COMPLETE FILE

Overview

Customized luxury trip to Tahiti, French Polynesia

Hotels, vacations, honeymoons, scuba diving trips, customized travel, luxury trips…we offer you a customized dream vacation in Tahiti, based on your budget and preferences. This customized luxury trip to Tahiti includes all top tourist destinations in French Polynesia – what better way to enjoy paradise?

On this luxury trip to Tahiti, we pay special attention to the island of Manihi, also known as Pearl Island. This paradise on earth has everything you would expect from Polynesia, and more: relaxation, letting go, easygoing island lifestyle…a laidback, peaceful atmosphere surrounded by picture perfect natural landscape. Immaculate beaches, crystal clear lagoons, amazing dive sites, a cocktail on your bungalow’s deck…this is all you need for a dream vacation! And just to make sure your trip is absolutely perfect, we have selected the most luxurious accommodation throughout, so you can keep your feet wet...What more could anyone ask for than to bask luxuriously in the unparalleled beauty and charm of Polynesia?

Contact our travel specialist today for more information on this customized luxury trip to French Polynesia!

Itinerary

TAHITI
When you arrive at Tahiti airport, you will be welcomed with a crown of flowers and someone will give you your travel documentation before your transfer to your hotel, the Sofitel Tahiti Maeva Beach Resort, where you will spend 2 nights.
The Sofitel Tahiti Maeva Beach Resort is perfectly positioned on Tahiti’s west coast, a few minutes’ drive from Papeete. The elegant light-filled rooms all have their own private balcony. Two excellent restaurants are waiting to light up your senses: the Bougainville with its sumptuous international cuisine, and the Sakura, offering Japanese specialties. There is also a bar, a tennis court, a golf driving range, a freshwater pool and a private beach. What else? Built on a crescent-shaped beach – the only natural yellow sand beach on Tahiti – this luxurious resort offers breathtaking vistas of the lagoon, where yachts look like colored specks. This sublime panorama is ideal for a romantic getaway.

MOOREA
Transfer from your hotel to the airport for an island-hopping flight to Moorea. Check-in to the Sofitel Moorea Ia Ora Beach for a 4-night stay.
Ideally settled on the shores of a magnificent lagoon, the Sofitel Moorea Ia Ora Beach has views over the island of Tahiti. Luxurious bungalows are built over the water, on stilts, on the beachfront, or in the sublime landscaped gardens. Discover the excellent restaurants, the bar and its exotic cocktails, the pool, the spa, the Jacuzzi, the tennis courts and the island’s many water sports. Moorea beach is considered one of the most beautiful in the whole world!
This hotel’s special features: This ultramodern resort is built in a beautiful natural environment on a superb white sand beach. Your stay here will be completely unique experience, floating around an exceptional lagoon that slowly lounges all the way to Tahiti.

Tahiti and Moorea are only 17 km apart. Many visitors find that the spectacular aerial view of the bays of Moorea alone is worth the price of the plane ticket. Like a shark’s mouth surging right out of the island’s basaltic core, this island’s dramatic volcanic peaks are reflected in the quiet waters of Cook and Opunohu bays. The mountains’ slopes are covered in pineapple plantations, and white sandy beaches surround the crystal clear waters of the lagoon. After a few days spent lounging peacefully on this island paradise, you will no doubt come to understand what true happiness is all about.

BORA BORA
Transfer from your hotel to the airport and flight to Bora Bora for a wonderful 4-night stay at the Sofitel Motu.
The Sofitel Motu is built on a private island that offers spectacular views of Bora Bora and of one of the world’s most beautiful lagoons. Let yourself be charmed by the spacious bungalows built on the hillside or overwater. Enjoy fine cuisine and a panoramic view at the restaurant, relax and sip a delicious cocktail at the open-air bar while smoking a Havana from our cigar cave. Plus, the Sofitel Bora Bora has easy access to many water sports. Of course, this private island offers breathtaking vistas on an exceptional panorama: most bungalows have unobstructed views of Mount Otemanu and the idyllic lagoon.

The romantic island
Love at first sight. This is what travelers arriving in Bora Bora usually experience after catching their first glimpse of the thousand shades of green and blue playing in the waters of its lagoon. Newlyweds and lovers from across the globe have called this island home. Its highest peak, Mount Otemanu, flirts with the clouds, its slopes covered in dense vegetation and the valleys bellow bursting with hibiscus. Like a delicate flower necklace, the white sandy beaches and palm trees of the small islands draw a circle around the turquoise waters of the lagoon, where brightly colored fish and coral thrive.

