Independent trip ideas · not package holidays
Two weeks buys you three islands, not five. Here is the route that works — Tahiti, Moorea and one Leeward island or Tuamotu atoll — day by day, with the real ferry and Air Tahiti costs in XPF and the transfer traps that quietly eat four days out of fourteen.
The short answer
Fourteen days contain about eleven usable ones. Arrival, jet lag, two transfer days and the safety night before the long-haul flight take the rest. A fourth island costs one more full day and one more domestic fare for a half-day of lagoon.
Tahiti-Faa'a is the only international gateway. Sleeping there the night before departure protects you from a delayed outer-island flight — the single most expensive mistake on this itinerary.
Bora Bora for the postcard and the price that comes with it. Huahine for a slower, greener, cheaper island. Raiatea for Taputapuātea and sailing. Rangiroa, Tikehau or Fakarava if diving is the point of the trip.
Excluding the international flight: roughly 350,000–500,000 XPF per person in pensions, 700,000–1,000,000 XPF mid-range, 1,500,000 XPF and up with an overwater bungalow. Domestic transport alone is 60,000–140,000 XPF.
Route A · first trip
Most long-haul flights land in Papeete at night or very early. Sleep near Faa'a or on the west coast, do not book anything before noon on day 2, and check that your checked bag actually arrived before you leave for another island.
Papeete market before 9am, the Museum of Tahiti and its Islands in Punaauia, then the west-coast beaches at PK18. If you land on a Sunday, the market closes at midday. Buy your ferry ticket for the next morning.
Ferry Papeete → Vaiare, 30 to 45 minutes. Arrange the transfer from the quay to the accommodation before you sail: Vaiare is not where you sleep. Afternoon in the lagoon, nothing paid.
Boat trip to the sandbanks and the reef, or snorkelling straight from the shore at Temae or Ta'ahiamanu. Book the boat for the morning: the wind usually rises after 2pm.
Opunohu valley, the Belvedere lookout over the two bays, the marae of Titiroa. A rental car for one day covers the whole island; there is no useful public transport.
Keep this day unpaid. It absorbs a cancelled boat trip, bad weather or simply a slow morning. If everything went to plan, use it for a second lagoon session.
Fly from Tahiti, not from Moorea: schedules are far denser. That means a morning ferry back and an afternoon flight. Count the day as a transfer day, not a holiday day.
Three full days on Bora Bora, Huahine, Raiatea or a Tuamotu atoll. One paid activity, one free day, one flexible day. This is the part of the trip people remember; do not compress it to two days to add a fourth island.
Fly back in the morning if you can. Afternoon flights on the Leeward Islands are the ones most often delayed by weather.
The east coast, the Arahoho blowhole, the Faarumai waterfalls, Teahupo'o at the end of the road. Tahiti is the most varied island of the group and gets treated as a transit lounge.
Long-haul flights leave late in the evening. Most accommodation will hold your bags for the day. Do not book an outer-island flight on this date, ever.
This is the pattern with the fewest domestic sectors and three genuinely different settings: a real island with mountains and traffic, a lagoon island 30 minutes away, and one outer island you flew to.
Getting between islands
| Leg | How | Indicative cost, one way | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Papeete → Moorea (Vaiare) | Ferry | 2,350 XPF visiting adult, 4,700 XPF return; residents 1,650 XPF (Aremiti, checked 19 Aug 2026) | ≈ 30–45 min |
| Papeete → Bora Bora | Air Tahiti | return from 40,246 XPF | ≈ 50 min |
| Papeete → Huahine | Air Tahiti | return from 33,227 XPF | ≈ 40 min |
| Papeete → Raiatea | Air Tahiti | return from 31,881 XPF | ≈ 45 min |
| Papeete → Rangiroa | Air Tahiti | return from 37,718 XPF | ≈ 1 h |
| Quay or airport → accommodation | Private transfer | 1,000–4,000 XPF, often not included | 15–45 min |
Terevau has ceased operations. The Papeete–Vaiare crossing is now shared between Aremiti (Aremiti 5 and 6), Tauati Ferry and Vaeara'i, on a line the local press describes as saturated at peak hours. Book vehicles ahead and do not plan a same-day connection to a flight without a two-hour margin.
Air Tahiti passes. Air Tahiti sells eight multi-island passes, named by area: MAEVA (Society Islands from Tahiti), MONOÏ (Society from Moorea), MAUPITI, TUAMOTU (Rangiroa, Tikehau, Fakarava), REVA (Society + Tuamotu), FENUA, MARQUISES and AUSTRALES. Low-season starting prices run from about €384 to €821. Every pass is a closed loop starting and ending at Tahiti, minimum two islands, 28 days maximum (40 with extensions), each island visited once only, and non-refundable once issued. The arithmetic: a four-island Society circuit on the MAEVA pass is about €510, roughly 60,900 XPF, against roughly 105,000 XPF for separate returns to Huahine, Raiatea and Bora Bora — but the closed loop and the one-visit-per-island rule are real constraints. Price both on Air Tahiti’s own fare grid ↗ before deciding.
