7-day sailing itinerary in French Polynesia: the Leeward Islands

The longest hop is Taha'a (west coral garden) → Huahine at about 31.3 nm; the shortest is Raiatea (Uturoa) → Taha'a at about 6.3 nm (our reading of the table). Coordinates are OpenStreetMap's, rounded to 4 decimals.

Coordinates © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL (OpenStreetMap (Nominatim geocoder), checked 29 Oct 2026).

We found no verified park, mooring or quay fee for the stops outside the marinas above: see what we could not verify.

Fees are examples and are not added together: they depend on the boat's length, the day and where you actually stop. Every other cost of the week, per person: true cost of a week in French Polynesia.

• Bora Bora: In Bora Bora's lagoon, anchoring outside the authorised anchoring zones is prohibited for all decked vessels, whatever their length and however long they stay (DPAM, May 2020; our translation). (DPAM, Government of French Polynesia)
• Taha'a (west coral garden): Tahiti Tourisme describes crystal-clear shallow water between two motu on the west side of the island, where you drift with the current over the coral. (Tahiti Tourisme)

More on moorings and parks: snorkelling and diving in French Polynesia.

Mean air temperature and mean wind at one reference point, Raiatea (-16.730, -151.440), for this route. Our verdict column applies our best-time rules to that point (how).

Windiest month: July (12 kn); calmest: March (9 kn) at Raiatea (our reading of NASA POWER means). Mean wind is not gusts or sea state. Tahiti Tourisme describes a dry season from May to October and a wet season from November to April (Tahiti Tourisme, checked 27 Oct 2026). Seasonal hazards by month (storms, strong-wind days, rain): weather risk in French Polynesia. Air temp = NASA POWER monthly mean 2 m air temperature (T2M); wind = monthly mean 10 m wind speed (WS10M), converted from m/s to knots (kn) with 1 m/s = 3600/1852 kn. For each calendar month we average the 2016–2025 values (10 full years). POWER's meteorological grid is ½° latitude by ⅝° longitude (roughly 55 × 50 km at these latitudes), so one cell cannot show local sea breezes or coast-to-hill temperature differences. They are our calculation of average conditions, not a forecast, not gusts, and not sea conditions. Mean wind is lower than the peak winds you will feel on the water. Weather data obtained from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center's Prediction Of Worldwide Energy Resources (POWER) Project, funded through the NASA Earth Science Division (pulled 2026-10-28) (NASA POWER, checked 28 Oct 2026). We changed the data: we averaged the monthly values for 2016–2025 and converted wind from m/s to knots (our calculation).

• Best weather: May, June, July, August, September, October (our rule: warm, and outside the hurricane or wet season where we have a source).
• Sweet spot: May, June, October (our rule: best weather, and not one of the three priciest months).
• Calmest, for families: May, June, October (our suggestion: the calmest best-weather months by mean wind).
• Windiest, for keen sailors: July, August, September (our ranking).

Full month-by-month comparison with prices: best time to charter in French Polynesia.

12 Knots' average weekly catamaran price is €9,284 in May and €10,592 in July (asking prices, updated October 2026) (12 Knots, checked 27 Oct 2026). All-in per person for 4, 6 or 8 people: true cost of a week in French Polynesia.

No licence is required by law for a sailing boat in French Polynesia: the territory's official pleasure-craft rules say sailing pleasure craft, even with an auxiliary engine, need no title, which covers a sailing catamaran (our reading; the text concerns French-flag craft). More: licence rules for French Polynesia. No licence? A skipper costs extra: bareboat vs skippered.

See catamarans for rent in French Polynesia on SamBoat

Ask the base about the route, the boat's draught and its fees before you book; listings and prices on SamBoat are SamBoat's own. We may earn a commission if you book through our links, at no extra cost to you (disclosure).

• Where yachts may anchor in Bora Bora today (the rules were amended again in 2022 and 2023).
• Mooring fees at every stop.

Distances: great-circle distance between the OpenStreetMap coordinates of each stop on a sphere of radius 6,371 km, converted at 1.852 km per nautical mile (our calculation). A real passage is longer: headlands, channels, tacking. Best months: the best-time rules (methodology). Catamaran berth examples: the marina's printed rate × its printed multihull surcharge (our arithmetic).

• [Secondary source]: From a newspaper, NGO, guide, charter company or community map; not official.
• [Not verified]: We could not confirm it. We leave it open rather than guess, and never add it to a total.
• No label: Read in an official text: government, park or port authority, or an operator's own published price list.

Distances, catamaran berth examples, best months and weather means are our calculation and say so. Fees change and depend on the boat's length, the day and where you stop: check with your charter base.

• DPAM, Government of French Polynesia: Amélioration du cadre réglementaire et des zones de mouillage de Bora Bora (official), checked 29 Oct 2026.
• Tahiti Tourisme: Jardin de corail, Taha'a (official), checked 28 Oct 2026.
• OpenStreetMap (Nominatim geocoder): Nominatim search API: coordinates of each itinerary stop (secondary, not official), checked 29 Oct 2026.
• NASA POWER: Prediction Of Worldwide Energy Resources: Monthly API (T2M, WS10M) (official), air temperature and wind at Raiatea, 2016–2025 means, our calculation.
• 12 Knots: Catamaran charter in French Polynesia (Tahiti) (secondary, prices), checked 27 Oct 2026.
• Tahiti Tourisme: Tahiti weather (secondary, not official), checked 27 Oct 2026.

Method: methodology. Data: JSON.

• 7-day sailing itineraries: every route compared
• French Polynesia yacht and catamaran charter: prices, season and licence
• Best time to charter in French Polynesia
• Weather risk by month in French Polynesia
• True cost of a week in French Polynesia
• Snorkelling and diving in French Polynesia
• Fishing rules in French Polynesia
• Do I need a licence to rent a boat in French Polynesia?
• Catamaran Index home