Tahiti, the arrival island

Tahiti-Faa’a international airport is the only air entry point into French Polynesia, and it is also the starting point of the domestic flights and, from the Papeete ferry terminal, of the ferries and cargo ships. Tahiti is the largest island in the country, volcanic, dominated by Mount Orohena (2,241 m), the highest peak in French Polynesia; its twelve communes counted nearly 192,000 inhabitants at the 2022 census, out of 279,000 for the whole country. Papeete, the capital, has its market, its tourist office on the waterfront (open Monday to Friday from 8 am to 5.30 pm and Saturday from 8 am to 4 pm) and, in Punaauia, the Musée de Tahiti et des Îles.

Many travellers only spend a night there on arrival or departure; the island is still worth a day or two for the Fautaua valley in Papeete, open with a permit from the town hall (600 F CFP per adult, that is €5.03), the Arahurahu marae in Paea, the Teahupo’o coast and, in July, the Heiva i Tahiti at To’atā (from 2 to 18 July in 2026).

Moorea, a ferry ride away

Moorea is Tahiti’s sister island, 17 km to the north-west. The ferries from Papeete reach Vaiare in 25 to 50 minutes depending on the vessel and the source, for 1,100 to 1,900 F CFP one way per adult (€9.22 to €15.92), and the plane gets there in 15 minutes. It is the simplest island to add to a stay, even for a single day; the ferries carry cars, and Hertz offers insurance for the crossing of a vehicle hired on Tahiti.

Two large bays, Cook and Opunohu, separated by Mount Rotui (899 m), a lagoon with twelve passes, the Opunohu Belvédère at 240 m with its signposted trails and the Col des Trois Cocotiers (6.6 km, moderately difficult) make up most of the visit; the lagoon outings to the rays and blacktip sharks are booked early, as they are in high demand from residents and visitors alike. The car and scooter hire firms are at Vaiare and Maharepa, and the tourism committee at Paopao. The bus only follows the coast road: plan on a vehicle or transfers with the accommodation.

The Leeward Islands, by air or by sea

Huahine, Raiatea, Taha’a and Bora Bora form, with Maupiti, the Leeward Islands. From Tahiti, Huahine is 35 to 40 minutes away by air, Raiatea 45 and Bora Bora 50; the Apetahi Express links them by sea in 3 hours to Huahine and about 8 hours to Bora Bora. Bora Bora (10,758 inhabitants in 2022) has its airport on a motu, like most of its hotels: every move is made by boat, and the transfer to Vaitape takes 15 minutes. Raiatea, with Uturoa as its main town, holds the marae of Taputapuātea, a World Heritage site since 2017, and the yacht charter bases; Taha’a, in the same lagoon, has no airport and is reached in 30 minutes by boat from Raiatea, for its vanilla plantations and pearl farms. Huahine (6,263 inhabitants), which Tahiti Tourisme calls “the secret island”, keeps its marae at Maeva and its village of Fare.

When combining islands, the direct flights matter: Raiatea–Bora Bora in 20 minutes, Moorea–Bora Bora in 50 minutes with Air Moana, Huahine from Bora Bora with Air Tahiti, and a 30-day Pass Tuatea on the ferries for those with time.

The Tuamotu, for divers

The Tuamotu are 76 atolls spread over 1,500 km; Rangiroa, Fakarava and Tikehau, in the Palliser group, are an hour’s flight from Tahiti, a little more for Fakarava. Rangiroa (3,761 inhabitants in the commune) is the largest atoll in French Polynesia; its Tiputa and Avatoru passes are dived between 12 and 46 m, with strong currents, and the Éolienne site suits beginners. Fakarava (1,679 inhabitants), a UNESCO biosphere reserve, has the widest pass in the country, Garuae, 1,600 m, and in the south the Tumakohua pass and its “wall of sharks”, an hour and a half by boat from Rotoava. Tikehau, 589 inhabitants, has a single pass, Tuheiava, 8 to 23 m, rated for all levels.

The atolls combine with each other and with Bora Bora without going back through Tahiti: Air Moana links Bora Bora with Rangiroa, Tikehau and Fakarava, and Rangiroa with Tikehau and Fakarava. Bring cash: the guesthouses and small shops of the remote islands often work without cards. The rainy season there runs from November to April; sunshine approaches 3,000 hours a year.

The Marquesas, for a longer stay

The Marquesas lie 1,500 km north-east of Tahiti, 3 hr 15 min to 3 hr 50 min by air to Nuku Hiva and about 3 hr 15 min to Hiva Oa, with a time difference of 30 minutes ahead of Papeete. Six islands are inhabited (9,478 inhabitants in 2022); the archipelago, Te Henua Enata, has been a World Heritage site since 2024 for its landscapes of ridges and cliffs over 1,000 m and its culture. There is no coral reef as in the Society Islands, and the seasons are little marked, with rain from January to August. On Nuku Hiva, Taiohae is about an hour and a half by road from the airport; the Vaipo waterfall (350 m) is earned by a difficult five-hour round-trip walk. On Hiva Oa, Atuona keeps the graves of Gauguin and Brel in the Calvaire cemetery, and the Puamau valley the Lipona site and its 2.57 m tiki.

The other way to get there is the Aranui 5, a cargo-passenger ship for 230 passengers that tours the six islands from Papeete in 12 days, by way of the Tuamotu. Either way, allow at least a week more than for a circuit in the Society Islands.

The Australs, cooler and less visited

The Australs, a 90-minute flight south-west of Tahiti, are five inhabited islands: Rurutu, Tubuai, Rimatara and Raivavae, served by Air Tahiti several times a week, and Rapa, with no airport, about six days away by cargo ship. The climate is cooler, with average temperatures below 25 °C, rain spread over the year, and the strongest wind and swell in the country. Rurutu, “whale island”, receives humpback whales from July to November, above all from August to October, in a landscape of limestone caves; Tubuai, the administrative centre, has a vast shallow lagoon and the archipelago’s only bank at Mataura; Raivavae, 28 motu in its lagoon, has no hotel, only guesthouses, and Rurutu has no luxury hotel.

The Tuhaa Pae IV tours the archipelago as a cargo-passenger ship, 7 to 8 days for the classic circuit, 10 to 11 days as far as Rapa, on full board. These are islands for a second trip or a long stay, for those who come for the whales, the crafts and the food crops rather than the lagoon hotels.

Three ways to combine

Ten days: Tahiti on arrival, two or three nights on Moorea by ferry, then Bora Bora in a 50-minute flight from Moorea with Air Moana, and back to Tahiti in 50 minutes. Fifteen days: the same base, with Huahine or Raiatea and Taha’a before Bora Bora, then a Tuamotu atoll on a direct flight from Bora Bora (Rangiroa, Tikehau or Fakarava) before returning to Tahiti in an hour. Three weeks or more: add the Marquesas by air or on the Aranui 5, or the Australs in whale season.

The choices, in plain terms: Bora Bora and its hotels on motu mean a boat transfer for every move; the Tuamotu call for cash and a taste for the water, as they are low islands with villages of a few hundred people; the Marquesas take a day of flying there and back and have neither lagoon nor reef in the manner of the Society Islands; the Australs are cooler between May and October. Timetables are not reproduced here: check the flight days on the airlines’ sites before settling the order of the islands, in particular for Fakarava, served a few times a week.

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Timetables, provider conditions, entry rules, weather-sensitive activities and commercial terms are rechecked for the actual trip. This article explains the planning logic; it is not a live availability promise.

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Polynesia Local editorial desk · sources cited on every entry · 20 October 2026