Pure Travel
  • About
  • Destination Inspiration
  • Tips & Advice
  • Guide
  • Travel Writing
  • Cookie Policy (UK)
  • Conservation
  • Privacy
  • Travel Writing Competition 2025
  • Reviews
  • Travel Resources
  • T&C
  • Contact Us
  • Conservation
  • Privacy
  • Travel Writing Competition 2025
  • Reviews
  • Travel Resources
  • T&C
  • Contact Us
Pure Travel
Pure Travel
  • About
  • Destination Inspiration
  • Tips & Advice
  • Guide
  • Travel Writing
  • Cookie Policy (UK)
  • Travel Resources

What to Shop for on Your Next Trip to the Polynesian Islands

  • January 30, 2019
  • admin

Your dream vacation is right around the corner and you’re already packing your arsenal of cute bikinis for those magnificent sandy beaches. If you’re planning a trip to the amazing French Polynesia, exciting times are definitely on the schedule – but besides enjoying those picture-perfect blue waters, you’ll definitely need a mini guide on what to shop for on the islands of Tahiti, Bora Bora and Mo’orea. From authentic beach fashion to black pearls that capture the magic of the area and from ornate patchwork to everyone’s favorite flavor, here are the five must-shop items when traveling to the French Polynesian islands.

1. Tifaifai Quilts

If you love the vibrant and tropical-enthused culture of the islands, there’s no better gift to take home than a lovely Tifaifai quilt. Available in the widest range of bold and bright colors and decorated with floral and leaf motifs, these hand-sewn quilts are used on the French Polynesian islands as part of the wedding festivities, where the groom and the bride are wrapped together during the ceremony.

Where to Find Them: Grab your own Tifaifai quilt at one of the craft boutiques around the islands.

The Price: Be prepared to spend at least a couple of hundred dollars on an authentic Tifaifai quilt, as these beauties are very labor-intensive.

2. Black Pearls

The most popular souvenir when visiting the islands of French Polynesia is, without a doubt, the pearl – the black pearl, to be exact. Tahitian black pearls are world-famous for their unique iridescence and wide variety of hues that fall on the dark side, ranging from green to blue and from steel-grey to purple and bronze. Whether you opt for a loose pearl to later use in a custom jewelry design, a pearl necklace or a single pearl on a simple leather bracelet, this particular souvenir perfectly manages to capture the beauty of the exotic islands. Alternatively, if you are looking for creative, fantasy jewelry pieces, opt for carved mother of pearl jewelry, featuring shimmery layered linings of oyster shells.

Where to Find Them: Literally everywhere, from the local markets to the upscale jewelry boutiques.

The Price: You’ll spend anywhere between $40 to a few thousands for a pearl or pearl jewelry piece, depending on the quality, color and size of the gems.

3. Pareu

Known as the Tahitian sarong, the pareu is the perfect beach cover-up when vacationing (or residing) on an exotic island. Available in the widest range of colors and designs, pareus are often hand-painted by local artists, which makes them one of the best, most authentic souvenirs to take back home.

Where to Find Them: Find your vibrant pareu in local galleries and posh boutiques.

The Price: You can find local-produced, authentic pareus for around $100 – and keep in mind that anything cheaper than $50 is usually mass-produced in Asia.

4. Vanilla

If you are an avid baker, you probably know that high quality vanilla beans and extract are hard to come by. But that doesn’t ring true when you are in the French Polynesia. Fact is, Tahitian vanilla is renowned for its intense flavor and equally tempting fragrance, perfect for those Sunday vanilla frosting cupcakes you’re planning on delighting your family with.

Where to Find Them: Get the best quality vanilla beans on the islands of Raiatea and Taha’a. And if you missed this delightful shopping opportunity, make sure to grab some from the airport on your way back home.

The Price: Tahitian vanilla beans cost around $600/kg, considerably more than the Madagascar vanilla beans.

5. Hinano Beer T-shirts

While the ladies visiting the French Polynesia are probably all about those radiant pearls and that irresistible scented vanilla, their male counterparts will surely love this next souvenir: the Hinano beer T-shirt. As the national lager of the island of Tahiti, Hinano comes with an exotic statement logo featuring a Tahitian woman in a traditional pareu.

Where to Find Them: Anywhere on the island of Tahiti, with some good options online, just in case you forgot to pick one up on the islands.

The Price: Save $20-$30 for your Tahitian beer logo tee.

Share
Tweet
Related Topics
  • black pearls
  • Polynesia
  • shopping
  • souvenirs
  • tahiti
admin

Previous Article
  • Destination Inspiration

Eight of the best walking locations to kick-start a healthy 2019

  • January 30, 2019
  • admin
View Post
Next Article
  • Destination Inspiration

4 Tips for an Active Experience When Living in China

  • January 31, 2019
  • admin
View Post
You May Also Like
View Post
  • Travel Resources

5 Best US Wildlife Destinations: Manatees, Wolves & More

  • Jules
  • May 28, 2025
A glamorous woman on holiday
View Post
  • Travel Resources

Travel Light, Smell Divine: Small Perfumes for the Modern Explorer

  • Jules
  • May 27, 2025
Great Migration
View Post
  • Travel Resources

Serengeti Migration Safari: Nature’s Greatest Show on Earth

  • Jules
  • May 21, 2025
Relocating - a family in new home
View Post
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel Resources

Trading Zip Codes and Time Zones – What It Really Takes to Relocate Across State Lines

  • Jules
  • May 19, 2025
Drone shot of a beach
View Post
  • Travel Resources

How to Plan a Trip That Balances Rest and Fun

  • Jules
  • May 12, 2025
A view of Cannon Beach Oregon
View Post
  • Travel Resources

Adventure Together: Creative Ideas for Your Next Family Trip to Cannon Beach

  • Jules
  • May 12, 2025
A young man looking out over the mountains while on a hike.
View Post
  • Travel Resources

How to Add More Outdoor Fun to Your Family Travel Plans

  • Jules
  • May 12, 2025
View Post
  • Travel Resources

Family Travel Made Easy: Tips Every Parent Should Know

  • Jules
  • May 12, 2025
Pure Travel
  • About
  • Destination Inspiration
  • Tips & Advice
  • Guide
  • Travel Writing
  • Cookie Policy (UK)
A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step

Input your search keywords and press Enter.

Pure Travel
Manage Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}