Find the Best Boat Charter and Itinerary for your Sailing Holidays.

The Good: They offer travellers the opportunity to experience French Polynesia's most idiosyncratic alter ego - the old-fashioned side, stripped bare of all the candy-coated gloss.

Raiates Island

Raiatea, meaning "faraway heaven" and "sky with soft light", was first named Havai'i after the homeland of the ancient Polynesians and is the most sacred island in the South Pacific.

This, the second largest Tahitian isle, was the center of religion and culture over 1000 years ago and still lends enchantment to ancient legends told to this day. The green-carpeted mountains include the celebrated Mt. Temehani, a sort of Polynesian Mt. Olympus.

Raiatea is the second largest island of French Polynesia after Tahiti. The island tour reveals lush green valleys, numerous waterfalls, pineapple and vanilla plantations. Taha'a has no airport, but regular shuttle boats depart from the docks of Raiatea joining various villages around the island.

Sailing
Just a few flipper beats away from the aquarium, a trench in the lagoon hides two wrecks only a few metres apart: a seaplane and a schooner. To see these darker froms outlined against the blue background is a moving experience. While the first wreck can be inspected without any danger, there is a formal warning against visiting the interior of the second one. Let time and nature take its course.