Exploring the Hidden Gems of French Polynesia: Huahine, Raiatea, and Bora Bora
- khdeutmeyer
- Jun 11
- 11 min read
Updated: Jun 11
The French Polynesia is a relaxing and idyllic location for vacation! By far the most beautiful tropical location we have traveled to. With that in mind, we decided to head back to the French Polynesia for our winter getaway! If you enjoy warm weather, sunshine, clear turquoise water, incredible underwater wildlife, and snorkeling, the French Polynesia is the place to go!
For our second trip to the French Polynesia, we decided to stay on the island of Huahine because of its natural beauty, tropical jungle landscape, clear turquoise water, and its laid back remote vibe. We chose Raiatea because they say it is the island where "Polynesia" originated and the spiritual hub of the islands. We couldn't return to the French Polynesia without going back to Bora Bora. It is a piece of heaven on earth!
"Huhaine has not recovered from the impacts of COVID. The island has two resorts that remain open with several resorts left standing vacant. Raiatea is a large island with limited beaches but the drive around the island is beautiful with many sites to see along the way. Bora Bora remains our favorite island after visiting Tahiti, Morea, Huahine, and Raiatea."
HUAHINE ISLAND
Tahiti was our base for flights in and out of the French Polynesia. When we arrived we took the ferry to Huahine and rented a car. Huahine is a green lush island with sandy beaches. Huahine is divided into two parts, Huahine Nui (big) and Huahine Iti (small).
The name Huahine, a variation of the Tahitian word vahine (woman), referencing a mountain ridge resembling the outline of a pregnant woman—a symbol of the island's fertility. The island maintains the largest concentration of ancient marae (temples) in French Polynesia, some of which are believed to date back to the original ancestors of the Tahitians—the Lapita people—around 700 AD.
There are two resorts on Huahine. We stayed at the the beachfront Hotel Le Mahana, https://www.lemahanahotel.com/ located on the southern tip of Huahine Iti in a protected inlet. The beach is beautiful and the snorkeling excellent with great visibility and an abundance of fish. We said numerous times it was like swimming in an aquarium. We didn't see stingray, manta ray, eagle ray, or turtles but enjoyed the snorkeling nonetheless. We stayed in a beach bungalow with a great view of the lagoon. Something to note with the Hotel Le Mahana bungalows, several of the bungalows have been updated but the first one we checked into was a 1990 decor and needed renovation. We were fortunate the air conditioning didn't work and were upgraded to the renovated bungalow before we settled in. Below are photos from Hotel LeMahana.
While staying on Huahine, we did an all day boat tour with Poetiana Day Tours. We visited a vanilla plantation, pearl farm, fed the blue-eyed eels in the river, had lunch sitting on picnic benches in the water, learned to dance with the locals, and snorkeled with the black tip sharks and many gorgeous fish. I highly recommend taking an all day tour to experience the beauty and culture of the island. A car is necessary to see the entire island and to get to the grocery store and the town of Fare that has a few restaurants.
We found snorkeling from the beach at the Coral Gardens a beautiful location on the island. While snorkeling we encountered Giant clams, Orangefin anemonefish, and butterflyfish. Huahine’s Coral Garden is located on the edge of the pass that separates the main island from Motu Mahare. There is a fairly strong current and entering from the beach is rough on the feet so water shoes are needed. The snack bar at the Coral Gardens is a nice place to eat right on the beach. It is affordable and great food but closes at 2:00 every day so go for lunch!
The population of Huahine is 6400 people. The main town is Fare, consists of a few streets, and a grocery store. There are only a few restaurants on the island and many of them close by mid-afternoon and then re-open around 7:00 p.m. for dinner. We found ourselves eating at our resort most of our stay. We typically enjoy eating at local restaurants to experience the island but Huahine didn't cater to the tourists. Below are photos of our time on Huahine. Overall it is a scenic island with a beautiful lagoon, but due to its lack of services, we don't see ourselves returning for another stay. We prefer Bora Bora and Moorea.
RAIATEA ISLAND
We caught the ferry to travel from Huahine to Raiatea. https://tuateaferries.com/en/home/ The ferry is easy to use and an affordable form of transportation between the various French Polynesia islands. We rented a car on Raiatea too so we could tour the entire island on our own.
Raiatea is lush and green with dense vegetation, numerous archeological sites, amazing clown fish, and a beautiful turquoise lagoon! The population is 12,000 people and is the first island to have been inhabited in the Society Island region of the French Polynesia. The local people living on Raiatea are much friendlier than on Huahine and there are more restaurants for enjoying local food.