MANIHI
Transfer from the airport to the Manihi Pearl Beach Resort, for 4 nights.
We will be delighted to welcome you on Manihi, this magnificent atoll in the Tuamotu islands. The Tuamotu Pearl Beach family will be happy to share their love for the island and its lagoon with you, including its native treasure - the black pearls - its spectacular underwater world, its “motu” - these pristine natural islets - and the area’s unique tranquility and serenity.
Some places need no introduction. The island paradise of Manihi is a fine string of islets covered in palm trees and lined by white sandy beaches, floating in the emerald waters of the South Seas. Idyllic surroundings worthy of a Stevenson novel.
On the last morning, transfer to the airport for your international return flight.

Budget

**Rates published on this website are for information purposes only and are not legally binding (since departure dates are not given). Prices on this website are known to fluctuate frequently in relation to changes in currencies and hotel pricing. In order to obtain a definite quote, please click here.

Other fees

Lodging

Overview

Tahiti: two volcanos in an emerald sea.

The largest island in French Polynesia, Tahiti is a destination in its own right, offering a wide variety of leisure and cultural activities and lots of entertainment options. Let us give you a tour of this unique island…

Though Tahiti Nui (“big Tatiti”) offers many activities (diving, of course, but also 4x4 safaris, golf in Mataiea, canyoning in Hitiaa, surfing in Papenoo, sea kayaking), its little sister, Tahiti Iti, is surrounded by an aura of treasure and legend. These hidden treasures are yours to discover as you follow the narrow trails between the sea and the mape (Polynesian chestnuts), diving into the shadows towards the petroglyphs of Vaiote and the drums of the god Hono Ura.

Much more than a mere stepping stone on the way to the fabulous neighbouring islands, Tahiti’s capital, Papeete, is filed with life: a colorful market, many museums, an effervescent nightlife, and interesting cultural activities including the Heiva festival will allow travelers to discover new and fascinating chants, coulours, smells, and traditions. If you’re looking for a night out in Polynesia, Tahiti is the place to go: the bars and nightclubs are open nightly (later on weekends)! Before a night out, discover new and diversified cuisine at one of the many restaurants: there’s no shortage of choice!

Most larger hotels offer two dining options: fast food and gourmet dining. They also organize more elaborate evenings including generous buffets and entertainment, often with performances by some of the best local dance troupes. Also unique to Tahiti are the roulotte restaurants (mobile food stalls) that set up on Vaiete Square after sunset, offering simple and quick meals at affordable prices. On top of the usual grilled goodies, options include Chinese food, pizza, and pancackes.

Geography

Tahiti and its islands cover more than 4 million km2 of maritime territory – an area roughly the same size as Europe! Of course, of this immense territory, only 4000 km2 is actually above sea level and comes in the shap of land spread over 118 islands. The island of Tahiti is part of an archipelago called the Society Islands and is located at Latitude 17°32’S and Longitude 149°34’W. It is between California (6200km) and Australia (5700km), Tokyo (7500km) and Santiago de Chile (7500km).

118 islands in 5 archipelagos
These 118 unique and idyllic islands are divided into five archipelagos, each with its own personality. The inhabitants of these archipelagos are gradually entering the 21st century – at a pace dictated by the ancestral rhythms of the sun and the ocean. The Society Islands (further split up into the Leeward Islands and Windward Islands) is a group of high islands encircled by lagoons. The main island, Tahiti, is also the largest island in French Polynesia. Its capital is Papeete.

Two beautiful volcanic mountains surge out of the ocean and form the island of Tahiti. The largest of the two, Mount Orohena (2241m), rises to 2241m from the heart of Tahiti Nui and can often be seen wearing a crown of clouds. Mount Ronui, the smaller mountain, rises to 1300m on Tahiti Iti. Connected by the isthmus of Taravao, the two halves are reminiscent of an emerald comet, bathing in the turquoise halo of their thin lagoon.

