Top 10 Places To Visit in French Polynesia - Travel Guide

What's up guys! My name is Ryan and I recently returned from exploring French Polynesia and I want to share with you my favorite places and islands. So here's my French Polynesia top 10. Located in the Pacific Ocean, French Polynesia is home to over 1,000 different islands. From the towering mountains of Morea to the overwater bungalows in Bora Bora, French Polynesia is the true definition of paradise. Let's start this video off on the island of Tahiti. If you're flying into French Polynesia, you'll first fly into Tahiti's International Airport. Tahiti is the biggest island in all of French Polynesia and when we arrived I was just blown away by the size of it. The mountains are huge with the highest reaching 2,241 meters. There's a road that loops around Tahiti's coast and I just love driving on it and marveling at the incredible beauty of this island. One place I really wanted to go see on Tahiti was Teopu. It's this little town located about two hours drive from the airport. Now Teopu is home to one of the world's best surf waves. The combination of the swell and the uniquely shaped reef creates what some believe to be the heaviest wave on earth that can reach over seven meters high. One thing that I thought was interesting about Teopu is that it's scheduled to host the surfing competition for the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics. Now the wave was first surfed in 1985 by local Tahitians and over the years it's become known worldwide for having one of the most consistent barrel waves. Now I drove to this little parking lot in Teopu and I could see the wave from the shore but I think the best way to experience the wave besides surfing it is by going on a boat tour. I wish I would have planned ahead better and booked one but if you do go on a tour you'll be able to get up close and personal with the real famous wave. Now after Tahiti we're gonna head over to the neighboring island of Morea. Known as the pearl of the sea, Morea is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. We stayed here four nights and it was just absolutely incredible. Now to reach Morea we took a ferry from Tahiti. We got in this low ferry that we could put our rental car on and it took about 45 minutes to reach Morea. Once you arrive on the island there's just so much to do here. I think Morea is home to some of the most spectacular mountains. They're just so jagged and unique looking. My favorite one was called Mount Mo'oroa which translates to the shark's tooth. It rises 880 meters above the sea and I totally get where it gets its name with its sharp rigid appearance. Another one of my favorite peaks was Mount Rotui. You can get a great view of it from the Belvedere lookout which is just a quick drive to reach. Now with all its beautiful mountains Morea is a great place to go hiking. We did this hike to Col de Vare. We started the hike in Vare and walked through the village and hiked up the mountain jungle until we reached the ridge. It took us about an hour to get to the top and we were rewarded with an incredible 360 view of all of Morea coupled with some massive jagged mountains. I mean I've never seen anything like it. I have to say it was one of the hottest and most humid hikes I've ever been on but it was absolutely worth it. Now if you're more into beaches one of my favorite ones was the public beach Ta'ahiamanu. It's this really relaxing beach with sailboats and amazing scenery all around. It's a prime place to watch the sunset. Another great thing you can do on Morea is go on a boat tour. We went on a tour and unfortunately it was really rainy but it still was a great experience. We swam with blacktip sharks and we went outside the reef and swam in the deep ocean. I mean I couldn't believe how warm the water was. Now if you go here from August to November you can swim with humpback whales. I definitely want to go back during that time to swim with those gentle giants. Morea just has so much to offer and I plan to make a separate video of this incredible island. After we're going to head over to one of the most remote places in French Polynesia the Marquesas Islands. Now special thanks to my buddy Rob Stroke for sharing his footage of these islands. He spent some time here capturing some of the most amazing moments from this remote destination. He made a great video about his time on the Marquesas Islands that I'll link in the description below. Now made up of 12 islands with only six that are inhabited you can reach the Marquesas Islands by taking about a four hour flight from Tahiti. Now I'd say the Marquesas Islands are very different compared to the other islands in French Polynesia. They don't have too many sandy beaches rather they are rocky jagged islands and remind me a lot of Hawaii. Now the largest island on the archipelago is Nuku Hiva. One of my favorite places there is the beach at Hati Hiu Bay. It has these impressive rock formations that make for an incredible setting. Another one of my favorite islands in the Marquesas is Wapu. You can reach it by taking a boat or a short flight from Nuku Hiva. My favorite features of Wapu is its rock spires that tower over the island. I mean I believe they call it the Cathedral Island and I totally understand why it gets that name. Rob got some of the craziest shots with the locals doing a traditional dance with the rock spires in the background. Truly a scene out of a movie. Now the coast of Wapu is also amazing. It has these massive sea cliffs that just rise straight out of the sea. I mean just unbelievable scenery. If you want a more remote and unique experience in French Polynesia you got to give the Marquesas Islands a visit. After we're going to head to the atolls of French Polynesia and Fakarava is the second largest atoll in French Polynesia. It