Location: French Polynesia is approximately half way between the west coast of North America and the East Coast of Australia in the South Pacific Ocean and 7500kms from Santiago in Chile.
Tahiti and her picturesque islands have been deemed as one of the world's most exotic paradises and are stunningly beautiful. French Polynesia is made up of 5 island groups with pristine aquamarine 'Pacific' waters and palm fringed white sand beaches and the fragrant aroma of the 'noanoa' - flowers especially the 'tiare' a tiny white gardenia, Tahiti's national blossom.
Tahiti is the mainland of French Polynesia and is the largest island with two parts - Tahiti Nui ('Big Tahiti') and Tahiti Iti (Little Tahiti) and also the vibrant capital of Pape'ete with the only international airport at Faa'a. Pape'ete has good restaurants and interesting museums.
Under 1 hour by air from Tahiti or Moorea lies ‘Bora Bora’, with a lagoon resembling an artist's palette of blues and greens with Mount Otemanu piercing the sky. The lush tropical environment blossoms with hibiscus, while palm-covered motu circle the lagoon like a delicate necklace. Perfect white-sand beaches give way to emerald waters where coloured fish animate the coral gardens.
A few minutes from the island of Tahiti by air and only 30 minutes by high-speed catamaran, ‘Moorea’ soars magically out of the ocean in an explosion of green velvet - what you would imagine a South Seas island to be.
‘Taha'a’, with the rich aroma of vanilla lingering heavily in the air, offers a glimpse of the traditional, tranquil life of the Tahitians. The flower-shaped island's simple beauty is charmed by soft mountain shapes and surrounded by tiny motu with bright sand beaches where an exclusive resort is located!
How to get there: Air Tahiti Nui connects Papeete with Paris daily and frequent services from Los Angeles, New York, Auckland (New Zealand),Sydney (Australia) and Japan. Air New Zealand also operates non stop flights from Auckland and offers a code share agreement with Air Tahiti Nui on some services between Papeete, Auckland and Los Angeles. Lan Chile operates from Santiago (Chile) to Papeete via Easter Island. Air Tahiti operate non stop flights to Rarotonga (Cook Islands) with an extensive domestic network with frequent daily flights to Moorea, Bora Bora and most islands of French Polynesia.
Tahiti also offers a variety of luxury cruise options from exclusive ‘boutique’ vessels to larger 6 star ships capturing the very best of this ‘exotic’ cluster of islands and atolls.
Climate and Culture: November to April is the wet season, and the wettest month is January. August is the driest month The average low temperature is 70 °F (21 °C) and the average high temperature is 88 °F (31 °C) with very little seasonal variation.
Tahiti is estimated to have been settled by Polynesians between AD 300 and 800 coming from Tonga and Samoa. In April 1769 Captain James Cook visited the island per secret orders from the Lords of the Admiralty in order to view the transit of Venus on June 2nd. French painter Paul Gauguin lived on Tahiti in the 1890s and painted many Tahitian (16 C) subjects. Papeari has a small Gauguin museum.