I had the privilege of visiting this paradise many years ago, taking advantage of a free mileage ticket of Lan Chile, staying some days here and then continuing on the ferry to Bora Bora, that goes though places of incredible beauty liek Huahine, Raiatea and Taha.
Most hotels in Papette were expensive, but we took the advice of the LAN Chile crew to stay at the Matavai hotel, and then found out that most hotels on the beach were charging nearly double their rate... It is a nice hotel, and there is a frequent local bus service to the beach. Papette is a safe island, so there is nothing to worry about.
Tahiti is nice, but there are more beautiful places to visit in this area, and the trip on the ferry to Bora Bora is highly recommended.
I stayed at the Matavai Hotel, a nice four-star hotel, that was costing at that time 80 dollars per night for a double room. Of course, it was not facing the sea, but had a nice swimming pool, and a frequent and low priced bus service to the beach.. Its restaurant was rather expensive. Fifteen years ago a 12-ounce Coca Cola can was costing four US Dollars and a plate of fish was costing 14 dollas , so our visits to the nearby supermarket were frequent, where we could buy a 1-pint tetrapack of pineapple juice for one US Dollar and some bread and ham to prepare sandwiches... in other words, we had lunch in the hotel at noon, and then had a snack in the evening in our hotel room.
Of course, we visited many beautiful resorts on the seaside that seemed like paradise on earth, where the prices nearly doubled the rate of the 4 star Matavai hotel, but the tour I enjoyed most was the 1-day tour to Moorea. In all my lifetime I have never seen such a beautiful place as Cook's Bay. We walked along the island and the beaches, and each viewpoint was more beautiful than the previous one.
Needing to save some money, we took the ferry to Bora Bora. This was a VERY interesting trip, since the ferry stopped an hour or two at each island (Huahine, Raiatea and Taha), giving us time to walk around and enjoy the scenery. The trip was fantastic, but accept my advice. Air conditioning was far too strong and we had taken no sweaters, and if we went up to the deck, we literally stewed. Take some sweaters with you; you will need them.
Except for this, the trip was very comfortable, lasted some 18 hours and stopped at Huahine, Raiatea, Taha, and finally Bora Bora, where we stayed a couple of days at a budget inn. I remember that while we were waiting for the ferry to come back, we saw a school of fish that must have been literally miles long, since it never seemed to end. We were over half an hour watching the fish passing by. We also saw beautiful tropical fish in the sea.
We saw tiny chapels by the seaside, lush rainforests, white-sand beaches, volcanic sand beaches, a whole rainbow of colours in the sea—from navy blue to emerald green—coral reefs, places that did not seem to belong to this world...
You should remember that Tahiti and all the islands in this area are French, and prices (except for the hotel rooms) seem like European prices. But prices at the supermarket were very low. So you might have to copy my "model". I had taken one thousand dollars to spend for the hotel room and meals, and found myself running out of cash. You might have to visit the supermarket also. Keep this in mind.
Don't miss the tour to Moorea, even if you visit no other island. The trip on the ferry to Bora Bora is a bargain, because you sleep one night during the trip, so actually you save some dollars (the price of the hotel room minus the cost of the trip). And you will be amazed at the beauty of the whole trip. Huahine, Raiatea, Taha are beautiful places to walk around. Get off the ferry and stretch your legs. The seats on the ferry were VERY comfortable, with ample space for stretching. My only problem was that I was freezing to death in the room, and weather was far too warm on the deck.
Many airlines go to this paradise from all over the world, including Lan Chile and Quantas.
Buses on the island are not expensive at all, and there is no risk involved in walking. So if you have to stay at a hotel away from the beach to get a lower price (e.g. Matavai Hotel), you will have no problem. I enjoyed thoroughly each day I was in this paradise. On second thought, I certainly would have enjoyed it more staying at Moorea...consider this option.
I nearly forgot this. Lan Chile gives you a free two hour tour of Easter Island visiting the mohairs and this volcanic island during the stop over of its flights form Santiago de Chile to Papette.
French Polynesia is beautiful, dont miss it if you can afford it.
Robert Raymond Ingledew