Unlike Huahine, Raiatea, does not have the white sand beaches. We drove the entire island looking for beaches and saw one or two. We rented a VRBO, directly over the water, but there wasn't a beach anywhere near our house. We could swim and snorkel right off the deck but the sand beach didn't exist. This was disappointing for us. We enjoy snorkeling from a beach and sitting on the beach to read and people watch. Our VRBO was recently renovated so was perfect for our stay. We could sit on our porch or look out the window and see the stingray swim by! We could also see very large crabs at night!
We drove the island several times and were able to see the many gorgeous lush mountain vistas and gorgeous greenery. With its sister island Taha’a, the island shares a lagoon with coral reef surrounding it. We chose Blue Lagoon tours and traveled in style on their
outrigger boat for a day. We visited a distillery, pearl farm, and did snorkeling with stingray and sharks, visited the coral gardens and did drift snorkeling between the islands of Taha'a and Raiatea. The drift snorkeling was amazing. As we got into the water to do the drift snorkeling the outline of the mountains on Bora Bora were in the background. A perfect setting! There is a current between the islands that carries you quickly through the coral reef past many coral formations and fish. The guide leads the way and the group follows. We also stopped at a private island motu for a delicious lunch with puffer fish and black tip sharks swimming everywhere! The motu had a gorgeous white sand beach!
The sunsets on Raiatea were amazing. Vibrant and deeply colorful! Fish & Blue, located on the west coast of Raiatea was an ideal location for sunset viewing. It offers a private beach, restaurant, and tapas lounge. Food was excellent with a very unique setting.
While the stay on Raiatea was great, the water warm and clear, and the drift snorkeling amazing, I still couldn't wait until the next leg of our trip to Bora Bora. There is nothing like the beauty of Bora Bora. We enjoy the beaches and water of Bora Bora as well as swimming with the amazing manta rays. Raiatea is about the cultural history, beautiful views as you drive the island, and a remote setting for complete relaxation. Below are photos from our time staying on Raiatea.
BORA BORA ISLAND
From Raiatea, we hopped on the ferry again and headed to Bora Bora. It was as breathtaking as I remembered it from last year! We stayed at an AirBnB on the Matira Beach, considered the best beach on the island, renowned for its calm waters, soft sand, and stunning sunsets. We found ourselves asking if we were living in a dream.
Food is expensive on Bora Bora. We visited the grocery store for breakfast and lunch items and then ate dinner out every evening. Definitely an advantage of an Airbnb. On Matira Beach the Lucky House Bar and Restaurant is a good place to eat. Casual dining as well as very good pizza. The food trucks in Vaitape, the main city on Bora Bora are excellent too and very affordable. The island ferries arrive in Vaitape and is the location for he main shopping area, grocery stores and a few restaurants. You can also find fresh fruit stands along the highway throughout Bora Bora. The day tours are a great resource for food as they feed you a substantial lunch while visiting their motu. A local favorite is french bread. You can count on finding french bread everywhere and eating french bread with every meal!
Snorkeling was our main adventure while staying on Bora Bora this year. The snorkeling from the beach at our AirBnB was incredible. Early mornings and later afternoon we would see sting rays and eagle rays regularly. Usually two and three at a time. The water was warm, calm and clear! There is nothing like the lagoon of Bora Bora!
We did a snorkel tour this year again with Rohivai Tours. https://rohivaitours.com/ They picked us up by boat right at our AirBnB. We enjoyed it so much, we went twice! They took us to the coral gardens but not the same location as the tours from the previous year. This location was much more beautiful and fewer boats. The scenery to get there was also incredible. We also did snorkeling with the sharks and the stingrays and a stop with amazing snorkeling with the eagle rays. The shark snorkeling on this tour was different too. They took us outside the lagoon into the open ocean. We jumped out into very deep blue water and the black tip sharks were incredible. It was gorgeous! They did two stops to snorkel with the manta rays and also had lunch on their motu. Rohivai Tours did their best to avoid the other tour boats and provide a customized experience! The underwater photos are all taken with my old Iphone and an underwater case. The sharks were so close it was hard to believe they were real! Photos from our amazing day trips and snorkeling at our Airbnb are below.
Manta Rays were the underwater creature we were most excited to see this year. I read about a location on the island where you can get in from shore and swim out to see them without going on a tour. Pointe Ta’ihi allows you to encounter these majestic creatures by entering the water from Bora Bora’s main island’s shore. Manta rays congregate here around a “cleaning station.” A cleaning station is a reef where the rays are cleaned by small wrasse. Point Ta'ihi is difficult to find if you are the first people at the site, but once the morning progresses, more and more people make their way out to the area where you get into the water. You need a car or scooter to get to the location because it is 20 minutes for more from Vaitape. There is a small pull out for two to three cars for parking right where you get in the water. See the map below for the location to enter the water and where to swim.
