Things to do in Huahine
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Huahine
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Dry season: cooler trade winds, the calmest lagoon and the best snorkelling visibility; July and August are peak and book out.
Wet and cyclone season: hotter, humid, heavy showers, rough seas possible and the lowest prices; keep plans flexible.
Shoulder sweet spots balancing dry-season weather against fewer visitors and lower prices.
Humpback whales pass through Polynesia waters, most often seen from boats between August and October.
What's on
- Heiva i Huahine through July
The island's local Heiva celebrations of dance, song and traditional sport in and around Fare.
- Hawaiki Nui Va'a late October to early November
The great outrigger race starts in Huahine and races via Raiatea and Taha'a to Bora Bora over three days.
Best things to do in Huahine
Maeva
The chiefly village of Maeva, with marae platforms, Matairea Hill and working stone fish traps on Lake Fauna Nui.
The Sacred Eels
Very large blue-eyed eels in the Faie village stream, sacred and protected, watched from the bank for a few minutes.
Huahine Pearl Farm
The island's only pearl farm, reached by free shuttle boat, with grafting explained plus pearls and lagoon clay pottery.
Maison de la Vanille
A vanilla plantation and shop at Maeva where hand pollination and curing are explained and beans are sold at source.
Island Eco Tours
The island's deepest land tour, an archaeologist-led circuit of marae, fish traps, eels, vanilla and villages.
Avea Bay
Huahine's signature beach on Huahine Iti, white sand and a shallow coral garden made for beginner snorkelling.
Plage Hana Iti
A wild, often empty beach on Huahine Iti with good swimming and snorkelling and no facilities at all.
Fare
The island's only real town, a waterfront walk of quay, market stalls, shops and yachts at anchor in the bay.
Where to stay in Huahine
Fare and the north
first trip, restaurants, the culture run
The quay, market, airport and east-coast marae run are all at hand, with the Lapita hotel and Fare pensions.
Fitii and Haapu, west Huahine Nui
quiet, sunsets, pension stays
Garden pensions above the lagoon and Bourayne Bay on the sunset side, calm and host-cooked.
Parea and Avea Bay, Huahine Iti
the beach, snorkelling, slowing down
The island's best sand and shore snorkelling at Avea, with Le Mahana and Moana Lodge and the Sunday feast nearby.
Maeva
the culture run on your doorstep
The marae, vanilla stops and fish traps are your neighbourhood, with Fare a short ride west.
Best restaurants in Huahine
Métis
The island's most polished standalone dinner, a small French kitchen in Fare cooking local fish with a fine hand.
Omai
The Lapita Village restaurant, French-Polynesian menus in a garden setting a short walk from the Fare quay.
Huahine Yacht Club
The island's social table, a casual waterfront restaurant and bar by the quay, best at sunset and on Friday music nights.
Izzy's
Fare's highest-rated casual table, a small room doing burgers, American plates and local fish with real consistency.
Chez Tara
A feet-in-the-sand Polynesian restaurant at Parea, famous for the Sunday earth-oven feast with local music.
Roulotte Snack Tamaa Maitai
A named exemplar of the Fare quay roulottes, grilling fish and serving poisson cru, chow mein and crepes at night.
Outdoor things to do in Huahine
Huahine Nautique
The classic full-day lagoon tour, coral garden snorkelling and a motu picnic lunch eaten in the shallows.
Poe Island Tour
A strong alternative lagoon day by outrigger canoe, with coral gardens, the pearl farm and a Tefarerii motu picnic.
Mahana Dive
Tiny-group diving in the Avapeihi Pass with Annie, known for calm briefings and careful first dives.
Pacific Blue Adventure
The island's second dive operator, small-group reef and pass dives with sharks, rays and dense reef life.
Huahine Land Safari Tour
An easy 4x4 highlights circuit of marae, eels, vanilla and the pearl farm, with a Sunday feast version at Chez Tara.
La Petite Ferme
A calm guided horse ride along a wild beach and the Lake Fauna Nui shore, with a sunset departure the best option.
Avamoa Pass
Huahine's noted reef-pass surf off Fare, hollow waves over shallow coral for experienced reef surfers only.
E-Bike Huahine
Bike and e-bike hire for the coastal road, the cheap active way to string together Maeva, Faie and Avea Bay.
Best hotels in Huahine
Hotel Le Mahana Huahine
The island-top hotel, 33 bungalows on Avea Bay sand with a coral garden off the pontoon and a beach restaurant.
Maitai Lapita Village Huahine
Fare's hotel, garden and lakeside bungalows on an archaeological site, a short walk from the quay and restaurants.
Pension Poetaina
A pension-plus in Fare, villa rooms and motu bungalows with a pool, private beach, shared kitchen and hosted dinners.
Pension Tupuna
Four unlike garden bungalows above Bourayne Bay at Haapu, sustainably run and known for private cooked dinners.
Moana Lodge
The model Huahine pension at Parea, four bungalows in a big garden with free kayaks, bikes and snorkel gear.
Pension Fare Maeva
A good-value pension of bungalows with a pool and beach on the Maeva side, with a small restaurant guests praise.
Chez Guynette
Fare's budget inn by the harbour, basic rooms and a dorm, self-catering and a terrace facing the water.
Is Huahine expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | CFPF 14,000 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | CFPF 26,000 a person |
| Splurge | CFPF 48,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Island Eco Tours: weeks ahead
- Huahine Nautique: a few days ahead
- Poe Island Tour: a few days ahead
- Mahana Dive: a few days ahead
- Pacific Blue Adventure: a few days ahead
- Huahine Land Safari Tour: a few days ahead
- La Petite Ferme: a few days ahead
- Hotel Le Mahana Huahine: weeks ahead
- In July and August book the room and the rental car together, weeks ahead; the quality stock is very small.
- Book the Chez Tara Sunday feast and pension dinners by the day before or the morning of the day.
- Book Huahine Nautique, Poe, the dive centres and Métis days ahead in season.
Is Huahine safe?
- Never swim outside the reef; the Avapeihi and Avamoa passes are current-swept and for boats, divers and expert surfers only.
- Loose dogs chase scooters and bicycles and roads are unlit at night; ride slowly.
- There is no hospital on Huahine; serious cases are evacuated by air to Papeete, so medical evacuation insurance is essential.
- Emergency number 112; bring mosquito repellent as dengue occurs in French Polynesia.
Huahine travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Stale Huahine hotel lists full of closed or renamed properties; the former Royal Huahine could not be confirmed as operating, so verify directly before paying.
- Buying pearls before taking the pearl farm explanation and comparing; grading is a skill.
- Day-tripping Huahine from another island gives you the marae and little else; the island rewards staying.
Getting around Huahine: public transport and more
- Fly Papeete to Huahine-Fare in roughly 40 minutes with Air Tahiti or Air Moana, several times a day in season.
- The Apetahi Express catamaran sails Papeete to Fare in about 3 to 3.5 hours on a limited weekly pattern, not daily, and cannot carry cars.
- Rent a car or scooter on the island; there is effectively no public transport and Fare to Avea is 25 to 35 minutes by road.
- Bicycles suit the Fare to Maeva run and Parea; the full two-island circuit is a car or e-bike day.
Who Huahine suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Huahine your trip
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