What’s up, guys? I recently returned from exploring French Polynesia and I want to share with you my favorite places and islands. So here’s my French Polynesia top ten.

Located in the Pacific Ocean, French Polynesia is home to over 1000 different islands. From the towering mountains of Maria to the overwater bungalows in BoraBora, French Polynesia is the true definition of paradise.

Tahiti And Teahupo’o

Let’s start this article off on the island of Tahiti. If you’re flying into French Polynesia, you’ll first fly into Tahiti’s International Airport. Tahiti is the biggest island in all of French Polynesia, and when we arrived, I was just blown away by the size of it.

The mountains are huge, with the highest reaching 2241 meters. There’s a road that loops around Tahiti’s coast and I just love driving on it and marveling at the incredible beauty of this island. One place I really wanted to go see on Tahiti was Tiopu. It’s this little town located about 2 hours drive from the airport. Now, Tiopu is home to one of the world’s best surf waves.

The combination of the swell and the uniquely shaped reef creates what some believe to be the heaviest wave on Earth that can reach over 7 meters high. One thing that I thought was interesting about Tiopu is that it’s scheduled to host the surfing competition for the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics. Now, the wave was first surfed in 1985 by local Tahitians, and over the years it’s become known worldwide for having one of the most consistent barrel waves. Now I drove to this little parking lot in Tiopu and I could see the wave from the shore. But I think the best way to experience the wave besides surfing it is by going on a boat tour.

I wish I would have planned ahead better and booked one, but if you do go on a tour, you’ll be able to get up close and personal with the Rilled famous wave.

Mo’orea

Now, after Tahiti, we’re going to head over to the neighboring island of Moreea, known as the Pearl of the Sea in French Polynesia. Morena is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. We stayed here for four nights and it was just absolutely incredible. Now, to reach Maria, we took a ferry from Tahiti.

We got on this low ferry that we could put our rental car on and it took about 45 minutes to reach Maria. Once you arrive on the island, there’s just so much to do here. I think Maria is home to some of the most spectacular mountains. They’re just so jagged and unique looking. My favorite one was called Mount Mo Aroa, which translates to the shark’s tooth in French Polynesia.

It rises 880 meters above the sea and I totally get where it gets its name with its sharp, rigid appearance. Another one of my favorite peaks is Mount Rotui. You can get a great view of it from the Belvedere Lookout, which is just a quick drive to reach. Now, with all its beautiful mountains, Marie is a great place to go hiking. We did this hike to Cole de Vayare.

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We started the hike in Vayare and walked through the village, then hiked up the mountain jungle until we reached the ridge. It took us about an hour to get to the top and we were rewarded with an incredible 360 view of all of Maria, coupled with some massive jagged mountains. I mean, I’ve never seen anything like it. I have to say it was one of the hottest and most human hikes I’ve ever been on, but it was absolutely worth it. Now, if you’re more into beaches, one of my favorite ones was the public beach, Tahiyamanu in French Polynesia.

It’s this really relaxing beach with sailboats and amazing scenery all around French Polynesia. It’s a prime place to watch the sunset. Another great thing you can do for Maria is go on a boat tour. We went on a tour and unfortunately, it was really rainy, but it still was a great experience. We swam with black tip sharks and we went outside the reef and swam in the deep ocean.

I mean, I couldn’t believe how warm the water was. Now if you go here from August to November, you can swim with humpback whales. I definitely want to go back during that time to swim with those gentle giants. Maria just has so much to offer and I plan to make a separate article on this incredible island.

Marquesas Islands And Nuku Hiva

Afterward, we will head over to one of the most remote places in French Polynesia, the Marquises Islands.

Now, special thanks to my buddy Rob Stroke for sharing his footage of these islands in French Polynesia. He spent some time here capturing some of the most amazing moments from this remote destination. Now, made up of twelve islands with only six that are inhabited, you can reach the Marquises Islands by taking about a four-hour flight from Tahiti. Now, I’d say the Marquises Islands are very different compared to the other islands in French Polynesia.

They don’t have too many sandy beaches. Rather, they are rocky, jagged islands and remind me a lot of Hawai. Now, the largest island on the archipelago is Nukuhiva. One of my favorite places there is the beach at Hati Hiubai. It has these impressive rock formations that make for an incredible setting.

Wapu

Another one of my favorite islands in the Marquisis French Polynesia is WAPU. You can reach it by taking a boat or a short flight from Nukuhiva. My favorite feature of WAPU is its rock spires that tower over the island. I mean, I believe they call it Cathedral Island, and I totally understand why it gets that name. Rob got some of the craziest shots with the locals doing a traditional dance with the rock spires in the background.

Truly a scene out of a movie. Now, the coast of WAPU is also amazing. It has these massive sea cliffs that just rise straight out of the sea. I mean, it’s just unbelievable scenery. If you want a more remote and unique experience in French Polynesia, you got to give the Marquises Islands a visit.

