Top Things to do in Faa'a
What to do and see in Faa'a, French Polynesia: The Best Places and Tips
Discover the best top things to do in Faa'a, French Polynesia including TOPDIVE Tahiti, Eleuthera Tahiti Diving Center, Paofai Gardens, Dave's VIP Tours, Museum of Tahiti and the Islands, Scubatek, Fluid Tahiti Dive Center, Radisson Spa, Municipal Market, Musee de la Perle Robert WAN - The Robert WAN Pearl Museum.
Restaurants in Faa'a
1. TOPDIVE Tahiti
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 214 reviews
Reviewed By DONALD Z - Westlake Village, California
I did dives in both Moorea and Tahiti. My Moorea dive was a refresher (I hadn't dived in a year). Unfortunately, the dive master assigned to me spoke very limited English and didn't understand many of my questions. He did virtually no brief on the dive (something I'm accustomed to in the States) and the dive site for the refresher was not the greatest and had limited sea life.
I did two additional dives in Bora Bora that were far better. The Dive Master - Alfred - was outstanding. He spoke English fluently and did an excellent job of briefing us before each dive. The dive sites were good with many reef and lemon sharks and even a cave. The boat was full with 12 divers and 3 Dive Masters - so it was a bit more crowded than I would have liked (it was difficult to find a seat out of the sun!) My advice - be sure they give you a Dive Master who is fluent in your language and ask how many will be going on the dive.
2. Eleuthera Tahiti Diving Center
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 194 reviews
ELEUTHERA PLONGEE : The underwater world await you! Training center and underwater exploration, Eleuthera welcomes you all year round, 7/7, in the heart of Marina Taina located on the west coast of Tahiti. Our reputation is founded since more than 20 years on diving safety, the friendly and relaxed atmosphere and the quality of training courses. Eleuthera supports observation of sharks in their natural behavior without practices of shark-feeding in a protected environment and this in compliance with the regulations in force. Training at all levels (intro diving until to diving instructor) Explorations: fall-down, wrecks, underwater Springs, drift, night dives ... The best of tahiti! Dolphin watching (all year) Whale watching (August, September and October)
Reviewed By suave1311 - Heidelberg, Germany
Really friendly and capable diving instructors. They were super flexible, as I booked my Advanced diver upgrade only one day before. They picked me up and brought me back to the hotel. All in all a great service by extremely friendly people.
Needless to say that the diving sites in Tahiti are really just amazing....
3. Paofai Gardens
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 241 reviews
Reviewed By Allgoodthyngs - Shrewsbury, United Kingdom
We enjoyed walking along the waterfront in Papeete. The Gardens are well maintained and the pathway is easy to manage and suitable for wheelchairs and strollers too.
Lots of birds - they seem to be used to having humans around so will come quite close.
Locals use it for picnics, as did we! They also use it to practice dance and hook routines often with loud music but all in good humour and really entertaining especially if you try to join in!
Theres lovely breeze coming across the ocean and lovely to see all the yachts on the pontoons. So its a nice safe place to take a stroll or to sit and watch the goings on, however you can not escape the roadside noise and fumes.
This is a public place with no fees,
4. Dave's VIP Tours
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 46 reviews
Reviewed By Leanne K - Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand
Our family (couple with 22 and 20 year old daughters) had a private tour with Dave for approximately 4 hours. He picked us up from our hotel and offered to drop us and our luggage directly at the ferry in time for our crossing to Moorea, which was appreciated. He is knowledgeable about aspects of the history, life and culture on Tahiti and for us it helped that he spoke English! He ensures you get photos of yourself in the locations he stops at. He has an obvious rapport with locals too. Most tour stops have toilet facilities. We got a good overview of Tahiti and this was a good way to start our holiday.
5. Museum of Tahiti and the Islands
Overall Ratings
4 based on 228 reviews
Le Musee de Tahiti et des Iles - Te Fare Manaha offre une decouverte de la culture polynesienne a travers quatre salles d'exposition permanente consacrees au milieu naturel, a la culture materielle, a la vie sociale, religieuse et a l'histoire.Le musee propose egalement des expositions temporaires. Museum tells the story of Tahiti and the Islands featuring exhibits on Polynesian history, culture, environment and ethnology.
