te Pahu Nui O Tahaa stone-fishing festival takes place on Tahaa
during the last week of October and there's a surfing contest off
Tahiti in September.
However, what draws the whole of French Polynesia to a standstill is a
canoe race. The Hawaiki Nui canoe race is a three-day, four-island,
116km event, held in early November, that pits about 60 six-man teams from
all over the territory and abroad against each other. Burly Polynesian
men, often bedecked in traditional tattoos, begin from the island of
Huahine and cross 44.5km of open ocean to Raiatea. Day two is a 20km
sprint within the lagoon between the twin islands of Raiatea and Tahaa,
and day three is a mammoth 52km open-ocean crossing to the island of Bora
Bora. The vessels arrive to the rhythm of drummers and cheering
supporters, and TV camera crews wade out to get the footage that will be
broadcast across the territory on the evening news. In 1994 a German team
of Olympic kayakers entered the race and their best result was 18th on the
first leg. For
more general information
on French Polynesia, go to: |
