ahh…. French Polynesia, the dream of the honeymooners. That means emerald green islands in colorful lagoons teaming with fish, white powdery palm fringed beaches, sinfully luxurious and expensive open water bungalows and exotic bare-breasted island beauties. Well a cliche, but one that French Polynesia comes very close, I can say. Only the bare-breasted island beauties I unfortunately couldn‘t find in contrary to the sailors of the famous Bounty. Easy to understand why they were so reluctant to leave the Islands and finally became mutinous. After some internet research at home I decided to visit Maupiti, Bora Bora and Moorea, which I would do again but next time also including one week in Rangiroa and Fakirava for diving as everyone I met and who did so, was completely amazed.
Write your story here. (Optional)
I read in my guidebook that Maupiti feels like Bora Bora 30 years ago and this is probably true. The island and the surrounding lagoon is similar beautiful but it´s far less touristy and more relaxed, still preserving an original Polynesian charm. There are no big hotel chains on the island thus accommodation is mostly in pensions. I stayed in Pension Teheimana and Tehei and Cliff were awesome host, making me feel like part of the family.
Unfortunately I had only 2 nights on Maupiti, as there is only one flight a week to Bora Bora and no ferry connection. Although I haven´t got much sleep the night before, waiting at the airport, I wanted to climb the highest mountain of Maupiti for the view of the beautiful lagoon. A steep but well marked trails with one short serious climbing passage leads in 1,5 hour to the top of the roughly 400 meter high mountain. It´s well worth the effort as the views are absolutely breathtaking.
On Saturday we went on a tour of the beautiful lagoon with BBQ on one of the Motus. Not only tourists but also the locals enjoyed the day around there, sitting in the water with a beer and chatting or singing songs together. In the evening we went to a restaurant and again they sat together singing Polynesian songs and having fun. A really nice chill out atmosphere.
Waiting for the Umu (Polynesian style food from the earth oven)
…finally the pit get opened….
…the big pieces of meat and vegetables are chopped….
…and ready to be eaten. Yummy!!!
After lunch fun. Coconut games, sitting together, singing, …..
Probably the most famous of the islands, with its perfect lagoon and the 800m high rough mountain in the middle. The best and most expensive resorts can be found here and Vaitape the capital town is full of shops that sell the famous black pearls. The guest list of the famous Bloody Mary Bar reads like the who is who of the worlds celebrities and just 3 month ago Leonardo di Caprio stayed in one of the luxurious private Motus.Bora Bora has a reputation for being extremely expensive and indeed it‘s easy to spend a fortune on the island in the 5 star hotels on the motus, eating there and taking part in their tours but honestly I think it‘s ridiculous overpriced. I stayed at the Fishing Paradise Lodge on the main Island in a 3 bedroom bungalow (which I had 3 of the 4 nights for myself), had superb home cooked meals, enjoyed two completely private lagoon tours, had fantastic local hosts with Loana and Daniel and all for a fraction of the price of the hotels. It‘s not bloody cheap but absolutely reasonable for what you get. So if you don‘t need posh open water bungalows or spa treatments thats the way to go.
Coming to Bora Bora without doing a lagoon tour is like having sex without orgasm. If the sun shines the lagoon is nothing less than spectacular. The water shines in all kind of blues, is crystal clear and full of fascinating marine life. We went to different snorkeling spots and I saw mantas, sharks and even schools of rays. The palm fringed motus with their powdery white sand beaches are all private but some can be used for a fee. The view from the motus to the emerald green, rough main island is stunning and even better while enjoyed by a round of bool ( which I disastrously lost). Because it was a perfect day I just did it again the next day :-)
A rich business man from New York bought this island and more than 1000 palms were planted. In the middle of the islands a luxuries bungalow is well hidden from to curious outside views. A privacy that some stars like Leonardo de Caprio value very high.
Aranui is a cargo and passenger ferry that makes it way thru the different island groups of French Polynesia. Coming from the Marquesas it makes a short stop at Bora Bora on it´s way to Papeete to sell fresh goods like lime, grapefruits, lobster, etc. It´s quite a spectacle and perfect picture opportunity to follow the selling activity at the pier.
With it´s steep and rough interior Moorea is probably the most beautiful island of the three I´ve been but the lagoon, although nice, can´t compete with Bora Bora and Maupiti. With more than 60 km in circumference it´s also substantially bigger so I rented a scooter for my stay to explore the island. Unfortunately the weather did not show from its best site with dark clouds, occasional rain and only short periods of sun.
© 2026 Beyond All Maps - Portraits of our Planet by Thorsten Mehret
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)