The main island of French Polynesia has few nice beaches. The only white sand beaches on the island are on the west coast, south of Papeete and Faaa Airport where most of the resorts are located. But even here, the beaches are not what you expect from such tropical paradise and the lagoon is often washed with seaweed making swimming not great.
Resort Beach, West French Polynesia
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Beach at Punaauia, West French Polynesia
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Papenoo on the north coast and Papara on the south coast are attractive black sand beaches but the swimming is usually rough and best for surfing and body surfing. There's a nice sandy beach at Toahotu on remote French Polynesia Iti which is popular with locals and several beaches on the north coast of French Polynesia Iti, particularly at Tautira which is good for strolling and beachcombing with stunning coastal and mountain views.
Papara, South French Polynesia
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Toahutu, French Polynesia Iti
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The beaches on the island of Moorea are a lot better, but still don't match the picture postcards. The best beaches include:
The public beach at Teavaro adjacent to the Ia Ora Resort on the east coast of Moorea which has good snorkelling and shallow water for swimming, as well as palm trees and mountain views;
The beach at Hauru Point on the north west tip which is lined with hotels and guesthouses, facing several small offshore islets which offer shallow lagoon and ideal conditions for water sports including kayaking, sailing and para gliding, as well as good snorkelling;
Teavaro, East Moorea
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Hauru, North West Moorea
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There are several nice beaches along the north coast, but many of the beaches are almost non-existent at high tide. Some of the large resorts here have created man made beaches and swimming lagoons to compensate. There are no beaches along the very popular Cooks Bay except a small stretch of sand at Bali Hai Hotel.
Resort Beach, North Moorea
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Linereva, South Moorea
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The quiet rural south side of Moorea has a couple of lovely quiet beaches, including at Linereva north of Haapiti and at Maatea.
Of the outer Society Islands, there are excellent beaches on Huahine and picture postcard beaches on Tetiaroa Atoll Maupiti and Bora Bora, although the latter is overly commercialised and faces sewage pollution in its lagoon.
There are some fantastic resort beach locations in the Tuamotu Group where snorkelling and diving are world class.
Readers may also be interested in the following destinations:
Fiji Beaches
Cook Islands Beaches
Samoa Beaches
Tonga Beaches
French Polynesia Beaches
Hawaii Beaches
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