Experiences · Hiking
The interior.
Knife-edge ridges, crater valleys and waterfalls hundreds of metres high. The islands above the beach line are wilder than most visitors learn, and most routes need a guide.
Te Tara o Mai'ao, the Diadème, Tahiti
These are young volcanoes. Slopes pitch hard, valleys end in amphitheatres, and a trail can mean roots, ropes and river crossings. Tahiti's interior rises past 2,000 metres. Weather sets the rules: mornings are for climbing, afternoon cloud and rain arrive on schedule in the warm season, and any river canyon can flash-flood after rain upstream.
01 · Benchmark routes
From family lookouts
to full days.
Three Coconuts, Moorea
6.6 km from the Belvedere past a waterfall to a pass below Mou'a Roa. Rated moderately difficult, free, marked, muddy after rain. Magic Mountain nearby is a 3.3 km paved round trip.
Moorea guide
Hakaui valley, Nuku Hiva
Boat from Taiohae to Hakatea bay, then four hours on foot to a viewpoint on the Vaipo fall, about 350 m. Daily with Mate Tourisme, 9,000–25,000 XPF by group size.
Nuku Hiva guide
Aorai and Fautaua, Tahiti
Mount Aorai, 2,066 m, is the island's standard big day on a marked ridge trail; a guide is recommended. The Fautaua valley walk needs a 600 XPF permit from Papeete town hall.
Tahiti guide
Teurafaatiu, Maupiti
380 m in about 2 h 30 return, ropes near the top, no guide needed, start at dawn.
Maupiti guide
Rurutu's cliffs and caves
Ana A'eo cave on your own; Mount Manureva in about three hours with a guide; the cliff trail only with a guide, at low tide, in good weather.
Rurutu guide
Pahia, Bora Bora
661 m on a 7-km trail with rope sections that turn slick after rain. With a guide, early, in a dry spell. Otemanu cannot be climbed.
Bora Bora guide02 · The kit and the code
Pack for
the tropics.
- Water
- Two litres minimum on a real climb. Heat outpaces thirst. Start at dawn.
- Footing
- Grippy shoes that can get wet. Mud is guaranteed in the wet season and likely in the dry.Poles help on clay
- Rivers
- Rising water means turn around. Never linger in canyon narrows after rain.Flash floods are the danger
- Access
- Valleys are owned and storied. Guides carry the permissions. Ask, do not assume.
- Sites
- Pack out everything. Cairns, carvings and marae stay untouched.
- Phones
- Coverage dies behind the first ridge. Tell someone your plan.Guides carry the margin
Related
Related pages.
Marquesas
Nuku Hiva
The largest Marquesan island. No reef, no lagoon; valleys reached by boat and a 350-metre waterfall.
Open the island guideSociety Islands
Moorea
Thirty minutes from Tahiti by ferry. Rays off the beaches, humpback whales outside the reef from July.
Open the island guide
Australs
Rurutu
Limestone cliffs with caves, taro valleys, and humpback whales close to shore from July to October.
Open the island guide
Plan
When to go
When the trails are driest.
Read more