Getting Around French Polynesia

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Air Tahiti flies to 27 islands – which includes all biggies of the Society Islands, and also Rarotonga (but this only during very limited periods), the main island of the Cook Islands. Travel starts at Faa’a Airport in Papeete.

They have airfares which either include 20kg or 50kg free luggage.

Just an example: In the high season a one way flight with 20 kg allowance from Papeete to Bora Bora costs between 164 and 181 Euro, return from 294 to 324 Euro.

From Bora Bora you can fly to nine different islands.

Also check out Air Passes if you plan island hopping.

http://www.airtahiti.aero/home.php

Additionally, Air Moorea operates between Tahiti and Moorea.

http://www.airmoorea.com/home.php?cat=1

A cheaper option to travel between the islands is by boat. And between the Society Islands this is no real problem, in most cases there are at least two trips per week. Between Tahiti and Moorea you have daily service, and it takes only have an hour. Between Tahiti and Bora Bora three trips per week (on the Vaeanu Mon/Wed/Fri and on the Hawaiki Nui, Ono Ono, Aremiti). Those sailings go via Huahine, Raiatea, and Tahaa. From Bora Bora again you can take the boat to Maupiti (Maupiti Express).

Cost from Papeete to the Leeward Islands (Bora Bora, Huahine, Raiatea, Tahaa) on the Vaeanu is from about 2000 CPF (17 Euro) on deck to 6000 CPF (51 Euro) in a double cabin with bath. The Wednesday trips are in cabins only.

An example of a trip from Papeete to Bora Bora:
Departure 5pm, arrival next morning at 6.30am

More info here:
http://www.boraboraisland.com/gethere.html#papeete

http://www.tahiti-tourisme.com/utilities/Boats_ISLV_06%2003.pdf

http://www.tahiti.com/english-version/about-tahiti/gen-resources/boat%20transportation.html

(The latter website has info about all boats, including cargo)

The problem starts with the more remote islands in the other archipelagos. There are no passenger ships, so best you fly to the nearest of the islands you want to visit. The ships between the remote islands do not travel very frequently.

You should also check out the cargo ships. However, travelling is very basic. You would stay on deck and have to bring your own bedding. Surely a way of getting around you will not forget.



Update 26 January 2011

The above info for ferries is not entirely correct anymore. I have been just working on a tip - for Moorea -, so here is some new information:

How to get to Moorea – by ferry

The high-speed ferry needs 20 resp. 45 minutes.

I was told the latter can be very entertaining, with dolphins having fun at the bow.

The Aremiti Ferry and the Aremiti 5 connect Tahiti and Moorea at least six times per day. One-way fare as Jan. 2011: 1365 CPX (car from 3800 CPX, on the ferry 2900 CPX). No discounts for return trip.

http://www.aremiti.net/aremiti-5/tarifs-aremiti-5/

More information on the Aremiti website:

http://www.aremiti.net/

(The information on this quite good website: http://www.mooreaisland.com/gethere.html#charter is not up to date anymore.)

Timetables:
http://www.aremiti.net/aremiti-5/horaires-aremiti-5/

Contact - phones:
Tahiti +689 50 57 57 / + 689 50 57 92
Moorea +689 56 31 10

The Moorea Express, another ferry service provider, has stopped operating in September 2010 until further notice.

http://www.mooreaferry.pf/

Technical details of the Aremiti Ferry:
272 foot steel - passenger and car FERRY Catamaran. Snack bar and bathrooms onboard. Maximum capacity: 502 passengers and 100 cars.
Length of voyage to Moorea - (quay to quay): 45 minutes.

Aremiti 5:
161' double hulled aluminum catamaran with sun deck.
FAST! -Length of voyage to Moorea - (quay to quay): 20 minutes. Snack bar and bathrooms onboard., Max. capacity: 697 passengers and 30 cars.

Despite the exact departure times, schedules, hours, and prices are prone to change, so always check the details again and again.

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There are generally five possibilities: Le Truck which is the public bus, rental car or scooter, or bicycle, or a guided tour.

The problem with Le Truck is that it only has a kind of real schedule on Tahiti but you will struggle during the weekend. During the week you can get around the island without the chance of not getting back to where you started.

On the smaller islands service is very limited. On Bora Bora, although the circle island road is only 32 km to circumnavigate, there is no round the island service.

So you rely on rental vehicles, and those are extremely expensive.

On Tahiti I got information about a rental company named Robert which has cars with daily hire rates of about 5000 CFP (42 Euro) but with most other companies you pay twice this and more for the smallest vehicle.

