Best Attractions in Tahiti

Best Attractions in Tahiti

While most would agree that simply being in Tahiti is plenty attraction enough, there are some specific attractions in Tahiti you do not want to miss. They are well worth checking out. Following in no particular order after the first listed attraction here, which is far and away the one attraction you do not want to miss while in Tahiti, are the best attractions in Tahiti.

Musee Gauguin (Gauguin Museum)

Far and away the one attraction you do not want to miss while in Tahiti is the Gauguin Museum. This museum or memorial to the French artist who made his home in Tahiti from 1891 to 1893 is worth the visit for sure.

The museum owns some of his creative works, including wood carvings, engravings, a ceramic vase he crafted, and a few of his sculptures. Additionally, the museum is privy to borrowing some of his other creative works from other museums, particularly from France. Be sure to check ahead if you are a Gauguin enthusiast and you would like to plan your trip to Tahiti around what may be on loan to the museum while you are there.

Otherwise the exhibits at the museum are dedicated to his life while living in Tahiti. The last gallery exhibition, shows who owns his works today. Furthermore, the museum also has a restaurant nestled next to a lagoon, but you may want to eat at the nearby Restaurant du Musee Gauguin.

Harrison W. Smith Botanical Gardens

Next to the museum is the Harrison W. Smith Jardin Botanique, or Botanical Gardens. Harrison Smith was a professor at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He chose to leave his career at the Institute teaching physics to students and move to Tahiti. He started the Botanical Gardens in 1919. He lived out the rest of his life in Tahiti, dying in 1947. The beautiful, lush Botanical Gardens which he started belong to the public-at-large. Growing in the garden are tropical plants from all around the world.

Point Venus

Point Venus was named so because the infamous Captain James Cook observed the transit of the planet Venus across the sun in 1769 at Point Venus. He traveled to the northernmost point on Tahiti to do so, and thus naming it Point Venus. What is more, is that on this northernmost point lays the velvety black sand beach resultant of one of the now inactive volcanoes which are the island Tahiti. Bring a picnic basket and your camera. This point in the world is very scenic, including the white lighthouse which was built in 1868. If you do not want to pack a picnic there is a snack bar there, as well as, restroom facilities.

Arahurahu Temple

Maybe you're into ancient temples. Arahurahu is the only temple in all of Polynesia that has been fully restored. Get a load of the stone pens just at the entrance of the temple that were used to pen the pigs the ancient people of Tahiti used to sacrifice to their gods. The temple is used for reenactments of old Polynesian ceremonies during the month of July.