has this rectangular shape and about 800 people live on the atoll. The landscape of Fakarava is just so interesting to me. Unlike the other islands I've shown so far, Fakarava is made up of a sliver of land combined with little motus along the atoll. One of the best ways to see Fakarava is by boat. Now another thing that the atoll is famous for is its diving. It's home to some of the best scuba diving spots in the world. While we're still on the topic of atolls, we're going to visit Rangiroa. It's the largest atoll in all of French Polynesia and the second largest in the world. You can reach Rangiroa by an hour flight from Tahiti. Now similar to Fakarava, Rangiroa is a phenomenal place to go diving and snorkeling with so many spots to explore in the lagoon. Now afterwards we're going to visit the Tetiaurora atoll. Now made up of 12 little islands, the Tetiaurora atoll is home to the renowned Brando Resort. The famous actor Marlon Brando bought the atoll back in 1966 after discovering it while scouting filming locations for one of his movies. When he passed away in 2004, the atoll was closed for tourism but in 2014, the luxury Brando Resort was opened and it was named the world's best resort by Condé Nast in 2016. Now to get to the atoll, you can only reach it by Brando's private plane. While it is very expensive, if you do make it to this exclusive atoll, you'll be rewarded with a pristine paradise. After we're going to head over to the Leeward Islands. Comprised of islands such as Bora Bora and Raiatea, the Leeward Islands are home to some of French Polynesia's most beautiful destinations. One of my favorites is Mauapiti. It's this little island with a population of about 1,200 people and it reminds me of a miniature Bora Bora. You can reach it by flying or you can also take a ferry from Bora Bora making it a great day trip. One adventurous thing you can do on the island is make the three-hour hike to its highest point. It offers an astounding view of the island and surrounding lagoon so if you definitely want like a more chill relaxed place to visit, I definitely recommend checking out Mauapiti. Now for our final destination, we're going to visit Bora Bora. Of all the islands in French Polynesia, Bora Bora is probably the most famous and after visiting it, I totally understand why. Now the geology of Bora Bora is pure perfection. There's the main island with its towering dormant volcano and then it's surrounded by this reef that protects the island from the waves of the Pacific Ocean. Inside the reef, there's a lagoon which is home to some of the world's clearest water and is full of wildlife such as sharks and rays. I mean seriously, Bora Bora couldn't be more perfect. Now to reach Bora Bora, we flew into Tahiti and then from there, we took a short 50-minute flight and landed on Bora Bora. The airport here is on a Motu which is a little island on the reef so to get to the mainland or the resorts, you'll take a ferry. We were staying on the mainland so we hopped on the ferry and then we made the quick 15-minute boat ride to Vaitape. It was a pretty surreal ride as we approached the island and we got on top of the ferry and the views were just incredible as we got closer to Vaitape. There was even a full moon and it almost looked fake with how perfect everything was. Now when it comes to accommodation on Bora Bora, the most famous resorts are located on the islands or motus that surround the reef. The resorts on the motus are definitely the most scenic and offer incredible experiences and views of Bora Bora but they are also the most expensive and were out of my budget for this trip. Maybe next time I'll get one of them but if you're looking for a more affordable accommodation, I recommend looking for places on the mainland. There are some luxurious resorts such as the Intercontinental Lake Moana which cost about half the price of the resorts on the motus. Now we wanted to see Bora Bora from the ocean's perspective so we spent our last few nights on a sailboat. We stayed with this family that has been sailing around the world for five years and they took us around to some of the best places inside Bora Bora's lagoon. I mean it was like we were on a bungalow except we could go somewhere new each night and experience Bora Bora from all angles. My favorite place we sailed to was in Bora Bora's southwest lagoon. I've been wanting to come here for a while now because there's this sandbar in the water that creates this perfect curve and the contrast between the blues of the shallow and deep water is just absolutely mesmerizing. There's definitely no shortage of shades of blue in Bora Bora and French Polynesia in general. Now while we're here we had to go do some snorkeling so we hopped on our dinghy with our captain Francesco and he took us to the spot to go diving. We first found this eagle ray that was just flying through the current. It was so peaceful to watch. We then went over to this more shallow area and there was at least 10 sharks. Now they're blacktip sharks and they're about one to two meters in length and they're basically harmless to swim with. Just very curious little animals. I mean the water was some of the clearest I've ever been in and there's also tons of color fish just swimming around us. It's the Bora Bora that I was hoping to experience. Later that evening we got back to our boat and had one of the most beautiful sunsets of the trip as the sun descended over the mainland. I just can't believe the beauty of these incredible islands. Well that is it for my French Polynesia top 10. There's still hundreds of islands I left out of this video so I gotta come back and make a part two. Let me know where your favorite island is on French Polynesia in the comments below. You can find me on Instagram and TikTok at shirley.films. It's Ryan and we will see you later.