Route B · lagoon and diving
Swap the Leeward island for an atoll if diving is the reason you are coming. The three usual choices are not interchangeable, and none of them should be picked from a wildlife photo.
The largest of the three lagoons, with the Avatoru and Tiputa passes. Established dive centres, long boat runs. Pick accommodation by where the boat leaves from, not by the view.
Smaller and quieter. Village stay or isolated motu — two very different trips. Confirm meals, boat transfers and resupply before you book the flight.
A UNESCO biosphere reserve. North and south are two separate bases with two separate passes; check which one your dive package actually uses.
The passes run strong currents. Certification level, recent experience and the operator's own assessment decide what you dive, not the brochure. Keep one flexible day: ocean activities move.
Route C · culture and slow travel
The cheapest of the three routes and the one with the most substance. Tahiti for arrival and context, Huahine for Maeva's marae complex, Fare and an island circuit you can do in a day, then Raiatea for Taputapuātea — the UNESCO-listed marae at the centre of the Polynesian triangle, and the reason Raiatea is called the sacred island. A night on Taha'a adds a boat transfer after the Raiatea flight: build it in or skip it.
Before you book
Adjusting the route
Cut one transfer. Moorea and Tahiti alone over 14 days is a better trip for under-sevens than three islands. Check child seats, boat access, shade and meal times — several pensions serve dinner at a fixed hour.
Ask for written descriptions of steps, pontoons, wet landings and bathroom access, island by island. Wet landings on motu excursions are common and rarely mentioned in advance.
Test the connection at the exact accommodation, not the island. Never schedule a critical call immediately after an inter-island transfer.
Questions people actually ask
Yes, for three islands. Two weeks gives you roughly eleven usable days once you subtract the arrival day, the jet lag and the safety night before the international departure. Three bases is the realistic maximum; four means you spend a fifth of the trip in airports and on quays.
Three, including Tahiti. Tahiti on arrival and departure, Moorea for the second base, and one Leeward island (Bora Bora, Huahine or Raiatea) or one Tuamotu atoll (Rangiroa, Tikehau, Fakarava) for the third. Every extra island costs one full day and one domestic fare.
Excluding the international flight, budget roughly 350,000–500,000 XPF per person (about US$3,200–4,600) in family-run pensions, 700,000–1,000,000 XPF in mid-range hotels, and well over 1,500,000 XPF with overwater bungalows. Domestic transport alone is 60,000–140,000 XPF.
Only if you fly three or more sectors. Air Tahiti sells eight multi-island passes, from about €384 to €821 in low season. Each is a closed loop starting and ending at Tahiti, valid 28 days, with every island visited once only and no refund once issued. A four-island Society circuit on the MAEVA pass costs about €510 against roughly 105,000 XPF for separate returns — but for a single return to one island, point-to-point tickets are cheaper.
By ferry from Papeete to Vaiare, about 30 to 45 minutes depending on the vessel. Since Terevau ceased operations, the crossing is served by Aremiti, Tauati Ferry and Vaeara'i. Aremiti's published one-way fare for a visiting adult is 2,350 XPF, or 4,700 XPF return; residents pay 1,650 XPF (checked 19 August 2026). Flying is possible but rarely worth it.
May to October is the dry, cooler season and the safest bet for lagoon days. July is the busiest month because of the Heiva festival, so accommodation and domestic flights need booking months ahead. November to April is warmer, wetter and cheaper, with a cyclone risk that peaks between January and March.
Check before you pay
Domestic schedules, fares and the current pass grid.
airtahiti.com ↗Operators, timetables and vehicle conditions.
Aremiti ↗ · DPAM official list ↗Official destination information.
tahititourisme.com ↗The routes below are planning ideas, not a booking. You book each flight, ferry, accommodation and activity with the chosen provider and remain responsible for checking the final conditions. Prices are indicative and checked on the date shown.
Fares and operators checked on 19 August 2026 · written in Raiatea, French Polynesia.
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Full guides
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Planning a realistic stay: formalities, flights, connections, island choice, budget, health.
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Comparing the realities of each island and archipelago, not the postcards.
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Building an itinerary that survives a missed connection.
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Choosing, weighing up and celebrating without false promises.
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Written in English, not machine-translated from the French.