Plan · Routes
Four itineraries.
Four shapes for a first, second or longer trip, with the reasoning shown so you can bend them to your dates. Two nights per island is transit, not a visit.
Bora Bora lagoon from the air
Three rules. Anchor the scarce bookings first. Move in one direction so you do not pass through Papeete in the middle. Give every island a day with nothing booked. The routes below assume ten to fourteen days; stretch them rather than adding islands.
01 · The first trip
Tahiti, Moorea,
Bora Bora. Ten days.
- 01
Tahiti, one night
Land late, sleep near the airport or in town, the market at dawn before the ferry.
- 02
Moorea, four nights
Ferry across; a lagoon day, a belt-road day with the Belvedere, a whale or hiking day in season, a spare day.
- 03
Bora Bora, four nights
Fly via Papeete or direct from Moorea. Split a mainland pension and a motu resort if the budget allows. Book the lagoon tour for the first full day.
- 04
Tahiti, one night
The buffer before the long flight home. Never chain the last Bora Bora flight to the international departure.
02 · Lagoon and reef
Add the Tuamotu.
Fourteen days.
- 01
Moorea, four nights
Start as above; refresh or complete dive training here.
- 02
Rangiroa, four nights
Direct from Papeete. Dives on the operators' tide calendar; the Blue Lagoon; dolphins at Ohotu every evening.
- 03
Fakarava, four nights
Direct from Rangiroa, daily in the summer timetable. Split the north and the south pass if beds allow; time it to the June or July full moon if the groupers are the point.
- 04
Tahiti, two nights
Respect the no-fly interval after the last dive. The market, the museum, one good dinner.
03 · The slow Leewards
Pensions by ferry.
Twelve days.
- 01
Huahine, four nights
Fly from Papeete, or take the Apetahi Express, which calls here first. Bikes, Maeva, the eels, Avea Bay.
- 02
Raiatea and Taha'a, four nights
The ferry or a short flight. Taputapuātea, the Faaroa river, and a day across the lagoon for vanilla, pearls and the coral garden.
- 03
Maupiti, three nights
By air, or by the ferry on to the end of the line. A pension with half board, the wade to Auira, the summit at dawn. Keep a spare day for the pass.
- 04
Tahiti, one night
Return buffer. Swap Bora Bora in before Maupiti if the famous lagoon is a must.
04 · The Marquesas
By air or
by freighter.
- 01
Choose the vehicle
Fly, 3 h 15, for depth on one or two islands; or ride the Aranui's 12-day loop for six islands with a day on each.
- 02
Nuku Hiva, four nights
Taiohae base; the Hakaui boat-and-walk; Hatiheu's sites and Anaho by 4WD; a spare day.
- 03
Hiva Oa, three or four nights
Fifty minutes by air. Atuona's graves and museums; the Puamau tiki day; Tahuata by boat.
- 04
Tahiti, one night
The Marquesas are half an hour ahead and a long way out. Re-enter gently.
05 · Reality check
The map is not
the timetable.
Island order lives on flight days. Some routes run daily, some twice a week, and Rangiroa to Fakarava runs daily one way and only on Mondays the other. Draft the trip, then redraw it against the current Air Tahiti timetable before booking anything non-refundable. The Austral Pass and the Marquesas fares are the other fixed points: they set the shape of any trip south or north-east.
Related
Related pages.
Society Islands
Moorea
Thirty minutes from Tahiti by ferry. Rays off the beaches, humpback whales outside the reef from July.
Open the island guide
Tuamotu
Fakarava
A UNESCO biosphere reserve with several hundred grey reef sharks in its south pass.
Open the island guide
Society Islands
Huahine
Two islands inside one reef, restored marae beside a lake, and family pensions instead of resorts.
Open the island guide
Marquesas
Nuku Hiva
The largest Marquesan island. No reef, no lagoon; valleys reached by boat and a 350-metre waterfall.
Open the island guide