By Sylvia Heerens
What are the best French Polynesia snorkeling islands? We are four friends who, after a Marquesas cruise in May 2025, would like to add two islands with three days of snorkeling each. For our first location we chose Moorea, because we read so many good things about it on this site.
Now, for our second island, we are trying to choose between Huahine and Taha’a. Can somebody advise us if these are good choices and which one has the better snorkeling? Or, is another island an even better one?
I am anxious to get an answer, and thanking in advance!
We spent nearly two weeks on two different occasions in Moorea and can certainly vouch for its beauty, simplicity and ease of getting around. We did nearly every one of our snorkel trips from the shore. Moorea is a beautiful island that is so easy to get around… but you need a rental car.
I went to both Tahaa and Huahine and I recommend the first one without hesitation as you have beautiful coral gardens. For your next trip try the Tuamotu Islands which are a great place for snorkeling.
We were on Moorea last month, and stayed at the Sofitel where the snorkeling was fantastic. We snorkeled from the beach and also the beach adjacent to the hotel (Temae Beach). Water was crystal clear, and there were many varieties of fish and some beautiful coral.
On a Paul Gauguin cruise of the Society and Tuomotu islands, where we snorkeled almost every day, one of the best locations was on Taha’a. There was a small gap in the surrounding reef where fresh ocean water flowed through in a gentle current creating lush and colorful coral formations. We would enter on the ocean side of the reef and let the current carry us through the coral garden. Then we would clamor out at the lagoon, walk back to the ocean side and repeat the process.
Moorea has some very good snorkeling from the Sofitel, Hilton or the public beach next to the Sofitel. Le Mahana on Huahine has some good snorkeling from the resort with lots of clown fish.
Boat snorkel excursions from Fakarava or Rangiroa are fantastic. The coral gardens adjacent to Le Taha’a are very good but shallow.
We will be back to French Polynesian in May as well.
We stayed on the Fakarava Atoll and it was wonderful! The water was warm enough that I could stay in the water with just my bathing suit for about two hours and did not get chilled at all. The bay side of the atoll is shallow for a long distance and lots of fish to see. Don’t snorkel the ocean side of the atoll, it’s too rough and unpredictable.
Snorkeling in Moorea was wonderful. We also spent a week on Huahine and found the water to be cloudy and the snorkeling less interesting.
Rangiroa is one of the highlights of my snorkeling life. There is a fast-running channel where the dolphin and ray activity is abundant. A day trip to the “nearby” (about an hour) atolls was a once-in-a-lifetime snorkeling experience. We went in 2015 so I don’t know if the bleaching or pollution has worsened the situation.