Tahiti Vacation Planning Made Easy

Serenade/Wikimedia Commons

Tahiti is famous as a tropical island paradise, and sits in the South Pacific as part of French Polynesia. As the largest and most-developed island in that archipelago, Tahiti offers plenty of services and luxury, so traveling there should not be hard. Taking just a few basic planning steps will guarantee that any visit there remains a sterling example of an easy vacation.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

Passport Mosquito repellent Water purification kit (probably) Sunblock Sun hat and loose, long-sleeved clothing
Passport
Mosquito repellent
Water purification kit (probably)
Sunblock
Sun hat and loose, long-sleeved clothing

Step 1

Check your passport. It needs to have an empty page or two for stamps, and at least six months validity remaining beyond the date of your arrival. If it does not, send it to the State Department for extra pages and/or renewal. In Tahiti, U.S. citizens will receive a 30-day tourist stamp upon arrival, so no further documentation is necessary.

Step 2

Use the CFP Franc (exchange symbol: XPF) when checking the currency exchange rates and planning your travel budget. A common mistake is to assume that because Tahiti is a French possession, it uses the Euro. However, the CFP Franc is pegged to the Euro, so when the dollar is weak vis-a-vis the Euro, it will be against the CFP Franc as well.

Step 3

Get your shots. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends that you update your basic vaccinations, as well as getting Hepatitis A and B and typhoid vaccinations.

Step 4

Bring along a bottle of strong bug repellent. Deep woods repellents in the U.S. can have concentrations of up to 98 percent DEET, almost three times higher than those available in the rest of the world, so be sure to shop for this before you leave for Tahiti. The CDC recommends this using repellent as a preventative measure for insect-borne diseases like dengue fever, filariasis, the Murray Valley virus, and the Ross River virus.

Step 5

Consider the treated tap water available in hotels to be safe, but otherwise stick to bottled water. If you are camping, consider the water suspect and use a water purification kit.

Step 6

Bring along a travel voltage converter. Sockets on Tahiti could be either the U.S. 110 volt standard or the European 220 volt standard.

Step 7

Bring a strong bottle of sun block (SPF 20 or higher), plus a sun hat and a set of light, loose clothing that covers a lot of skin to wear when you aren't interested in soaking up some sun. About 17.5 degrees south of the Equator, Tahiti has deceptively strong tropical sun, so be cautious about it and take proper precautions. Getting a bad case of sunburn on your first full day there will ruin the rest of the trip.

Article Written By Edwin Thomas

Edwin Thomas has been writing since 1997. His work has appeared in various online publications, including The Black Table, Proboxing-Fans and others. A travel blogger, editor and writer, Thomas has traveled from Argentina to Vietnam in pursuit of stories. He holds a Master of Arts in international affairs from American University.

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