Star Breeze - Magnificent Marquesas & Tuamotus

Where this cruise calls, day by day

9 ports and 3 sea days over 11 Nights.

1. Day 1

   Papeete

   French PolynesiaDepart

   Papeete is the administrative and shipping capital of French Polynesia rather than the postcard version of it, and most Tahiti itineraries begin or end here. The quay is right in town, so you step off into traffic, gendarmes and a French-Polynesian city that works for a living. The scenery people came for is mostly on the other islands, or up in Tahiti's interior valleys.

   • Marche de Papeete, the two-storey municipal market for vanilla, monoi and pareu
   • Les roulottes, the food-truck park at Place Vaiete that fills up after dark
   • Point Venus and Matavai Bay, where Cook observed the transit of Venus
   • Musee de Tahiti et des Iles at Punaauia for Polynesian navigation and tattoo history

   Getting ashore

   Docked at the Quai d'Honneur in the middle of town; the market is about a block away and no shuttle is needed.

   Best months

   May-Oct (dry season)

2. Day 2

   Fakarava

   French PolynesiaPort

   Fakarava is a Tuamotu atoll and a UNESCO biosphere reserve, and it is on itineraries almost entirely for what happens underwater. The southern pass at Tumakohua holds a permanent aggregation of grey reef sharks, hundreds of them, hanging in the current. Ashore at Rotoava there is a village, a coral-block church and not a great deal else, which is the point.

   • Diving or drift snorkelling in Garuae Pass, the widest pass in French Polynesia
   • The wall of sharks at Tumakohua Pass in the south
   • Rotoava village and its old coral-and-lime church
   • Pearl farm visit and the pink-sand beaches on the far motus

   Getting ashore

   Tender ashore at Rotoava; the village is at the landing and the dive sites are a boat ride away.

   Best months

   May-Oct (dry season)

3. Day 3 · At sea

4. Day 4

   Fatu Hiva (Omoa)

   French PolynesiaPort

   Fatu Hiva is the southernmost and wettest of the Marquesas, with almost no flat ground and no airport - the only way in is by sea. The two villages, Omoa and Hanavave, sit at the mouths of steep valleys, and Hanavave's Bay of Virgins is among the most dramatic anchorages in the Pacific. Facilities are minimal; this is an expedition and small-ship call, not a mainstream one.

   • The Bay of Virgins (Baie des Vierges) at Hanavave and its eroded rock spires
   • Tapa cloth beaten from bark at the Omoa handicraft centre, a craft Fatu Hiva still lives on
   • The 17km road over the ridge between Hanavave and Omoa, walked or driven
   • The Omoa petroglyphs, including a well-known carved tuna

   Getting ashore

   Tender or Zodiac ashore; note that the main anchorage is usually Hanavave rather than Omoa, so check which your ship uses, and expect swell to cancel the landing outright on this exposed coast.

   Best months

   Apr-Oct (drier season)

5. Day 5

   Hiva Oa (Atuona)

   French PolynesiaPort

   Hiva Oa is where Paul Gauguin and Jacques Brel both went to die, and both are buried on the hillside above Atuona in the Calvary cemetery. Ships anchor in Tahauku Bay, a tight inlet below steep ridges, and the village is a short climb inland. Beyond the two graves, the island holds the most substantial pre-European stone sculpture in French Polynesia.

   • Calvary Cemetery above Atuona, where Gauguin and Brel are buried
   • Paul Gauguin Cultural Centre and the reconstructed House of Pleasure
   • The Iipona tiki site at Puamau, including Taka'i'i at 2.43m, the largest tiki in the country
   • Horse riding or 4WD into the Marquesan interior valleys

   Getting ashore

   Anchored in Tahauku Bay with a tender to a small concrete pier - and this is not a walkable port: Atuona is about 3km away over a steep hill, roughly 45 minutes uphill on foot, with taxis generally unavailable, so book the excursion or hire a 4WD.

   Best months

   Apr-Oct (drier season)

6. Day 6

   Nuku Hiva (Taiohae)

   French PolynesiaPort

   Nuku Hiva is the largest of the Marquesas, and Taiohae Bay is a flooded volcanic crater with one wall breached to the sea, ringed by cliffs and guarded by two rock sentinels at the entrance. The Marquesas are drier and harsher than the Society Islands - no barrier reef, no turquoise lagoon, just black cliffs and deep valleys. Herman Melville jumped ship here in 1842.

