Best Time of Year to Visit Tahiti, Moorea, and Bora Bora

About the author, Michael Cottam Founder of Visual Itineraries, Michael lives in Bend, Oregon. He's an avid traveler, scuba diver, photographer, and a private pilot, and also the founder of Bright Yonder, which offers marketing tools to travel agents. He's been to Fiji, Thailand, Vietnam, Seychelles, Kenya, France, England, New Zealand, Jamaica, Belize, Costa Rica, Turks & Caicos, British Virgin Islands, Mexico, and the major islands in French Polynesia. He's been in Rotary for 22 years, currently on the board of the Greater Bend Rotary Club. Here's his LinkedIn and Pinterest.

High Season vs. Low Season

During the high season, temperatures are milder and there are fewer rain showers with less humidity, and better visibility for divers. However, there are two or three times as many tourists per resort – thus increasing demand for sightseeing activities and prices for lodging and events.

Throughout the slower months, the costs are lower and there is less competition for spots on popular tours. Additionally, just because it’s off season it doesn’t mean the sun completely disappears! Tahiti still receives warming rays, although consecutive days of rain are possible.

The high season in Tahiti is really much more about demand than it is weather. In the summer is not only when families with children can travel more easily, but also when a big percentage of newlyweds take their honeymoon. And honeymoons are HUGE business in French Polynesia!

Average temperatures in Tahiti

The annual average temperature in Tahiti is 80 degrees Fahrenheit, or 27 degrees Celsius. Closer to the equator, the Tuamotu Atolls and the Marquesas Islands have slightly warmer temperatures than Tahiti, Moorea and Bora Bora.

During the high season, or winter, temperatures range from 70-82 degrees Fahrenheit, while in the low season, summer, temperatures vary from 70-85 degrees Fahrenheit.

Average rainfall

December and January average 12 inches of rain a month, however, Tahiti receives more hours of sun than Hawaii during the comparable humid season.

Less than three inches of rain fall per month from June through September.

Storms in French Polynesia

The humid season in Tahiti is from November to April. Occasionally, strong storms do develop. There actually ARE NO hurricanes in Tahiti (or anywhere in the South Pacific). That's not as good news as you might think--it's because they're not called hurricanes in that region, they're called cyclones :-). But there is good news: cyclones are rare, with the last powerful one occurring in 1982. You can get some pretty dramatic heavy rainfall however--during the humid season, it will often rain hard enough at night to wake you up.

High and Low Season Prices in Tahiti

The overall high season in French Polynesia extends from May 1 to October 31, although some resorts change their prices starting April 1. The low season covers November 1 to April 30.

Tahiti wholesalers--and the resorts themselves--are very active when it comes to special offers, discounts, extra inclusions, etc., and so these kinds of deals are changing all the time. Most websites aren't able to keep those specials up to date--there's just too many of them, and they're changing and expiring all the time. At Visual Itineraries, we track the offers from the major wholesalers daily, and our specialists have tools that show them all the available offers and discounts for a particular property instantly.

Typical airfares from LAX

Airfares vary by season, but also day of week, and are definitely affected by holidays. The chart above shows the typical minimum and maximum fares for a economy class ticket from Los Angeles (LAX) to Papeete (PPT), by month.

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Things to see and do in Tahiti

Some of the more popular activities will sometimes sell out during high season, so if you're headed to Tahiti in the summer, you'd be wise to pre-book your activities. Most of your meals will likely be at the resort's restaurants, but if you are planning to visit a non-resort restaurant, you might want to make reservations for that.

Really this is only a question in Papeete, on the main island of Tahiti, as there are few standalone restaurants on the other islands except for the famous Bloody Mary's, on Bora Bora--and they don't take reservations.

ATV tour on Moorea. Photo copyright Michael Cottam.

There are a ton of adventures to be had on each of the islands, especially Moorea and Bora Bora, where you can do ATV tours, jet skiing, hikes, as well as the obvious: snorkeling and scuba diving. Moorea has both golf and ziplining available, and everything is easy to get to, since the resorts are all on the main island there. On Bora Bora, the majority of resorts are on the surrounding atolls, so you'll need a short boat ride to the island in the middle for the land adventures. Your hotel concierge will arrange this for you.

Ziplining on Moorea. Photo copyright Michael Cottam.

You're going to find that essentially all tours are available year-round. Your odds of getting rained on are just a bit higher in the rainy season. When we were last on Moorea, a torrential rainstorm hit us in the middle of our zipline excursion, and that only made it more exciting and fun--it wasn't cold at all.

Map of all Resorts in French Polynesia