©LoGetnely Pla thenet Pu brightlications Pguidesty Ltd for your trip PAGE ON THE YOUR COMPLETE DESTINATION GUIDE 46 In-depth reviews, detailed listings ROAD and insider tips The Marquesas p174 COUNTRY & MULTICOUNTRY • The original • Comprehensive Bora Bora • Adventurous Maupiti p126 p143 Huahine The Tuamotus p98 p151 Ra'iatea & Tahiti Taha'a p48 p110 Mo'orea p77 PHRASEBOOKS The Gambier The Australs Archipelago p203 p203 Looking for other travel resources? PAGE SURVIVAL VITAL PRACTICAL INFORMATION TO 235 GUIDE HELP YOU HAVE A SMOOTH TRIP Directory A–Z ................. 236 Transport ........................ 246 Language ........................ 253 Index ................................ 265 Language LONELYPLANET.COM APPS EBOOKS Tahitian and French are the o՗ cial languagesMAGAZINE Welcome. Maeva, mó of French Polynesia, but Tahitian is spoken Thank you. Móuruuru. more than it is written. Although French dominates, many of those working in the Excuse me./Sorry. E’e, aue ho ForMap travel Legend information, .................... Location-based 271 Guidebooks tourist industry can speak some English;For No problem./Don’t travel worry. Aita stories, pe’ape once you venture to the more remote and less touristy islands where the Tahitian dia- Yes. E, ’oia. advice, tips & digital guides for the street for your readerlects are spoken, it’s deÀ nitely useful to knowinspiration No. Aita. & ideas some French. Pardon? E aha? chapters TAHITIAN How are you? E aha lonelyplanet.com/mobile lonelyplanet.com/ebooksTahitian (also known as Maohi) belongs lonelyplanet.com/magazineMy name is ... To’ to the group of Polynesian languages that country cludes Samoan, Maori, Hawaiian, Raroton- and Tongan. There are several dialects of I don’t understand. an. The spread of Christianity through Good luck! olynesia helped make the variety hiti the most widespread. I’m ill. ounds are also found in pronounced as fol- STAY IN TOUCH lonelyplanet.com/contact twitter.com/ AUSTRALIATHIS EDITION Locked WRITTEN Bag 1, Footscray, AND RESEARCHED Victoria 3011 BY %03 8379 8000, fax 03 8379 8111 lonelyplanet Paper in this book is certified USA 150 LindenCeleste Street, Oakland, Brash CA 94607 facebook.com/ against the Forest Stewardship %510 250 6400, toll free 800 275 8555, fax 510 893 8572 lonelyplanet Council™ standards. FSC™ promotes environmentally responsible, socially Jean-Bernard Carillet lonelyplanet.com/ beneficial and economically viable UK Media Centre, 201 Wood Lane, London W12 7TQ management of the world’s forests. %020 8433 1333, fax 020 8702 0112 newsletter tahiti-french-polynesia-9-cover.indd 2 00-title page-tah9.indd 1 24/05/2012 3:55:063:48:26 PM “All you’ve got to do is decide to go and the hardest part is over. So go!” TONY WHEELER, COFOUNDER – LONELY PLANET Get the right guides for your trip PAGE PLAN YOUR PLANNING TOOL KIT 2 Photos, itineraries, lists and suggestions YOUR TRIP to help you put together your perfect trip Welcome to Tahiti & French Polynesia ........... 2 Welcome to Tahiti & French Map .................................. 4 Polynesia 15 Top Experiences ........ 6 Need to Know ................. 14 COUNTRYCOUUNTRY & MULTICOUNTRYCO If You Like ........................ 16 • The original Month by Month ............. 19 • Comprehensive • AdventurousAdventuAd rouss Itineraries ........................ 22 If You The Dream as blue. However, today there are freeways, Christianity has instilled more conserva- Tahiti: just the word conjures up centur- tive values and people work nine-to-À ve Like ies’ worth of images: hibiscus Á owers; jobs. French Polynesia has not escaped the svelte, bronze dancers in grass skirts; modern world but embraced it. True, it’s a humid breeze over turquoise sea. The not the perfect, untainted paradise of ex- Which Island? ................. 26 islands of French Polynesia became legends plorer lore, but at least there’s a pretty fast the minute the À rst European explorers internet connection. reached their home shores with tales of a heaven on earth where the soil was fer- tile, life was simple, and sex was plentiful Lagoon Spectacular and guilt-free. While the lingering hype is While there are plenty of slim stretches Diving ............................... 31 outdated and no place can live up to being of white-, pink- and black-sand beaches ‘paradise’, French Polynesia is still about as in French Polynesia, they are just pretty Diving, Luxury Historydreamy as reality & gets. The trees are still springboards into the real draw: the la- Snorkelling Pampering Archaeologyheavy with fruit the mountains rise as ma goons Most high islands are surrounded & Wildlife- Overwater bungalows were Spirituality has always been Travel with Children ....... 39 Watching created then perfected in paramount to Polynesian French Polynesia. Live la people and the historical Been searching for the vie en bleu while lounging vestiges you’ll À nd in the world’s most intense shade lagoon- or poolside with islands are testament to of aqua? Look no further. exotic cocktails, soaking in this. Stone temples and What’s below the surface tropical Á ower–À lled baths Europe-worthy churches Regions at a Glance ....... 