Fakarava And Rangiroa

After, we’re going to head to the tolls of French Polynesia and visit Fakarava in French Polynesia. Located in the Tua Motu group, Makarova is the second-largest atoll in French Polynesia. It has a rectangular shape, and about 800 people live on the atoll. The landscape of Fakarava is just so interesting to me. Unlike the other islands I’ve shown so far, Fakarava is made up of a sliver of land combined with little motus along the toll.

One of the best ways to see Fakarava is by boat. Now, another thing that the Toll is famous for is its diving. It’s home to some of the best scuba diving spots in the world. While we’re still on the topic of atolls, we’re going to visit Ranguroa. It’s the largest atoll in all of French Polynesia and the second largest in the world.

You can reach Ranguroa by an hour’s flight from Tahiti. Now, similar to Fakarava, Rangaroa is a phenomenal place to go diving and snorkeling, with so many spots to explore in the lagoon.

Teti’ara Atoll

Now, afterward, we’re going to visit the Tetia Aurora atoll. Now made up of twelve little islands, the Tettia Roa atoll is home to the renowned Brando resort. The famous actor Marlon Brando bought the atoll back in 1966 after discovering it while scouting filming locations for one of his movies.

When he passed away in 2004, the atoll was closed for tourism. But in 2014, the luxury Brando resort was opened, and it was named the world’s best resort by Conde Nast in 2016. Now, to get to the atoll, you can only reach it by Brando’s private plane. While it is costly, if you do make it to this exclusive atoll, you’ll be rewarded with a pristine paradise.

Leeward Island And Maupiti

After, we’re going to head over to the Leeward Islands. Comprised of islands such as BoraBora and Rayatea, the Leeward Islands are home to some of French Polynesia’s most beautiful destinations. One of my favorites is Mau PT. It’s this little island with a population of about 1200 people, and it reminds me of a miniature BoraBora. You can reach it by flying, or you can also take a ferry from BoraBora, making it a great day trip. One adventurous thing you can do on the island is make the three-hour hike to its highest point.

It offers a stunning view of the island and surrounding lagoon. So if you definitely want, like, a more chill, relaxed place to visit, I definitely recommend checking out Mahupiti.

Bora Bora

Now, for our final destination, we’re going to visit BoraBora. Of all the islands in French Polynesia, BoraBora is probably the most famous. And after visiting it, I totally understand why.

Now, the geology of BoraBora is pure perfection. There’s the main island with its towering Dorant volcano and then it’s surrounded by this reef that protects the island from the waves of the Pacific Ocean. Inside the reef, there’s a lagoon that is home to some of the world’s clearest water and is full of wildlife such as sharks and rays. I mean, seriously, BoraBora couldn’t be more perfect. Now, to reach BoraBora, we flew into Tahiti, and then from there we took a short 15-minute flight and landed on BoraBora.

The airport here is on a Motu, which is a little island on the reef. So to get to the mainland or the resorts, you’ll take a ferry. We were staying on the mainland, so we hopped on the ferry and then we made the quick 15 minutes boat ride to Vaitape. It was a pretty surreal ride as we approached the island. Now, we got on top of the ferry and the views were just incredible.

As we got closer to Vaitape, there was even a full moon and it almost looked fake with how perfect everything was. Now, when it comes to accommodation on Bora Bora, the most famous resorts are located on the islands or Motus that surround the reef. The resorts on the Motus are definitely the most scenic and offer incredible experiences and views of BoraBora. But they are also the most expensive and were out of my budget for this trip. Maybe next time I’ll get one of them.

But if you’re looking for more affordable accommodation, I’d recommend looking for places on the mainland. There are some luxurious resorts such as the Intercontinental Late Moana, which cost about half the price of the resorts on the Motus. Now, we wanted to see Bora Bora from the ocean’s perspective, so we spent our last few nights on a sailboat. We stayed with this family that has been sailing around the world for five years and they took us around to some of the best places inside Borabora’s Lagoon. I mean, it was like we were in a bungalow, except we could go somewhere new each night and experience BoraBora from all angles.

My favorite place we sailed to was Borabora’s southwest lagoon. I’ve been wanting to come here for a while now because there’s this sandbar in the water that creates this perfect curve and the contrast between the blues of the shallow and deep water is just absolutely mesmerizing. There’s definitely no shortage of shades of blue in BoraBora and French Polynesian in general. Now, while we were here, we had to go do some snorkeling, so we hopped on our dinghy with our captain Francesco and he took us to the spot to go diving. We first found this eagle ray that was just flying through the current.

It was so peaceful to watch. We then went over to this more shallow area with at least ten sharks. Now they’re black tip sharks and they’re about one to 2 meters in the lake and they’re basically harmless to swim with, just very curious little animals. I mean, the water was some of the clearest I’ve ever been in. And there are also tons of colored fish just swimming around us.