I wouldn't recommend this for beginner snorkelers or if you have any fear of deeper water. As you enter off the beach, there is a great deal of coral to cross and it is very rough on the feet and the body. But once you get about 50 to 100 yards out, it drops off and that is where you can see the manta rays. We had to swim back and to swim back and forth a few times before we saw our first manta ray. Don't get discouraged. We were fortunate and saw three of them at once! It was well worth the swim and added to the excitement of the trip! Photos from our manta ray encounters are below.
The most iconic landmark of Bora Bora is Mount Pahia which is made up of two peaks Mt. Otemanu and Mount Pahia. Bora Bora's summit is Mount Otemanu, located in the center of the island. The mountain is visible from the lagoon and as you drive the island from different vantage points. Sunsets on Matira Beach are amazing. The views from our AirBnB were perfect! We flew back to Tahiti to fly home and the views from the air are incredible! We look forward to the day we return to Bora Bora! Below are photos from our stay on the island of Bora Bora.
TIPS TO TRAVEL ECONOMICALLY AND GET THE MOST FOR YOUR TIME AND MONEY
I also get asked many times, "How do you travel so often and keep it affordable?" A few tips are below:
For me, planning and researching is part of the excitement of the trip! Visioning is so much fun!!!
I plan all of my own trips and research, research, research on the internet. I utilize TripAdvisor, Frommer's, and blogs from other travelers to find the information I need for my trip. I do ALOT of reading and researching. It takes patience to plan a good affordable trip!
I have a budget in mind for each trip and challenge myself to stay in the budget. Depending on the location, I typically start planning and booking hotels, cars, etc., approximately 9 months out. Hotel prices usually get more expensive the closer to the trip unless you are willing to do a last minute internet deal. Car rental and airline prices also go up the closer it is to your trip. Occasionally you can get a last minute deal but something else may be more expensive and you are really not saving. I like to plan!
For hotels, I use Booking.com, or Priceline.com. I look for hotels with good reviews, pay when you stay, and free cancellation in advance. I also use Airbnb more and more to book lodging as well as VRBO. They tend to be lesser expensive per night than the traditional hotel room.
We have done all-inclusive in a couple of tropical locations years and years ago but found that we do not eat and drink enough to make it worth the extra expense. We like to go off site from the hotel and experience the local cuisine and traditions. We have not done all-inclusive in the last 15 years. However, all-inclusive is wonderful if you want to stay at the resort for all meals, not rent a car, and have the hotel shuttle you to your destinations. That has worked for us in Jamaica and it was very relaxing! But I would not drive in Jamaica so all-inclusive was the smartest option! If you enjoy all-inclusive, the earlier you book the trip the lower the price. Unless you are game and are not a planner, and are willing to travel where the last minute deal is advertised. Then you could get a great all-inclusive deal!
If we are flying, I use the Skyscanner app to check airfare prices and I try not to buy until about 60 to 75 days out. There are times where I will by earlier if the price is super reasonable. I usually do not book on Skyscanner. It will tell me the site that is the most affordable to purchase the tickets and if it is a more well known trust site, I go directly to the site to purchase the tickets. Many times Skyscanner will take you right to the airline website. Skyscanner will search all airlines and will sort by price, times, shortest trip, etc.
Have a credit card that gives you miles or hotel points. We will use points for many of our trips. We are American Advantage members and have an Advantage credit card. We try to fly American as often as we can to earn points and then use those points for future airline tickets. Our credit card is tied to our Advantage numbers and awards points as well.
We drive if the location is in the United States and we can drive and sightsee along the way. If we need to rent a car, we reserve online using Booking.com, Orbitz.com, or Priceline.com. They are usually the most reasonable. I watch for specials and never book a luxury vehicle! We also have a credit card with a low limit that we use for vehicle rentals that provides insurance as a credit card benefit. We always decline the insurance when we are in the United States. If we are traveling out of the United States, we check with the credit card if the insurance is valid internationally. We have found it is valid in Europe, Canada, U.S. Virgin Islands, but in other locations, we are forced to purchase the liability insurance from the rental car company.
While there are free maps online for most destinations, I always go onto Amazon and buy a map of my destination, especially if it is international. I do not buy maps for tropical Caribbean islands. I just get one when we arrive. But for countries like Costa Rica, Panama, Belize, England, Canada, Germany, France, etc., I always purchase a good map. As you do you research, you can use the map to highlight the places you want to visit and the sites you want to see. I have it as a reference later for putting my memories and photos into a photobook!