Austral Islands

Getting there

Four islands have an airfield: Rurutu, Tubuai, Rimatara and Raivavae, linked to Tahiti-Faa’a by Air Tahiti several times a week. Tahiti Tourisme gives flight times of 1 hr 30 min to Rurutu, 1 hr 40 min to Tubuai and 1 hr 55 min to Raivavae, whose airfield is ten minutes from the village; Rimatara has regular direct flights. Rurutu’s airfield is in the north of the island, far from the villages; on Raivavae there is no shuttle, the host collects guests. Rapa has no airfield and is reached only by sea.

The cargo-passenger ship Tuhaa Pae IV, of the Société de navigation des Australes, sails from Motu Uta in Papeete. The DPAM atlas gives it 76 passengers, 35 hr 30 min at sea to Rimatara, then 8 hr 18 min to Rurutu, 11 hr 42 min to Tubuai, 11 hr 06 min to Raivavae, 29 hr 48 min to Rapa and 67 hr 36 min back to Papeete, with at least 26 calls a year at the four northern islands and 12 at Rapa, that is two departures a month on average. The operator’s programme for autumn 2026 shows voyages of 10 to 14 days, Rapa included on some. The Aranui announces an Austral cruise from 24 October to 5 November 2026.

Climate and seasons

Météo-France gives the Austral Islands the least favourable weather in French Polynesia: the archipelago comes close to the temperate zones in the cool season and to the tropical zones in the warm season, with rain fairly evenly spread over the year, high humidity, mean temperatures below 25 °C, winds stronger and more variable than elsewhere, the lowest sunshine in the territory and the heaviest swells outside cyclones. Tahiti Tourisme notes temperatures of 15 to 20 °C on Rurutu between June and October and water that is a little cool. Rapa, at 27° 36’ south, has according to the Direction de l’environnement a subtropical to sub-temperate climate, a 20.6 °C mean, lows down to 8.5 °C, 2,500 mm of rain a year, little sun and strong winds. The Haut-commissariat points out that the cyclone season runs from November to April.

Island by island

Rurutu, in the north of the archipelago, is the island of whales and caves: a limestone landscape pierced with cavities, Ana Taupe’e among them, cliffs where seashells show, a small lagoon and Vitaria beach; the villages are Moerai, Avera and Hauti. Tubuai, 45.6 km², the largest of the Australs, has Mount Taitaa (422 m) as its lookout, a vast shallow lagoon with half a dozen motu, among them the picnic motu Toena, Fort George of the Bounty mutineers and lychees exported in December; Mataura gathers the town hall, the gendarmerie and the only bank. Raivavae, four villages under Mount Hiro (438 m), has a lagoon of 28 motu, the swimming-pool motu among them; people live from fishing, lychees and canoe building, among tiki and marae. Rimatara, a circle 3.3 km across, the smallest inhabited island, shelters Kuhl’s lorikeet, the ‘ura, threatened with extinction. Rapa, 40 km², Mount Perau at 650 m, is the southernmost: the two villages of Ahurei and Area face each other across a deep bay, and the ridges carry the pa, fortresses of the 14th and 15th centuries. The archipelago lives from farming and from pandanus woven into hats, baskets and mats.

The whales

Humpback whales reach French Polynesia from July to the end of October according to the Direction de l’environnement, from July to November according to Tahiti Tourisme, to calve and raise their young in water of 21 to 27 °C; Rurutu and Tubuai are the islands where they are seen most, often from the shore, for instance from the headlands near Moerai. French Polynesia is a marine mammal sanctuary. Watching trips are allowed only from 20 July to 20 November, from 7.30 to 17.30, and only licensed operators holding a certificate of competence may run them; in the Australs the permits concern Rurutu and Tubuai only. The rules: nobody within 15 m of the animal, no boat within 100 m, three boats at most within 300 m, speed under 3 knots, fifteen minutes of watching, no more than seven people in the water per vessel, and never in the lagoons, bays and passes.

Where to stay and eat

There is no hotel on Tubuai or Raivavae, and no luxury hotel on Rurutu: you stay in family guesthouses. The Service du tourisme’s list of 31 March 2026 counts 20 of them in the Australs, 94 units and 264 beds: eight on Rurutu (Moerai, Peva, Vitaria), six on Raivavae (Vaiuru, Rairua, Anatonu), four on Tubuai (Mataura, Taahueia) and two on Rimatara; none is listed for Rapa. On Raivavae half board is included, dinner is cooked over a wood fire with taro, ipo and grilled fish, and lunch is taken on the day’s excursion. Hosts collect guests at the airfield and take them to the caves, onto the lagoon or to the taro fields. On Tubuai one road circles the island and another crosses it; you get around by bicycle or on foot, on Rurutu by hire car or on horseback.

On the islands

Tourist tax: the communes of Rurutu and Tubuai have no website, and no deliberation could be consulted; the 1997 regime applies until 31 December 2026 (20 to 60 F CFP per person per night outside classified hotels, under-12s exempt), then country law 2025-38 from 1 January 2027, with a ceiling of 100 F CFP in family guesthouses and exemption for under-2s. Money: Tubuai’s only bank, with a cash machine, is in Mataura; Tahiti Tourisme advises cash on the remote islands and points out that the dollar is not accepted. Water: the Centre de santé environnementale points out that tap water is not drinkable everywhere and that untreated rainwater is not; boil it for a minute or take bottled water. Crafts in the Australs are often women’s work; on Tubuai the craft centre is in Mataura, and on Rurutu the pandanus weavers host basket-weaving sessions. The tourism committees of Rurutu, Tubuai, Raivavae, Rimatara and Rapa are the local contacts, and whale trips go through the licensed operators of Rurutu and Tubuai.