Tahiti & Her Islands

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French Polynesia, nicknamed 'the islands closest to paradise', is an archipelago of 118 islands and atolls scattered across the South Pacific over an area the size of Europe. Tahiti, the largest island, is home to the lively capital Papeete. Bora Bora, nicknamed the 'Pearl of the Pacific', is world-famous for its overwater bungalows and its turquoise lagoon. Moorea, 17 km from Tahiti, offers lush nature and spectacular bays.

Five archipelagos, 118 islands

All the dry land of this immense territory would fit inside a single French département: these are specks of coral and basalt lost in the ocean. Five archipelagos make it up: the Society Islands, the most visited, with Tahiti, Moorea and Bora Bora; the Tuamotu, a string of flat atolls known for diving, among them Rangiroa and Fakarava, a UNESCO biosphere reserve; the Marquesas, high and wild, where Paul Gauguin and Jacques Brel are buried; the Austral Islands, cooler, where whales are watched; and the Gambier, the most distant, known for their black pearls.

Tahiti holds most of the population and the only international airport, Tahiti-Faa'a (PPT), a few minutes from Papeete. It is reached from Europe in around twenty hours of flying, usually via Los Angeles, Vancouver or Tokyo. Many travellers merely pass through Tahiti on their way to Moorea, thirty minutes by ferry, or Bora Bora, about fifty minutes by air. The island deserves better than that stopover: the Papeete market, the Taiarapu peninsula, the interior valleys, and the wave at Teahupo'o, one of the most feared in the world.

Two seasons, two budgets

The climate is tropical and splits into two seasons. From May to October the southern winter brings drier air and temperatures around 27 °C: the best period, and the most expensive. From November to April the hot season raises humidity and the risk of tropical depressions, but rates fall sharply and the landscape is a brilliant green. Humpback whales, for their part, come through from July to November — reason enough to fix a trip around them.

Sleeping, moving, eating

French Polynesia has a reputation for being out of reach, partly deserved: the overwater bungalow has to be paid for. But there is another way to travel here, through the pensions de famille — rooms in family homes, often with meals — which divide the bill and offer a contact the resorts cannot give. The currency is the CFP franc (XPF), pegged to the euro at a fixed rate, so there are no exchange surprises.

On Tahiti, the coast road circles the island in about 115 km: a hire car remains the simplest way to enjoy it, taking in the Vaipahi water gardens, the Maraa caves and the three Faarumai waterfalls along the way. Between islands, though, almost everything goes by air — Air Tahiti serves some forty islands, and Moorea is the only one linked to Tahiti by a regular ferry.

At the table, the national dish is raw fish in coconut milk (ia ota), red tuna marinated in lime. In the evening, the roulottes on Place Vai'ete in Papeete serve grilled fish, skewers and chao men facing the harbour: the cheapest and liveliest meal on the island.

Essentials & your questions