   • Notre-Dame Cathedral of the Marquesas, built of stone from all six inhabited islands with carved wood interiors
   • Hakaui Valley and the Vaipo (Ahuii) waterfall, one of the tallest single drops anywhere
   • Tohua Koueva and the tiki sites at Taipivai, Melville's 'Typee' valley
   • The Taiohae seafront craft market for Marquesan bone and wood carving

   Getting ashore

   Anchored in Taiohae Bay with a tender to the village quay; the settlement is at the landing and the valleys need a 4WD or boat.

   Best months

   Apr-Oct (drier season)

7. Day 7 · At sea

8. Day 8

   Rangiroa

   French PolynesiaPort

   Rangiroa is one of the largest atolls in the world - a ring of low motus around a lagoon big enough that you cannot see across it. There is no mountain, no interior, almost no elevation at all. Ships anchor off and tender to Avatoru or Tiputa, and the whole point of being here is what happens in and around the two passes.

   • Drift dive or snorkel in Tiputa Pass, where dolphins ride the incoming tide
   • Boat trip to the Blue Lagoon, a lagoon enclosed within the atoll's lagoon
   • Ile aux Recifs and its eroded coral pinnacles
   • Domaine Ampelidacees, the vineyard growing wine grapes on a coral motu

   Getting ashore

   Tender ashore near Avatoru or Tiputa; the villages are strung along the motu and everything else is reached by boat.

   Best months

   May-Oct (dry season)

9. Day 9 · At sea

10. Day 10

    Bora Bora

    French PolynesiaPort

    Ships anchor inside the lagoon off Vaitape and tender in, which means the famous view - the twin basalt peaks of Otemanu and Pahia rising out of turquoise - is yours from the deck before you go anywhere. The island itself is small and the village is modest; the reason to be here is the water and the ring of motus around it. Nearly every worthwhile excursion involves getting back into a boat.

    • Lagoon tour with stops to snorkel with stingrays and blacktip reef sharks
    • Matira Beach, the one long stretch of public sand, about 15 minutes south of Vaitape
    • Manta ray site off Anau on the eastern side of the lagoon
    • 4WD trip up to the WWII coastal gun emplacements above Vaitape

    Getting ashore

    Tender to the pier at Vaitape - there is no berth big enough for a ship; the village is at the landing but everything scenic needs a boat or a taxi.

    Best months

    May-Oct (dry season)

11. Day 11

    Bora Bora

    French PolynesiaPort

    Ships anchor inside the lagoon off Vaitape and tender in, which means the famous view - the twin basalt peaks of Otemanu and Pahia rising out of turquoise - is yours from the deck before you go anywhere. The island itself is small and the village is modest; the reason to be here is the water and the ring of motus around it. Nearly every worthwhile excursion involves getting back into a boat.

    • Lagoon tour with stops to snorkel with stingrays and blacktip reef sharks
    • Matira Beach, the one long stretch of public sand, about 15 minutes south of Vaitape
    • Manta ray site off Anau on the eastern side of the lagoon
    • 4WD trip up to the WWII coastal gun emplacements above Vaitape

    Getting ashore

    Tender to the pier at Vaitape - there is no berth big enough for a ship; the village is at the landing but everything scenic needs a boat or a taxi.

    Best months

    May-Oct (dry season)

12. Day 12

    Papeete

    French PolynesiaArrive

    Papeete is the administrative and shipping capital of French Polynesia rather than the postcard version of it, and most Tahiti itineraries begin or end here. The quay is right in town, so you step off into traffic, gendarmes and a French-Polynesian city that works for a living. The scenery people came for is mostly on the other islands, or up in Tahiti's interior valleys.

    • Marche de Papeete, the two-storey municipal market for vanilla, monoi and pareu
    • Les roulottes, the food-truck park at Place Vaiete that fills up after dark
    • Point Venus and Matavai Bay, where Cook observed the transit of Venus
    • Musee de Tahiti et des Iles at Punaauia for Polynesian navigation and tattoo history

    Getting ashore

    Docked at the Quai d'Honneur in the middle of town; the market is about a block away and no shuttle is needed.

    Best months

    May-Oct (dry season)