Reviewed By TwoAmps - San Diego
This is one of the best collection of pre-contact French Polynesian artifacts anywhere. The Bishop Museum in Honolulu and the Museum of New Zealand have more extensive collections from across the Pacific, but here is an excellent collection focused on some truly iconic French Polynesian artifacts. The natural history section is OK; the Polynesian migration explanation and timeline seemed a bit dated. The 19th and 20th history section can be explored quite quickly, and the Gardens are wonderful. Overall, certainly worth the round trip taxi fare from the airport or the Intercontinental. The museum will call you a taxi for the return trip. We planned on spending an hour but ended up spending two. Most but not all of the explanations are in French, so the offline camera function of Google Translate comes in handy if your French skills are as pathetic as ours.
6. Scubatek
Overall Ratings
5 based on 38 reviews
Reviewed By Ana_and_Anton - Aberdeen, United Kingdom
We took the whale watching tour with Arnauld from Scubatek while on our honeymoon. The reservation was promptly organized via email and Arnauld was kind enough to offer a free pickup from our B&B in Papeete. Once we arrived at their base we were given all the necessary equipment and given a briefing. We appreciate that Arnauld made a lot of effort to translate everything to English as we were in a all French ground. We then stepped aboard their rigid-hulled inflatable boat. We were surprised by the choice of boat at first as it offered no shade and it was quite uncomfortable at times when sitting on the inflatable sides of the boat while bouncing against the waves. We later found out why they use this type of boat. It is for safety/operational reasons as the soft inflatable sides allow multiple snorkelers to pull themselves back up aboard quickly and simultaneously. This was quite critical when trying to get 1o people back on the boat with big waves. To be fair Arnauld warned everyone to take sunscreen and also pointed out the best seats on the boat to sit on if you are prone to seasickness. All the discomfort of the burning sun and bumpy ride were worth it in the end as we sighted humpback whales jumping and diving, as well as managed to get in the water to watch a humpback whale (maybe 2 years old and 10m long) from close up. It was a truly surreal moment. We are also very happy to say that Arnauld conducts this activity with great care for the animals. He goes out of the way and prefers to look for the whales away from the main touristy spots that have been known to be crowded and annoying to the animals. THANK YOU ARNAUD AND Scubatek!
7. Fluid Tahiti Dive Center
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 76 reviews
Home to a friendly and relaxed atmosphere Fluid Diving Center is located right on the water in Tahiti’s Marina Taina. Our dive boats are moored just a few steps from the center and your dive equipment is preloaded onto the boat to make sure you enjoy an easy dive. You just have to jump on board, rig and check your equipment before diving into Tahiti’s blue…- The center is open 7 days a week- From 7:30 to 18:00- Plongez a la carte- Choose a time- Choose a type of dive
Reviewed By Staffydog55 - Havelock North, New Zealand
My husband and I joined a group for the afternoon whale spotting trip.I was apprehensive about boarding the boat due to recent foot surgery limiting ability,well no worries due to a most caring and competent team!The lovely lady and gent who were our guides were amazing.Their knowledge of the ocean,whales,snorkelling was top notch.Snacks,juice and water were freely available.Very enjoyable day out.Even saw the whales!
8. Radisson Spa
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 23 reviews
Reviewed By Alibaliboo - Christchurch, New Zealand
Beautiful hotel and food! The infinity pool was gorgeous and at times we had it to ourselves. The only thing that spoiled this holiday were the mozzies - we got eaten alive :-)
9. Municipal Market
Overall Ratings
4 based on 793 reviews
This large and bustling market hall offers local farm products, handicrafts, souvenirs and a variety of fish and food products.
Reviewed By vikitorisedona - Prescott, Arizona
Nice to get a feel of the local products, but the prices are not what I associate with market prices. I mean $7 for a small bar of soap. Seriously?
10. Musee de la Perle Robert WAN - The Robert WAN Pearl Museum
Overall Ratings
4 based on 327 reviews
The only museum in the world that is dedicated to pearls presents exhibits depicting the art, history, philosophy and mythology of these beautiful gems.
Reviewed By Peter3152 - Auckland, New Zealand
This is a wonderful place to learn about all aspects of pearls, their nature and discovery, their cultivation and variety. There is also an opportunity to buy, although this is by no means imposed or expected.
The museum is precisely that…it is informative, well-resourced and skilfully laid out. There are free shuttles from partner hotels or take a very pleasant walk along their relatively newly laid out Promenade in downtown Papeete, an easy stroll from the cruise ship terminal before simply crossing the main highway at a pedestrian crossing.
There are good restrooms, air-conditioning and a seated video screen display. There are also manikins of historical figures noted for their affinity and love for pearls. It is also a very good source of information regarding the authenticity of pearls, their quality, classifications and assessment of value. Well worth a visit before purchasing anywhere in the world.
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