30 Reasons to Visit French Polynesia

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Rangiroa offers French Polynesia’s best diving. It is the South Pacific’s largest atoll and one of the largest in the world. Hordes of marine life including barracuda, tuna, turtles, and dolphins can be found in the waters as well as hammerhead sharks and manta rays.

Source: www.independenttraveler.com

If you’re not interested in diving, you can still experience the underwater world in French Polynesia by snorkeling.

How about sipping wine from a winery located in the midst of a coconut grove, flanked on one side by turquoise lagoons and the deep blue ocean on the other? Rangiroa is home to Vin de Tahiti, one of the world’s most scenic wineries.

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Fakarava is home to the first island church built entirely out of coral back in 1862. Today, the outer structure still remains and is quite a sight to behold.

Dining is notoriously expensive in French Polynesia, but not at the roulottes (or caravans), which serve tasty meals in huge servings.

Shopping for sarongs, baskets, carvings and pearls is a multisensory experience at Papeete's public market, where the sweet aromas of vanilla, coconut and monoi oil fill the air, musicians strum ukuleles and the vibrant flower and fruit stalls call for plenty of photo ops.

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Surfers flock to Tahiti Iti (little Tahiti) to try their luck on the notoriously dangerous "heavy wave" called Teahupoo.

The Bora Bora-Tuamotu pass includes 10 islands in a loop (from Tahiti) and costs around €564.80.

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In 2009, France approved a law allowing non-French nationals to wed in the islands of Tahiti (including same-sex couples).

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Accessible from Puamau, Iipona is one of the best archaeological sites in French Polynesia.

This museum is host to many reproductions of Paul Gauguin’s paintings. His colorful style brought fame to the islands and he lived out his last years here painting traditional life.

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Marae are Polynesian temples where people came to offer up gifts to the Gods.

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Fatu Hiva is the southernmost of the Marquesas Islands and is certainly the most isolated.

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Most of wildlife here is found in the lagoons and surrounding waters as there are very few indigenous animals on land.

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Tahiti is the largest island in French Polynesia, the South Pacific archipelago. Shaped like a figure-8, it's divided into Tahiti Nui (the larger, western section) and Tahiti Iti (the eastern peninsula).

Source: www.tahiti.com

Bora Bora is a small South Pacific island northwest of Tahiti in French Polynesia. Surrounded by sand-fringed motus (islets) and a turquoise lagoon protected by a coral reef, it’s known for its scuba diving.

Source: royalcaribbean.com

Mo'orea is a South Pacific island, part of French Polynesia's Society Islands archipelago. It's known for its jagged volcanic mountains and sandy beaches.

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The capital of French Polynesia.

Source: www.tahiti.com

Huahine is an island located among the Society Islands.

Source: www.etahititravel.com

Raiatea, is the second largest of the Society Islands.

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Nuku Hiva is the largest of the Marquesas Islands.

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Manihi, or Paeua, is a coral atoll in the Tuamotu Archipelago.

Source: pacificvoyagers.org

Makatea, or Mangaia-te-vai-tamae, is a raised coral atoll in the northwestern part of the Tuamotus.

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They are located towards the northeast, away from the main Tuamotu group.