Papenoo Valley Waterfalls

Papenoo Valley / Vaihiria River Valley, Tahiti Island, French Polynesia

About Papenoo Valley Waterfalls

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The Papenoo Valley Waterfalls page is where I’m placing the handful of waterfalls we managed to see while on a 4×4 tour through the heart of Tahiti Nui.

The three named waterfalls (or at least named by our 2002 version of LP) used to be on separate pages, but I figured it now makes more sense to just lump them onto this page.

The three named waterfalls I speak of are the Topatari Falls, Vaiharuru Falls, and Puraha Falls, respectively.

All three of these falls were on the Papenoo Valley part of the 4×4 tour, which comprised much of the morning.

Tahiti_4x4_010_09092002 - Vaiharuru Falls in Papenoo Valley
Vaiharuru Falls in Papenoo Valley

There were more waterfalls in the afternoon though technically that was in Vaihiria River Valley, whose main river drained the only freshwater lake in Tahiti – Lake Vaihiria.

Topatari Falls (or the Topatari Waterfall), which was the first major waterfall we saw as we went from north to south in Papenoo Valley, was mostly in shadow on the morning we were here back in September 2002. That was probably because it was a west-facing waterfall.

I recalled that the driver didn’t stop for this falls so I had to get what photos that I could while standing in the back of the rugged tour truck. And getting a decent shot wasn’t easy as the vehicle rocked back and forth over the rough 4×4 road.

Vaiharuru Falls (not to be confused with the one near the Faatautia River) was the second major waterfall we saw during our 4wd excursion through Papenoo Valley.

And since this was an east facing waterfall, the morning light was pretty good so the driver actually stopped the 4wd vehicle so we could get out of the truck and take photos in front of it for a few minutes. This one sat a few minutes south of Topatari Falls.

Tahiti_4x4_021_09092002 - Puraha Falls in Papenoo Valley
Puraha Falls in Papenoo Valley

Puraha Falls was the third major waterfall that we saw in Papenoo Valley. This one sat behind a green yet clear manmade lake. In fact, the falls spilled right into the lake.

I had seen photos of this waterfall with fuller flow, but considering that we were here towards the latter part of the Dry Season in 2002, we were content that it was flowing as well as it did.

Since this falls was a west-facing waterfall, we had to look against the sun in order to photograph it, which didn’t produce the best lighting.

But at least with the open space and road being less bumpy as we crossed before the falls, it wasn’t as difficult to photograph as say Topatari Falls was.

The rest of the waterfalls we noticed on both the Papenoo Valley side and the Vaihiria River Valley side seemed to be of the temporary ephemeral variety.

I recalled the driver stopped at a couple of these for a swim to cool off from the tropical heat. See how many you can spot before you start to get waterfall fatigue.

Tahiti_4x4_076_09092002 - This waterfall towards the end of the 4x4 tour was said to be in some kind of European shampoo commercial
This waterfall towards the end of the 4×4 tour was said to be in some kind of European shampoo commercial

There was also one small but pretty waterfall we noticed towards the end of the trip that the driver said was in some kind of European shampoo commercial.

Flanked by pretty flowers and tropical plants, it looked like a real inviting place for a swim though we only stopped to take photos for that waterfall and not swim there.

Authorities

The Papenoo Valley Waterfalls are on Tahiti Island in Tahiti (or more formally French Polynesia). For information or inquiries about this area as well as current conditions, visit the Tahiti Tourism website or their Facebook page.

Maps and Routing Content are for annual subscribers. See Membership Options.
Content is for subscribers. See Membership Options.

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Tagged with: papenoo, tahiti nui, tahiiti, french polynesia, papeete, south pacific, waterfall, vaihiria, mataeia



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Cascade Topatari (Tahiti, French Polynesia) August 28, 2020 11:22 am by Jose Luis Sanchez Esteban - This is the 1st. waterfall in the Papenoo Valley. Coordinates: -17.5595, -149.4265 ...Read More
Another Papenoo Waterfall! August 25, 2013 1:23 pm by Jose Luis Sanchez Esteban - Checking my pictures I found a waterfall located between the Topatari and Vaiharuru ones of which I've got no information. Firstly I though it was Vaiharuru itself, but look at the pictures and will see they're different. Any idea? Thanks in advance. ...Read More
Papenoo Valley Waterfall (Tahiti) August 24, 2013 7:20 pm by Jose Luis Sanchez Esteban - This is a waterfall I found along the Papenoo Valley which doesn't seem to be neither Topatari, Vahiraruru nor Puraha, and neither seems to be a seasonal one. Does anybody know if it has a name? Both pictures are of the same waterfall. ...Read More

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Johnny Cheng

About Johnny Cheng

Johnny Cheng is the founder of the World of Waterfalls and author of the award-winning A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls. Over the last 2 decades, he has visited thousands of waterfalls in over 40 countries around the world and nearly 40 states in the USA.
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