The Society
Islands.

01 · The short answer

Two groups,
one way in.

Windward Islands (Îles du Vent): Tahiti and Moorea, plus three islands most visitors never see — the atoll of Tetiaroa, Maiao and the uninhabited volcano Mehetia³. Leeward Islands (Îles Sous-le-Vent, or Raromatai in Tahitian⁴): Huahine, Raiatea, Taha'a, Bora Bora and Maupiti, plus the atoll of Tupai and three remote atolls far to the west³.

Seven of these islands have scheduled transport and places to stay: Tahiti, Moorea, Huahine, Raiatea, Taha'a, Bora Bora and Maupiti. Air Tahiti serves all seven, Taha'a through Raiatea's airport⁴. Moorea also has ferries from Papeete all day, and the five Leeward islands share one fast ferry, the Apetahi Express, three days a week⁵.

The real choice is less about which group than about how many flights you want. Tahiti and Moorea work as one unit linked by boat. The Leewards are a 40- to 55-minute flight from Tahiti⁶⁷ or most of a day on the ferry, and close to each other once you are there: Huahine is 20 to 35 minutes by air from Bora Bora, Raiatea or Moorea⁸.

03 · The Windward Islands

Tahiti, Moorea
and three you won't visit.

Tahiti is the capital island and the gateway: the airport, the port, Papeete's market and 191,779 people, more than two-thirds of the country¹. Its lagoon is narrow and most beaches are black sand, which is why most visitors give it a night or two at each end of the trip rather than a week. Moorea sits 17 km away²⁰ — close enough that Aremiti alone runs nine sailings from Papeete on weekdays, 05:15 to 17:30, cars included, at 2,350 XPF (approximately US$23) one way for a visitor (fares from 19 July 2026)¹⁶.

Tetiaroa is an atoll of 13 motu that Marlon Brando bought a few years after filming Mutiny on the Bounty in 1960²¹. Today it is The Brando: 35 villas and a residence on Motu Onetahi, a 20-minute private flight from Tahiti²². Tahiti Tourisme also lists catamaran day trips, private charters and helicopter flights; the other motu are kept for wildlife observation and research²¹.

Maiao, with 343 residents in 2022, belongs to the Moorea-Maiao commune⁹ and encloses two hypersaline lakes²³. Air Tahiti doesn't fly there⁴ and Tahiti Tourisme doesn't list it among its islands²⁴: treat it as a place where people live, not one you can book. Mehetia, about 110 km east of Tahiti's Taiarapu peninsula, is an uninhabited young volcano²⁵ that marks the present position of the hotspot that built the whole chain³.

04 · The Leeward Islands

Five islands
on one ferry line.

Huahine is the first stop out of Papeete: two islands, Nui and Iti, inside one reef, with restored marae at Maeva and only two operating hotels — the rest is family pensions²⁸. Raiatea and Taha'a share one lagoon⁴. Raiatea has Uturoa, the administrative town of the Leewards, the yacht-charter bases and Taputapuātea²⁹; Taha'a has no airport, vanilla farms and the motu hotels that look across to Bora Bora.

Bora Bora is the reason many people come: Mount Otemanu, 727 m, in the middle of a wide lagoon³⁰, a ring of motu with the overwater resorts, and 30.5% of all the international-hotel room-nights sold in the country¹⁸. Maupiti, at the end of the ferry line, is the same shape at a smaller scale, with family pensions, no bank and no ATM³¹. Every boat enters through one narrow southern pass, which a big south swell can close³².

Tupai, a heart-shaped atoll about 19 km north of Bora Bora, is uninhabited; a visit needs special permission and there is nowhere to stay³³. Far to the west, Maupihaa (Mopelia), Manuae (Scilly) and Motu One (Bellingshausen) have a few dozen residents between them at most³ and no scheduled flights⁴. Maupihaa is where the German raider Seeadler ran aground in 1917³⁴. They are destinations for yachts, not for trip planning.

09 · Routes

Three ways
to loop the group.

Mostly by ferry. Tahiti to Huahine on a Tuesday, Friday or Sunday sailing, which leaves Papeete at 06:30⁵; Huahine to Raiatea or Taha'a on a later sailing; on to Bora Bora; fly back to Tahiti. Every Leeward leg costs the same 8,000–9,000 XPF (approximately US$78–88, 2026 fares)³⁶, so the boat is cheapest for the long legs and poor value for the short Raiatea–Taha'a hop, where the local shuttle does the job³⁷.

By air. Tahiti, Huahine, Raiatea, Bora Bora and back, with Moorea at either end by ferry. Bora Bora's direct flights to Moorea, Maupiti and the Tuamotu mean you can also leave the group without going back through Papeete⁴.

Short and simple. Tahiti and Moorea only, by ferry: no domestic flight at all, and the cheapest version of the Society Islands.

However you route it, keep a buffer night on Tahiti before the international flight. Weather can cancel boats, and Maupiti's pass is closed in a big south swell³².

10 · When to go

Dry winter,
wet summer.

The whole group follows one pattern: a drier, slightly cooler southern winter and a hot, wet southern summer. At Faa'a, average rainfall runs from 41 mm in August to 279 mm in December, 1,579 mm a year; the mountain interiors get far more³⁸.

Events move demand as much as weather. July is the Heiva month on Tahiti; the Hawaiki Nui Va'a canoe race runs from Huahine to Bora Bora (28–30 October in 2026) and fills the Leewards that week³⁹. Month-by-month detail is in when to go.