We tried to hire a scooter in Moorea but the big companies like Europcar and Avis have no scooters – which are not cheap either on the other islands. On Raiatea you can only make the small circle island tour on a scooter, for the big tour on a partly unsealed road you need a car.

Bora Bora is perfect for being explored by bicycle, Moorea and Raiatea have quite some hills and are rather big, so you would struggle to get around in a day – as most bicycles have one gear only ;-)

If you have accommodation on Bora Bora and do not, as we did, travel by cruise ship you might be lucky and get a bike for free from your hosts or for a small fee only. The bicycle is the ideal means of local transport on all islands, just not always to tour the entire island.

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Distances and flight times from international destinations to Tahiti:

Paris 17,100 km/20 hours
Los Angeles 6,200 km/8 hours
New York 10,100 km/12.5 hours
Auckland (New Zealand) 3,900 km/5.5 hours
Sydney 5700 km/6.5 hours
Santiago de Chile (via Easter Island) 7,500 km/8 hours
Tokyo 8,800 km/11 hours

Airlines that service Papeete (Tahiti; Faa’a Airport):

Air France
Air Calin
Air New Zealand
Hawaiian Airlines
Japan Airlines
Lan Airlines
Qantas
Air Tahiti Nui

Always check out if a round the world ticket could be the best deal for you. For example, if you live in Europe it could be hugely interesting to fly with Lan Chile and have a stop-over on the Easter Islands on the way to Tahiti or back home.

Direct links to the above listed airlines on this website:

http://www.boraboraisland.com/gethere.html#papeete

Eleven hours + 8 more after the unpleasant stop in L.A.; a 22 hours-journey on the whole. Long flight but very comfortable plane. Each seat is provided with a private TV screen allowing you to choose your own programme during the flight. You can choose from a selection of 8 movies, various games, Tiare TV (Polynesian TV) or the Air Show indicating your exact position on a detailed map. The different meals we got were quite good and gave us a first taste of Polynesian dishes.
And I can't forget to mention of course the traditional gardenia flower offered to each passenger boarding the plane in Paris !! A really thoughtful little attention that will be repeated all along your trip in French Polynesia !

Using AIr Tahiti (not Air Tahiti Nui which is an other airline) is the quickest way to visit the atolls of French Polynesia.
Very clean and confortable ATR, no meaningful delay, the staff is very kind and helpful. In the case you want to visit more islands, I suggest to buy a pass.
http://www.airtahiti.aero/articles.php?id=69
The Air Pass could be bought sending a request by email with an itinerary which has to be confermed.
debit on my credtit card was made one month before first flight with them even I booked 4 monthes in advance.

By far the cheapest way to get around any particular island in French Polynesia is to use Le Truck. Le Truck is a bus that basically drives around the island you are on (e.g. Tahiti, Moorea, Bora Bora etc), and you flag it down at a stop, and let the driver know when you need to get off - it can be flexible sometimes although it is supposed to use proper stops.

I can'tremember the exact cost, but it was the only thing I remember in French Polynesia that felt good value. However be aware that Le Truck does run on Tahiti time (i.e. it can be pretty late). If you are doing something to a budget then Le Truck is great. If you are in a hurry, get a car!

However Le Truck can be good for getting to and from the Ferry, as it stops right outside the ferry terminal, and seems to try and coincide its stops with the ferry arriving/departing.

I haven't got picture of Le-Truck myself, so this photo is courtesy of Tahiti Tourisme

Whilst it is not especially cheap to rent a car in French Polynesia, it can work out quite cost effective compared to paying someone else to take you to places (hotels are so expensive you don't tend to be staying long, so everything is done in a hurry, so Le Truck is not always feasible!).

You can rent cars by the day with unlimited mileage, or you can pay less if you are going to do less mileage, with a surcharge for every extra kilometre you drive. If you have a good idea that you are not going to drive too far, this can be a good idea.

This picture shows the car we rented in the grounds of the Tahiti Museum.

This is a slightly flippant transport tip, but if you just fancy a padle about in the sea or viiting a Motu under your own steam, it is well worth rentng or borrowing a boat of some description and paddling about.

A good number of the islands have coral reefs around them, which protect the islands from strong currents and make swimming and boating much safer than it would otherwise be.

Of course if you rent one in the evening, you can have a romantic moment and watch the sun set. Just be careful not to capsize the boat ;-) A sudden dose of seawater is not the most romantic thing I can think of.