Oceania · French Polynesia
Moorea & Tahiti
Overwater bungalows, a lagoon the colour of a swimming pool and mountains straight out of a myth.
Tahiti is the island the word paradise attached itself to in the 18th century, and Moorea, across a short channel, is the one that still looks it: jagged green peaks around two bays, a lagoon of every blue, and overwater bungalows that started here in the 1960s. Papeete has the market and the ferries, Moorea has the postcards, and Bora Bora is an hour’s flight for the honeymoon budget.
The palm: Coconut palm
In Polynesia the coconut is the tree of life, and the story goes that it grew from the head of an eel who loved a princess. Copra, dried coconut, was the islands’ export for a century, and the groves along the lagoons still produce it. Monoi oil, coconut oil infused with tiare flowers, is the smell of the place.
When to go
Sights
Belvedere lookout, Moorea
The view over Cook’s and Opunohu bays with the peaks around them, and a pineapple road to get there.
Lagoon tour with rays
Boat to the sandbank where stingrays and blacktip sharks swim around your knees.
Papeete market
Vanilla, monoi, pareos and poisson cru on the ground floor of the capital’s market.
Teahupo’o
Tahiti’s legendary surf break at the end of the road on the south coast.
Beaches
Temae, Moorea
The public beach on the north-east corner with a view of Tahiti across the channel.
Ta’ahiamanu
A palm-fringed public beach on Opunohu Bay.
Papenoo and the black sand
Tahiti’s beaches are volcanic and dark; Papenoo has the surf and the sunsets.
Events
- Jul
Heiva i Tahiti
A month of dance, drumming and canoe races in Papeete in July.
- Oct
Hawaiki Nui Va’a
The three day outrigger canoe race between the Leeward Islands.
- Jul
Tiurai and the Bastille Day fireworks
French national day celebrations across the islands.
For remote workers
A comfortable month: about €3,000
Papeete on Tahiti has fibre and a small coworking scene; Moorea, thirty minutes by ferry, is slower in every sense. French Polynesia is a French territory, so EU citizens can stay 90 days without a visa, and the time zone puts your afternoon in Europe’s early morning. A month here is a reward, not a base.
Compare as a baseFor families
The lagoons are calm, shallow and full of rays and reef sharks that children can watch from a boat or the shallows at Moorea’s sandbank. Temae beach on Moorea is public and lovely. The main hospital is on Tahiti, so keep Moorea plans within a ferry ride.
Rank for your familyThree things to know
- May to October is the dry season with cooler nights; November to April is hot, humid and greener.
- Pensions, the family guesthouses, cost a fraction of the resorts and put you on the same lagoon.
- Eat poisson cru, raw tuna in coconut milk and lime, from a roulotte food truck on the Papeete waterfront.
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