fautaua waterfall

the Fautaua waterfallls are a few km from Papeete. The 3 are a longer drive away. We never found the former even after a 90 miniute hike along the Fautaua river. Tripadvisor does a terrible job about locations in Thaiti. E.g the Pearl museum is located in the middle of the ocean...

Really happy we popped in to see the waterfalls when driving around Tahiti. There are 3 of the. And they are quite impressive, definitely worth a look. Don't worry about the small chain over the bridge, everything is fine. And you may want to bring some mosquito/bug repellant. Enjoy!

Awesome place to visit. You will miss the turn if you blink. Just remember 100 metres on the right after the tunnel. The drive is also very good and there is a lookout point where stop and buy lunch. There is a food truck there and they sell an awesome cheeseburger and hamburger. Kids will enjoy it. Pleas also remember as mentioned earlier, there is a bridge with a chain on it. Don't worry it is not closed. We found 3 families turn back and leave thinking that it was closed. Do put on lot of insect repellent though. Lots of mossies.

Jay from Ma. and I think alike ( probably because we are both from New England in the US). This is not an easy spot to find but well worth the effort. The road leading into the parking area is bumpy and runs straight through a rural neighborhood complete with naked babies running around and chickens and roosters crossing the road. Once you drive down this road you arrive at a parking area, follow the uneven pathway being careful not to trip then cross over a decaying old bridge with a big chain blocking the stairs. Yep, these 60 year old knees just hopped right over them but we were cautious of our steps on the bridge and moved one at a time. The pathway follows a little flowing river and continues around some curves and you will begin to hear the water rushing over the cliff and then you will see the largest of the falls through the tree line. You feel like you are in the jungle by now but keep walking and you will be rewarded by beautiful views of water cascading over the cliffs. There is a viewing area and a small grassy area with the pool area roped off. The bugs weren't to bad in April ( but I'd still bring the bug spray) and there was a good flow to the falls. A word of warning, there are no restrooms in this area and the pathway is an uneven surface. It is truly a rural, rugged area of the island so use caution. That being said, the views were spectacular and worth the effort

Overall on tripadvisor, the information is insufficient for someone like me who scours tripadvisor and reads tons of reviews. If you don't want to read a LONG review, please go onto the next. First, let me say my wife and I are from Massachusetts, U.S. We are both in our early 30's. We have been to Hawaii and Costa Rica, so we have some prior knowledge to waterfalls and can compare them to those. As far as the waterfalls go, they are huuuuge. The largest I have ever seen and the water trickles down nicely. The scale is enormous! Now onto the details...first, we came from Villa Mitirapa (check out this B&B) and the ride was not too long. Maybe 45 minutes to get to the 3 cascades. On the side of the island where Papenoo Valley is located, we went through a short tunnel that had paintings inside of it (I think it was white and gray paint). We then saw a sign that said "Les Trois Cascades". I'm not French, nor do I speak it, but I know what cascades means, so we pulled a right. We drove a few minutes past a bunch of residences and just keep going until you get to the end of that rod. There is a dead-end for cars to park. Okay, not this is the part you need NOT to get discouraged about. First, we put on some mosquito repellent because a bunch of reviews explained how that ruined their experience (especially during high season). My wife and I went during August, so during the winter there seemed to be a whole lot less mosquitoes than in others places we've been that are tropical. We got out the car and came across some signage and a pathway. We walked down the steps and then up the rock steps and came unto a bridge. This is where people turned back and became discouraged. PLEASE SEE MY PICS! DO NOT TURN AWAY. THERE IS A SILLY CHAIN OVER BRIDGE. Don't worry about that...trust me! The bridge is safe and it won't fall down. It is very sturdy and hop over the chain (try not to fall over it). Once you cross over the bridge, you will see a sign about falling rocks. Don't be silly and take pictures of the waterfalls where all the fallen rocks are on the ground. You never know when a rock can come plummeting to the earth...that's all we read into that sign. ONWARD! We take a right and go to the first cascade which we can hear because it is loud. Literally took us 5 minutes from that sign. It's huuuge! Okay now let's go to the 2nd and 3rd waterfalls: Haamaremare Iti and Haamaremare Rahi. On your way to the first waterfall, you will have seen a sign that has steps going to the 2nd and 3rd waterfalls. Now you back to that sign and go up the steps. It took us about 15 - 20 minutes to get to the 2nd and 3rd waterfalls. We are in pretty good shape. The 2nd and 3rd ones are together and there is a small bridge that leads to grass at the dead end. This is where the mosquitoes and bugs are waiting for you. Hahaha! Back down we went (a bit slippery in spots, but not too bad) and it probably took us about an hour to take all the photos we wanted and do the whole roundtrip. I gave it a 4 because I'm still impressed with the one I saw in Costa Rica (can't remember the name) and I was allowed to swim in the water with the fall. If I had nothing to compare it to, I'd have given this experience a 5. All in all, I came away with only one mosquito bite. YAY! I can't remember if I saw bathrooms near the parking lot.

We visited on a dry day, but the area had just had 8 days of heavy rainfall, as a result of which the amount of water falling had increased drastically, as a consequence, we got soaked well before reaching the normal viewing area. But it was worth it, very impressive!!We called in at this spot as part of a tour of the island, a 4 hour drive around the complete island using the outer ring road. We stopped off at all the usual spots, lighthouse, blow holes etc for US$50 each, plenty of tour operators in the port area.

It had been awhile since I went to the three cascades. Wow what a huge change. I was surprised that the trails were easy to get to. The site is clean, and once you enter the grounds there's a sign that explains the history of the site. This sign is in French, English and Tahitian.

This is the classic picture -- in American heads -- of the Pacific islands. A 200 - 300' waterfall coming right over the edge and going (mostly) straight down. The cliff is highly eroded with seepage that supplements the waterfall. When we visited, the right hand side was ready to follow the left-hand side in coming down! Another thrill for the tourists!!

Nice short excursion and walk killing time on Tahiti. We had hired a Taxi for 4 hours, this was one of the Drivers local scenic choices.Interesting local semi rural houses on the road in.

When in Tahiti make sure you take the opportunity to go to Fautaua Falls it is a do not miss attraction. You will regret not going if you choose not to go!

We got soaked. At first I thought that the skys had opened up but then I realized that it was this glorious waterfall gushing down on us. It was great.

The falls are a short drive off main highway---100 yards from the blowhole. The first waterfall is a 5 minute walk from parkingand easy to get to. The 2nd and 3rd waterfalls are a 15-20 minute walk along a rough uneven but walkable trail. I strongly reccommend you take the time and go visit. One word of caution----put on some bug spray---mosquitoes bite, and flies that do not bite but will swarm around you can be a nuisance.

We stopped at these falls as part of a guided tour. The falls were about a 5 minute walk through the rain forrest from the carpark. It was quite a pleasant walk. I did not go to the falls which were 20 mins walk so can't comment on those.The falls were beautiful to look up at and you almost get the impression you are looking up from the bottom of a cave. They were much higher than I expected and exceeded my expectations. You can actually get quite close to them also which is great. They were probably my favourite part of the main island of Tahiti.Would certainly recommend a visit if you have a few hours or as part of a tour.

Also part of our tour was this great and majestic waterfall - I love waterfalls and find the sound of the water falling to be very peaceful, so don't miss this one, it lives upto all your expectations.. the path is a bit risky if you are not all that steady on your feet.

It's a pretty short hike off the road to the waterfall & definitely well worth it. The walk itself is pretty easy & also pretty. Just be sure to bring bug spray!