Tahiti & Bora Bora Very expensive
Poisson cru — raw tuna in lime and coconut milk — is the national dish and is everywhere. Eat at the roulottes, the food trucks that fill Papeete’s waterfront in the evening, for a fraction of restaurant prices.
Budget travel in French Polynesia
What a visitor's money does in French Polynesia: every guide rated from very cheap to very expensive, cheapest first, then the things that cost travellers money without buying anything — the ATM, the taxi, the SIM.
Very expensive average across 1 guide · 5 is very cheap
Money
CFP Franc (XPF) · 1 EUR = 119.33 XPF (fixed) · 1 USD ≈ 110 XPF
The CFP franc is pegged to the euro at a fixed rate, so there is no rate risk for European visitors and mental arithmetic is easy — knock two zeros off and add a fifth. Cards work at hotels and restaurants, less so at roulottes and markets.
ATMs
Avoid: assuming the smaller atolls have a machine — most have one or none
Use: Banque de Tahiti, Banque Socredo, BNP Paribas
Withdraw on Tahiti before island-hopping. The CFP franc is fixed to the euro, so there is no rate to shop around for — only fees.
Getting around
From the airport: Faa’a airport to Papeete 2,000–3,000 XPF by taxi
City by city, cheapest first
The cost rating is this site's own, for a visitor, from the guides' authors and the corrections readers send in. The general rules — the conversion prompt, shoulder season, the airport taxi — are in budget travel tips.
