Major
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 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 here, 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.

At PK18, you will see a small bridge. This nice little beach is a great one as it provides really nice and safe snorkeling if you want to get off the white sand and enjoy some time in the water.
Just a few hundred meters beyond that little beach by the bridge is Mahana Park, PK18.5. This is the beach many of the native Tahitians like to go to. So of you want to kick around a soccer ball, and play volleyball with Tahitians, this is the beach you want to go to. There is also a nice restaurant on this beach, and a snack hut in the parking area to the beach. And of course, the always nice and
safe snorkeling found all around the island can be found here as well.
Probably the best beach on the western coast of Tahiti is the one on which the Le Meridien Tahiti hotel is built. This beautiful white sand beach, with the inviting clear turquoise waters, offers something more in the way of the luxuries afforded by the hotel overlooking the beach. Restaurant Le Carre has a wooden deck over looking the beach and the food is to die for. Throw in the sound of the crashing waves and the sounds of the tropical birds all around you when you decide to hop up from the beach and dine here, and what you have is one of the best spots to eat on any of the Tahitian beaches.
This list of the best beaches wouldn't be complete without taking a trip around Tahiti to it's east side, and it's all black sand beaches. The island itself is really there because of tow ancient, inactive volcanoes. Both make up the greater and minor portions of the island, and come together to create the rest of the lay of the island. The ancient volcanoes have given the island
magnificent all black sand beaches. The location on the island of these popular and mesmerizing beaches is Venus Point, apropos when you consider the island's name means "Isle of Big Love," anyway. If you are staying in the Tahiti's capital city Papeete, it's a straight shot down the coast on Le Truck, Tahiti's public transportation, to Venus Point.