Plan · Route templates
Routes that
actually flow.
Four field-tested shapes for a first, second, or ambitious trip — with the logic exposed so you can bend them to your dates.
01 / The logic
Direction,
then depth.
Good routes obey three rules. First, anchor the scarce bookings — international seats, must-have rooms, Marquesas flights — and flex everything else around them. Second, move in one direction; passes and schedules reward loops that don't backtrack through Papeete mid-trip. Third, give every island a full recovery day with nothing booked: weather and boats will spend it for you anyway.
The templates below assume the common ten-to-fourteen-day frame. Stretch them rather than squeezing extra islands in; the country rewards depth over collection.
02 / The first compass
Tahiti, Moorea,
Bora Bora — 10 days.
- 01Tahiti · 1 night
Land late, sleep near the airport or town, market run at dawn before the ferry.
- 02Moorea · 4 nights
Ferry across; lagoon day, belt-road day, whale or hiking day, spare day. The trip's easy heart.
- 03Bora Bora · 4 nights
Fly via Papeete; split mainland value and motu splendor if budget allows; lagoon tour early in the stay.
- 04Tahiti · 1 night
Buffer night before the long flight home — never chain the last Bora flight to international departure.
03 / Lagoon & reef
Add the Tuamotus
— 14 days.
- 01Moorea · 4 nights
Start easy as above; certify or refresh dive skills here if needed.
- 02Rangiroa · 4 nights
Fly direct from Papeete; dive the passes on the operators' tide calendar; dolphin dusk at Tiputa.
- 03Fakarava · 4 nights
Short hop south; split north and south passes if beds allow; the biosphere at full strength.
- 04Tahiti · 2 nights
Decompress (divers: respect no-fly intervals), market, one grand dinner.
04 / The slow Leewards
Guesthouse
circuit — 12 days.
- 01Huahine · 4 nights
Fly from Papeete; bikes, marae, Avea Bay; the gentlest landing in the islands.
- 02Raiatea & Taha'a · 4 nights
Ferry or short flight; Taputapuatea, the Faaroa river, a vanilla-farm day across the lagoon.
- 03Maupiti · 3 nights
Via Bora or direct; pension full-board, the sandbar walk, the ridge at dawn.
- 04Tahiti · 1 night
Return buffer; swap in Bora Bora before Maupiti if the icon calls.
05 / The far journey
Marquesas
— by air or freighter.
- 01Choose the vehicle
Fly (3.5 h) for depth on one or two islands, or ride the Aranui's ~12-day loop for six islands with a floating hotel.
- 02Nuku Hiva · 3–4 nights
Taiohae base; Hakaui waterfall day, Hatiheu's sites, Taipivai valley.
- 03Hiva Oa · 3–4 nights
Atuona's painters and singers; the Puamau tiki day along the coast road.
- 04Re-enter gently
Overnight Tahiti on return; the Marquesas reset your clock in more ways than one.
Reality check
The map is
not the schedule.
Island order lives and dies on flight days — some routes run daily, others twice a week. Draft the dream, then redraw it against the current Air Tahiti timetable before booking anything non-refundable.
Getting there & around →Keep planning