Categories
French Polynesia

Fakarava atoll: a diver’s paradise

The Tuamotu archipelago is a large group of islands in French Polynesia formed almost exclusively by atolls. The atolls are flat coral islands that include vast lagoons within them. These islands were originally formed from high volcanic peaks, such as those that can be seen in Tahiti and Moorea. But over the millennia they have […]

Categories
French Polynesia

Huahine: ancient Polynesian temples and crops

Huahine Island is part of the Society Islands, and is the first of the Leeward group of islands which is encountered from Tahiti and Moorea. Huahine is located 175 km northwest of Tahiti. The island is made up of two islands, Huahine Nui (large), the northern island, and Huahine Iti (small), the southern island. In […]

Categories
French Polynesia

Raiatea: the sacred island of French Polynesia

Raiatea is the second largest island of the Society Islands archipelago. The capital is the town of Uturoa, which is also the administrative center of the Leeward Islands (Îles sous le Vent). This town is located in the northern part of the island in front of the island of Tahaa. The islands of Raiatea and […]

Categories
French Polynesia

Society Islands: the prototype of the South Sea islands

The archipelago of the Society islands is the most important from the economic and demographic point of view of French Polynesia, it is divided into the Windward Islands (Îles du Vent) and Leeward Islands (Îles Sous-le-Vent). These islands are located at a latitude between 15 ° and 18 ° south of the equator and between […]

Categories
French Polynesia

Ahe Atoll: the atoll of the pearl oysters

Ahe is an atoll in the archipelago of the Tuamotu islands, which measures 23.5 km in length and 12.2 km in width, inside which a 138 km² lagoon is enclosed. The island has a single passage to the ocean located in the north-western part of the atoll. The emerged lands occupy an area of only […]

Categories
French Polynesia

Tuamotu islands: the islands of the atolls

The archipelago of the Tuamotu islands is the largest in French Polynesia, it in fact extends between 14 ° and 24 ° south latitude and 134 ° and 150 ° west longitude, on an area of the Pacific ocean as large as Western Europe (approximately 800,000 sq km). The Tuamotu archipelago, located east of Tahiti, […]

Categories
French Polynesia

Rimatara: the westernmost of the Austral archipelago

Rimatara is the westernmost of the inhabited islands of the archipelago of the Austral islands. In fact, the island is located west of Rurutu just north of the tropic of Capricorn. Rimatara which measures only 8.6 km² is a circular island with a bay in the southern part and has a population of 872 inhabitants […]

Categories
French Polynesia

Rapa: the most remote island in French Polynesia

The island of Rapa (40 km²) is what remains of a large volcano that currently reaches a height of 650 meters above sea level. This island is the most remote inhabited island of French Polynesia. In fact, it is located about 1,420 km south of Tahiti. The population of Rapa is made up of 482 […]

Categories
French Polynesia

Raivavae: the Bora Bora of the Austral islands

Raivavae is a small island of about 16 sq km inhabited by about nine hundred inhabitants (2017 census) which is known as the Bora Bora of the Austral islands. Mountainous island located 730 km south-east of Tahiti, it is also, like the most famous Bora Bora, surrounded by a beautiful lagoon with numerous coral islands […]

Categories
French Polynesia

Tubuai: the first stop of the mutineers of the Bounty

Tubuai is an island that measures 45 sq km and has about two thousand inhabitants. This island represents the administrative center of the archipelago of the Austral islands. The island is located 640 km south of Tahiti, between the islands of Rurutu, which is located to the north-west, and Raivavae, located south-east of Tubuai. The […]

Categories
French Polynesia

Rurutu: Polynesian crafts and whales

The island of Rurutu (32.7 km²) is the second largest island of the archipelago of the Austral islands. Rurutu is located 572 km southwest of Tahiti, between the islands of Rimatara and Tubuai. The highest point on the island is Mount Manureva (385 meters). Its inhabitants (2,088 in 2007) are scattered in the three villages […]

Categories
French Polynesia

The climate of the Austral Islands: when to go

The climate of the Austral islands presents the worst weather conditions in the entire French Polynesia. In fact, due to the geographical position of the islands of the archipelago, which are located near the Tropic of Capricorn, the climate of this region presents a hot season similar to that of tropical areas (humidity and heavy […]

Categories
French Polynesia

Austral Islands: the southernmost archipelago of Polynesia

The Austral Islands are the southernmost group of islands in French Polynesia, they are located near the Tropic of Capricorn between 21 ° and 28 ° south latitude. Their total area reaches 148 sq km and their population slightly exceeds six thousand inhabitants, the most populated islands are those of Rurutu and Tubuai. The islands […]

Categories
French Polynesia

Fatu Hiva: the most spectacular island of the Marquesas

The island of Fatu Hiva (84 km², 587 inhabitants) is the southernmost island of the archipelago of the Marquesas islands. The island is in fact almost 80 km south of the island of Hiva Oa and is the most difficult island to visit in the archipelago, in fact there is no airport and there are […]

Categories
French Polynesia

Tahuata: an island with beautiful beaches and scenic bays

The island of Tahuata (61 km², 671 inhabitants) is part of the archipelago of the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia. The island is located south of the large island of Hiva Oa. Only the narrow Bordelais canal, 4 km wide, separates it from the main island. This is the smallest of the inhabited islands of […]