Tahiti Nui

Tahiti is two volcanoes joined at an isthmus, and Tahiti Nui is the larger northern one, carrying Papeete, the international airport and almost everyone who lives on the island.

Its beaches are the reason it is worth a page. Tahiti is young, volcanic and steep, so most of its sand is black basalt rather than coral — Taharuu at Papara is black, open to the swell and is where the island surfs. The west coast carries imported and reef-derived white sand instead, and Vaiava at PK18 is the public beach people are pointed to.

Those two are half an hour apart and could not be less alike. No other destination in this directory contains that contrast, which is the argument for coming to Tahiti rather than flying straight over it to Bora Bora.

SourcesOpenStreetMap