43 is even more spectacular: or getting your muscles are highlights. sharks, coral gardens, soothed with hot volcanic Marae Taputapuatea, Ra’iatea turtles, rays, dolphins, stones. humpback whales, clouds Arguably the most important of À sh... Bora Bora The world capital of ancient Polynesian place of overwater-bungalow bliss and worship in the world (p ### ) Rangiroa It’s shark week! Or a full-throttle celebrity magnet Opunohu Valley, Mo’orea more like shark century. This is (p ### ) French Polynesia’s fauna-heavy Tumbled remains of archery diving capital (p ### ) Taha’a Bora Bora’s quiet platforms, dwellings and temples counterpart oՖ ers glamour and wend up a jungle hill (p ### ) Maupiti A manta ray cleaning luxe minus the hype (p ### ) station makes sightings likely, Cathedral & Churches, Gambier but human crowds are rare Mo’orea Chic decadence can be Archipelago In the 1880s, Father Ra’iatea & (p ### ) easy to access, kid-friendly and Laval lead islanders to build chock-full of activities (p ### ) coral block churches that seat Huahine Taha’a Bora Bora M Rurutu Spot humpbacks thousands (p ### and p ### ) through air-clear water or Tikehau Get your spa treat- breaching near your boat ments in a remote paradise Kamuihei & Tahakia, Nuku Hiva Archaeology 33 Archaeology 333 Resorts 333 (p ### ) worthy of an adventure novel Villages of stone rubble shaded (p ### ) by grand banyan trees (p ### ) Culture 33 Hiking 33 Diving 3 Mo’orea Dolphins, whales, Diving 33 Diving 33 Hiking 3 stingrays and sharks all star in Rangiroa The Kia Ora lets you Iipona, Hiva Oa Five impressive a particularly stunning lagoon lounge near town or whisks you stone tiki dominate this well- Diving (p ### ) to a Crusoe-chic private island preserved site (p ### ) (p ### ) Tahiti Whale-watching trips too Gauguin Tahiti’s Gauguin PHRASEBOOKS Museum gives a taste of his Ancient Village The Big One Glamorous Life crowded on Mo’orea? Marine mammals pass by Tahiti too work, but the artist’s spirit lives Stroll the remains You’ll feel an un- Welcome to over- W When to Go Island-by-Island of Maeva, a seaside avoidable spiritual the-water bungalow There are regularly optimal diving conditions village that was buzz at Marae heaven where throughout the year, except when the trade Guide once the seat Taputapuatea. Once drinks are served wind blows, from June to August, producing From Fakarava in the Tuamotus to Hiva O in the Marquesas, you’ll be spoilt for choice of royalty on a meeting place with a view and choppy seas. Water temperatures range from a low of 26°C to a high of 29°C on most Just as the individual islands have their dis Huahine. Explore for Polynesians pampering is on islands. You won’t need anything more than a tinct personalities, so too the dive sites hav the waterfront throughout the your tab. Top thin neoprene wetsuit. their own hallmarks. Just take your pick temples then PaciÀ c, this marae dining, luxury All dive sites are mapped in the destination scramble up the (traditional temple) lagoon tours and chapters. Best for CertiÀ cation hillside to À nd is still one of the sparkling white M Tahiti most important sands complete the Mo’orea Tahiti crumbling stone w vestiges in the and well-preserved package. Huahine Although less charismatic than othe bush. ancient temples of Bora Bora French Polynesian islands, Tahiti shouldn’ Every Shade of y b d t ith b t 20 l d its kind. Lost in Time Blue b Slip into island Rare Flower Bora Bora’s sandy- b time in Fare, the The tiare apetahi bottom lagoon h somniferous capital is a delicate reÁ ects the sky in of Huahine. Fishing À ve-petalled so many hues it t boats come in, Á ower resembling a changes the deÀ ni- h À shing boats go woman’s hand that tion of the word Looking for other travel resources? out, women in only grows on the blue. There’s not Á owered clothing Temahani Plateau much coral unless in Ra’iatea. To see it you head out to buy groceries and, T if you’re lucky, the you’ll have to make the fringing reef, a challenging hike but it’s as safe as cargo ship may be M unloading the to the summit a swimming pool PAGE UNDERSTAND GET MORE FROM YOUR TRIP 213 TAHITI & FRENCH Learn about the big picture, so you POLYNESIA can make sense of what you see Tahiti & French population per sq km FRENCH MAINLAND STATE OF POLYNESIA FRANCE HAWAII Polynesia Today ............. 214 ≈ 20 people History ............................. 216 Tahiti & French Polynesia Today 2 Environment ................... 226 Cultural Renaissance Culturally, French Polynesia is rediscovering itself. In the last 20 years, the Tahitian language has been reclaimed as a subject now required in LONELYPLANET.COM APPS EBOOKS MAGAZINE schools and as a university-level discipline.