French Polynesia

From July to October 2020

Lagoons & corals

3rd step of my journey around the world

Duration: 3 month

Tahiti – Moorea – Raiatea – Tahaa – Bora Bora
Tikehau – Rangiroa – Fakarava
Rurutu

Paddleboard 90% 90%
Visiting 70% 70%
Cycling 20% 20%

Five archipelagos with 118 islands and atolls, scattered in the Pacific, on a territory as vast as Europe!
Before this stay, I knew nothing about Polynesian geography. I found this presentation that I like very much: it’s a map that superimposes the five archipelagos on Europe. At a glance, you get the full measure of the immensity of Polynesia!
Pareo, monoï, vahiné, these words are already quite a journey. Polynesia belongs to these mythical destinations.
During these 3 months and a half, I was able to live at the rhythm of the islands and take the time to immerse myself in the very particular atmosphere of each archipelago.

my favorites

1. Paddleboard on the turquoise water of the lagoons

The famous attols in the Tuamotu archipelago
They’re ancient volcanoes but so ancient that they’ve disappeared with erosion: only the coral remains, which has developed in a crown all around. Here, in Fakarava, the water is so transparent, the corals metamorphose into a work of art.

2. Swimming with humpback whales

In Rurutu
In the Austral Archipelago, the southernmost of Polynesia, from July to October, one can observe these enormous cetaceans and their babies.

3. Walking in the coconut groves

“The tree with 100 uses” is the nickname of the coconut tree. Coconut trees grow everywhere in French Polynesia. Especially in the islands, where the economy is based on copra, the dried coconut. It is used to make coconut oil, the base of monoi.