The Society Islands include:
- Tahiti
- Moorea: volcanic peaks reflected in the clam waters of its lagoon, only 17km from Tahiti across a deep sea trench
- Huahine, wild and magical island located about 175km northwest of Tahiti, full of secrets and lively traditions
- Raiatea and Tahaa, sacred islands with fertile valleys, they share a lagoon and are known for their particularly pleasant sea conditions
- Bora Bora, known across the world for the surreal beauty of its plentiful waters, its motus with coconut plantations flanked by white sands, and its coral gardens
- Maupiti, the heart-shaped island, nestled in a jade lagoon

Tuamotu-Gambier Archipelago
Between sea and sky, this group of atolls and lagoons surrounded by coral reefs is in a world of its own. Blue, white, green: three colors dominate the landscape of the Tuamotu archipelago, these simple coral rings delicately perched between the sky and the waves. Take a closer look and a whole world of magic is revealed: the lagoon’s myriad shades of turquoise, the violets and purples of the table coral visible through the iridescent surface of transparent-jade waters, the yellows, oranges, reds, black, and pinks of the underwater gardens, the mother-of-pearl whirlwind of passing fish. It barely ever rains here, and the conditions are perfect for pearl farming. Rangiroa, Tikehau, Manihi, and Fakarava are the most popular islands. At the eastern edge of Polynesia rises the high island of Mangareva and its ring of islets, the remains of an ancient crater. With few visitors, it also has its fair share of pearl farms.

The Marquesas Islands
Also known as the “Land of Men” in Marquesan (“Te Henua Enata”), these islands surge right out of the Pacific blue like dark green fortresses south of the equator, some 1500km from Tahiti. Of the twelve islands that make up this archipelago, only 6 are inhabited. The most famous ones are Nuku Hiva, Hiva Oa and Ua Pou. A great place to sail, the Marquesas offer few beaches, making each one that much more precious! Pigs, goats, sheep, and horses roam freely amid this splendid landscape.

The Austral Islands
Rurutu, Tubuai, Rimatara, Raivavae, and Rapa: these five high islands make up the southernmost group of islands in French Polynesia. The last inhabited islands in the South Pacific, these islands located way off the usual tourist trail were formed by ancient volcanoes. Apart from Rapa, these islands’ peaks are not as high as those of the other archipelagos, their landscape softer, tamer. With their Marae, ancient ritual places, their tall centuries-old stone tikis, and the still intact walls of their ancient Pa fortresses, these islands still have many secrets left to tell. Their climate allows tropical and temperate species to thrive and is well suited for market gardening, which, along with handicrafts, is the inhabitants’ main bread and butter. The Austral Islands are also on a whale migration route: each year between late July and October you can come here to meet these gentle giants.

Culture

Tahiti’s multiethnic population brings together Polynesians (83%, around 20% of which are of mixed ancestry), Europeans (12%, essentially city-dwellers), and Chinese (5%, their ancestors having settled here at the end of the 19th century). According to the most recent census (November 2002), Tahiti and its islands regroup 245 405 individuals, 75% of which live on the so-called Wind Islands (Tahiti and Moorea), with more than 127 600 people living in the urban area around Papeete (a strip of land measuring around 40 km). The population growth rate is considerable: +11.8% since the 1996 census. This increase can be explained not only by natural demographic growth but also by positive net migration, a result of state officials moving here when they retire.

Between tradition and modernity
Religion holds an important place in this society. Protestants now hold the majority (approx. 45%), followed by Catholics (34%), and, in smaller numbers, Mormons, 7th day Adventists, etc. Churches run youth organisations and play a major role in social and political life. Moreover, demographic analysis indicates westernization (longer life spans, less children per family, etc), a phenomenon that seems confirmed by changes in lifestyles, which tend towards consumerism. If many Polynesians still use local dialects as well as French when talking among themselves, these are becoming less used, especially among the younger generations. Despite the modernization of this society, Polynesian welcoming rituals still retain their authenticity and flamboyance. Welcomed by chants and flower necklaces, visitors start a journey into an enchanting universe as soon as they step on the tarmac – a journey which, somehow, always ends up being too short…

Climate

What’s the best time of year to come to French Polynesia? All year long! Let your interests tell you when to visit: scuba diving, cultural activities, tropical fruits, weddings, end of the year celebrations, etc.). The Polynesian islands benefit from a tropical climate and maximum sunlight. For example, Tuamotu gets close to 3000 hours of sunlight every year!

The temperature is always pleasant thanks to the Pacific trade winds that cool things down throughout the year. On most islands the average temperature is 27°C and lagoon waters stay at a perfect 26°C. Considerably further away from the equator, the Austral and Gambier islands are slightly cooler.