advice on having 4 days in tahiti

OK, its been 12 years.
Les 3 Brasseurs is a good pub type food place and microbrewery.
Belvedere restaurant high up on the side of the mountain overlooking Papeete is worth an evening. They will provide transportation.
Restaurants not super expensive in my recollection.
Ferry to Mo'orea and rent Vespas and tour the island.

My only advice would be, fer crying out loud, you're going all the way to Tahiti - and you're only going to spend FOUR DAYS?!

That seems a little crazy to me. I have not been there myself but have invested many hours in planning/dreaming. If I was going to all the trouble and expense of getting there (probably a once-in-a-lifetime destination for most people), I would want to be sure I wrung all out of the trip that I possibly could, so I'd try to find some way to be there for more than just 4 days. But maybe I'm crazy, or maybe you'll get to go to Tahiti often so it's not a one-time opportunity. And I suppose 4 days in Tahiti would beat no days in Tahiti, but still….it would kill me to leave the place just a few days after getting there.

Hi Judy, We just returned from 32 day trip to Tahiti, Moorea and a freighter cruise to the Marquesas Islands. We spent 3 nights, 2 days on Tahiti before our cruise, one day walking around Papeete and one day with a rental car touring the islands' sites. We ate breakfast at our BnB, "Fare Suisse", picked up a snack at a supermarche for lunch and then ate our dinners at Les Roulottes (food trucks on the ocean side park) for dinner, much less expensive than restaurants and lots of local ambiance. If you have only 4 days, I would spend 2 days on Tahiti island and 2 days on Moorea, a 35 min. ferry ride from Papeete. Then you would have beautiful beaches, snorkeling, scuba and surfing opportunities and gorgeous sightseeing around the island. Alternately, for a much larger cost and deluxe experience, you could stay at an over water bungelow style resort on both islands. Guide book by author Jan Prince "Tahiti and French Polynesia 6th edition" by Open Roads Publishing is a great place to start. Jan is an American ex-pat living in Moorea. PM me if you have any other specific questions. Have a great time. Au revoir, Sherry

So we are also 4 day dummies to tahiti( lets qualify 12 days in new zealand then 18 days from tahiti to sydney on the oceania then back to toronto)

Does it make sense to rent a car spend 2 nights in tahiti ( intercontinental) then take the ferry with car to moorea 2 nights then drive back to tahiti for the cruise out of papette ? We are staying at the pearl in moorea for the second 2 nights