French Polynesia Travel
Exploring the French Polynesian Islands
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French Polynesia
Pacific Travel Guides
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French Polynesia Travel
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Most French Polynesia travel experiences involve inter island flights or fast ferries from Papeete on the main island of French Polynesia.
Public buses known as Le Truk are cheap and frequent around Papeete and its suburbs and are by far the easiest way of travel. If you want to do a sightseeing tour around the island, then hiring a car is the better option. There are several International car hire companies including EuroCar, Budget and Hertz as well as lots of local companies offering cheaper deals.
Air Moorea offers 18 flights per day for the 10-minute hop from Papeete to Moorea, starting at 6.15 am with its last flight at 6.15pm. This costs about CFP3,200 (US$30) one way making this the most accessible and cheapest of islands to visit. Air French Polynesia flies to 38 islands, with the more popular destinations on a daily basis and to Bora Bora and Huahine at least five times a day. Flights however are very expensive but purchasing one of the many island passes available cuts the cost considerably. A pass allowing flights to Moorea, Huahine and Raiatea for example would cost CFP23,000 (US$150) which is only a few dollars more than a return flight to Huahine. Papeete (Faaa Airport) is the hub of all internal flights with few flights connecting the other islands. So, to get from Moorea to Huahine for example means going back to Papeete.
A much cheaper way to get to and from the islands is by inter-island ferry. There are three companies offering ferries to Moorea, one of them a high speed catamaran, between them departing every half hour from the wharf in Papeete. The trip takes about 50 minutes. There are also regular ferries to the other Society Islands including a high speed catamaran which can make the trip from French Polynesia to Bora Bora in 7 hours compared to the regular ferry time of 14 hours and to Huahine in less than 4 hours. The Maupiti Express offers fast connections from Bora Bora to the nearby islands of Huahine, Raiatea, Tahaa and Maupiti and there are lots of local water taxis to get you out to the small islands surrounding these. There are 10 ships serving the Tuamotu Islands, one of which connects through to the Marquesas. Reliable schedules service the Marquesas and the Austral Islands. Overall, getting about by ship is very easy.
Readers may also be interested in the following destinations:
Cook Islands Travel Info
Fiji Travel Info
Samoa Travel Info
Tonga Travel Info
French Polynesia Travel Info
Hawaii Travel Info
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