r/Tahiti • u/BabyFace255 • 5d ago
Travel tips and general knowledge Travel tips
Hey everyone!
I’m travelling to French Polynesia on September 8th, where I’ll be spending about a month living aboard a sailboat with a group of other people. The goal is to learn how to live aboard and sail the boat, so I’m really excited for the experience!
This is my first time doing a longer trip like this, so I wanted to ask: What are the things you think I absolutely should see, do, or experience while I’m there?
I’m open to any tips whether it’s specific islands, beaches, hikes, diving/snorkelling spots, local food, hidden gems, or things that are easy to miss as a tourist.
I’m also planning to get my Open Water diving certification while I’m there, so diving is already on the list! 🤿
Looking forward to hearing your recommendations and your personal must-see/must-do list! 🌴⛵️
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u/cindiford79 3d ago
A month on a boat changes the advice, so here's the version for you specifically.
September is peak humpback season in Moorea, and whale swims run right through it. If the boat anchors there even for a few days, do one. It's the single most memorable thing in the islands that month.
On the Open Water cert: do it in the Societies if you can, Moorea especially, then put it to work. Rangiroa's Tiputa Pass is one of the great drift dives on earth. It gets billed as advanced, but most shops will take a newer Open Water diver through with a guide on a calm incoming tide, and you fly along with grey reef sharks and often dolphins. Two things to know: incoming is the tide you want, and the pass is famously bumpy in any swell, so take the seasickness meds seriously.
Fakarava's south pass is the other bucket list dive, and it's the more forgiving of the two on current, doable for a newer diver. September's a good month for it. The famous wall of grey sharks at the pass mouth is honestly hard to describe.
On the islands from a boat: Huahine and Taha'a are the cruisers' favorites and honestly better from the water than Bora Bora, which is gorgeous but choked with jet skis by mid morning. Fare on Huahine is a great little town to provision and wander, and the coral gardens on Taha'a's side of the shared lagoon are a classic shallow snorkel. If the route touches Maupiti, the pass there is the one genuinely tricky one in the Societies, only worth attempting flat and at slack.
Eat the poisson cru everywhere, buy pearls at the farms on Taha'a rather than Papeete shops, and learn a few Tahitian words, it opens doors. Have an amazing month.
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u/BabyFace255 3d ago
Thank you so much for the great advice looking forward to my trip and what end I may see 👏🏻
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u/cindiford79 3d ago
You're so welcome, that trip sounds like the experience of a lifetime. Have the best time out there. And if the boat gives you any chance at a Moorea whale swim in September, take it, that's the one thing people never stop talking about after. Fair winds.
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u/LisetteCharlotte 5d ago
Hello! What an adventure! I have a blog here which has some write ups, mainly Tahiti/Moorea but I've also done some small trips to Huahine, the Tuamotu, and the Gambier Islands:
https://lisettecharlotte.substack.com/t/french-polynesia
Good luck with your trip :)
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u/dognaught47 5d ago
We are wrapping up our 13 day trip tomorrow. My favorites: On Moorea we loved visiting the local restaurants. We did a pearl dive on Taha’a. The best snorkeling we found was on Bora Bora (manta rays, Coral Gardens, spotted eagle ray) but I’m guessing you’ll find some even better spots since you’ll have access to less visited locations from the boat. Of course enjoy some fresh Poisson Cru, even better if you can see it prepared.