Tahiti, one of the worlds most iconic surf destinations, home to the infamous Teahupoo monster wave; it must be easy to rent a surfboard here, right?
Wrong. It wasn’t quite as easy as I’d imagined.
Where to rent a board in Tahiti
Although I’ve been surfing for several years now, my novice-level skills certainly don’t match up to the big wave surfers who flock to Tahiti every year. Even so, from the moment we touched down on the beautiful Pacific Island, my friend and I were keen to hire a couple of longboards and get out on the waves.
Unlike a lot of other surf spots around the globe, which often have anything from a few boards lined up against a palm tree to a surf school on hand to lend you your equipment, we couldn’t find anywhere to rent a board.
On the road to Papeete
After some online research and talking to locals, our wild board chase eventually led us to a surfboard workshop where we spoke to a craftsman while he sanded down his latest shortboard creation. He explained that our best bet was to speak to one of the surf schools in the capital, Papeete, and he handed us a couple of flyers that he found lying around his desk.
Booking a lesson with an instructor seemed like our best bet as not only did they offer to supply the boards, but they’d also be able to take us to the spot with the best conditions and least crowds on that particular day.
Seeking out the waves
A French guy picked us up and after driving around the island for a bit, we pulled up to as stunning stretch of black sand beach. It was set in between Papenoo and Rocky Point, with coconut trees swaying as 5-8 ft waves rolled in at high speed.
We asked our instructor why it was so hard to track down a surfboard rental at any of the beaches. He believed that it could have had something to do with high taxes, the fact that boards often get broken here due to the sheer power of the waves and also because most surfers that visit are pros and travel with their own boards.
Whatever the reason, we were happy to have finally found ourselves some elusive surfboards and enjoyed an afternoon to remember out on the warm Tahitian waves.
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Transport yourself to the sunshine with our Tahitian Tunes playlist
I’m not a surfer but I could sit on that beach for days! How stunning the scenery is!
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Yes, the beach was equally lovely for relaxing on as it was for surfing! 😊
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i would love to visit somewhere like this! I would also love to learn to surf that would be cool x
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It’s a really beautiful island. Yes, surfing is great as you can find good surf spots all around the world, even in the UK! x
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I may have a look at learning!! Thanks :)x
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Wow, that beach is the scene of what dreams are made of! Stunning!xx
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Yes it was a beautiful spot to surf in although all the beaches there are lovely 😊 x
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Wow Tahiti looks amazing and dreamy! Would so love to visit!
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Yes, dreamy describes it perfectly! 😊
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I am not a surfer (I can barely stand on my own two feet, let alone a surfboard 😂) but Tahiti sure does look beautiful. I would love to sit and watch others surf on one of the beaches.
Thanks for sharing, what a beautiful place!
Aimsy xoxo
https://www.aimsysantics.co.uk
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Yes, the beach there were exceptionally beautiful! And it’s great watching the pro surfers. Although body boarding is also a fun way to enjoy the waves without needing to stand up on a board 😊 x
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My husband loves surfing so thanks to your post he read his first ever blog post:) He was also really jealous, it’s one of his bucket list destinations. So glad you found a way to go out in the water and live the dream:)
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Thank you, so happy to hear you both enjoyed reading it! 😊 It really is a dreamy place and I hope you make it out there some day so your husband can tick it off his surf bucket list!
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[…] about some of the authors I’d love to meet so I might create my own post in the coming weeks. The Rockskippers visited Tahiti and I am so jealous of that beach but what a fantastic post to read.Finally April is Autism […]
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Thank you for the shout out! So happy to hear you enjoyed reading about our Tahiti trip. Looking forward to checking out some of the other blogs mentioned here too x
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Wow, I’ve already wanted to visit Tahiti but after reading your post, want even more. Thank you so much for sharing it.
https://www.daisyandthyme.com/thyme-to-spare-daisy-simple-pleasures-cherry-blossoms/
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Thank you! It’s a beautiful place, we really recommend visiting there x
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Thought i would leave a comment as this was one of the top articles which came up when I searched for where to rent a surfboard in Tahiti in June 2019. No, it is not as easy as other surf destinations, but I found 2 places willing to rent me a board and had a list of a few others to call if need be. Stonefish surfboards in Papeete have a selection of nice boards for $50/day, and I rented a TORQ fish from Julien at Taie Faahee Surf School for 7500 XPF (~$100AUD) for 3 days.
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Hey, thanks for sharing this – great info for anyone who’s looking to rent a board. Hope you enjoyed your time surfing in Tahiti!
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