Small ship cruising in French Polynesia

One way of ensuring you always get a warm welcome when you come ashore? Travel with several crates of supplies and a sack of post.

When Aranui 5 comes into port, a group of people gather to greet it on the jetty. The ship squeezes into the tight harbour. Its on board cranes deposit crate after crate on the dock: a new car, groceries, letters – and families come forward to receive them. When you disembark, you’re greeted with the faint and gentle plink of a band of ukelele players.

The Aranui 5 is the only regular service to the Marquesas Islands and on our French Polynesia cruise in the South Pacific, you get a berth on board. You’re following in the footsteps of Olympians. Surfers competing in the Paris 2024 Olympics stayed on board Aranui 5 so they could compete in Tahiti, rather than surfing the Seine. It was dubbed ‘the world’s first floating Olympic Village’.

You’re travelling in a mullet of a boat: all business at the front (a crane for loading, cargo and tightly packed containers); it is built for pleasure in the back, with 86 cabins for guests, and a pool below an amphitheatre of balconied decks. There’s also a spa, gym, and a tattoo parlour where you can get a Marquesan tattoo.

Not only does this boat directly serve the community with supplies, but Marquesans on remote islands benefit from a manageable influx of tourists.

French Polynesia comprises five island groups (Society Islands, Tuamotu Archipelago, Gambier Islands, Marquesas Islands, and Tubuai Islands), spread over a sea area bigger than India. To many, these are the islands of the imagination: castaway islands with their rings of bright water, lapped by sheltering reefs. It’s a place where people use local herbs to perfume their hair, and where the main exports: pearls, vanilla, rum, coconuts, crabs – paint a vivid picture of island life.

If you want to drink starfruit juice whilst laying like a starfish on a beach the colour of a golden retriever, eating food served in a bowl made from a coconut, and eyeing a bottle of local Tahitian rum flavoured with local Tahitian vanilla, this is the place for you. If you want to hike in lush forest, dodging pendulous breadfruit and drinking in the scent of frangipani and the views of scarlet flame trees, this is yours, too.

At almost 5,000km away from any continental landmass, the Marquesas are one of the most remote island groups in the region – and in the world. You’ll find large tiki statues on Hiva Oa; horses roam free on arid Ua Huka; Ua Poa wears a crown of dramatic basalt cones.

Far flung the island chains may be – it’s 1,600km from Tahiti to the Marquesas – but the French Polynesians have a long reputation as famous navigators; Pacific Islanders discovered New Zealand long before Europeans did. Because of this, the islands are connected by their Polynesian culture. And then there’s the Pacific Islander concept of mana – a spirit, that binds places across the sea, running like a tattoo under the skin.

Travelling between island groups involves long passages by sea but, thanks to a brilliant local crew, you can be immersed in their spirits even on the water.

Aranui 5 departs every three weeks from Tahiti for a 12-day voyage to delivers supplies to the islands and export their goods (such as copra – dried coconut) in return. You could also choose to sail on a smaller boat in French Polynesia, taking in fewer locations, but taking your time, visiting smaller bays, and getting in the water at every opportunity.

By its very nature, small ship cruising in French Polynesia is hyper-specific to its place. The remoteness dictates that it’s beneficial for cruises to employ their crews from the local community and fill their galley stores with local ingredients. The local crew bring their culture on board to share, through theme nights, performances and on-board lectures.

Knowing some French is very useful – and lots of passengers are French speaking. The Tahitian language might be less familiar at first sight, but tattoo is a Tahitian word and it’s useful to learn some phrases and words. You’ll learn about motu – reef islets where you might stop for a barbecue or be draped in a lei made from scented tiare – Tahitian gardenia. You could learn to tie your own pareos (traditional wraparound sarong), or to perform the tamure, a traditional dance.

Whilst small ship cruises bring island culture on board, to stay on board would be remiss. After all, you’ll need to be on dry land to try omu – a traditional cooking method where a pig is buried underground to cook on hot rocks.

Each place that you stop has its unique qualities. You can visit pearl farms and learn about lustre, or plantations where Tahitian vanilla is grown. In Bora Bora in the Society Islands, the world might be held at bay on its beautiful beaches, but you can also drive inland to visit small villages and learn about local life. On Hiva Oa in the Marquesas you can see tikis – carvings in human forms. And don’t miss going inland, to walk under Tahitian chestnut and banyan trees, and do some serious hiking. A popular excursion if you want to truly outrun your sea legs is a 16km hike on Fatu Hiva in the Marquesa Islands.

Small ship cruising is a rewarding and responsible way to travel between the islands and see more than just a Bora Bora resort. This is a cruise that’s better connected to the islands than most (because it also delivers supplies). Stops range from motus – reef islets – where you can stop for a barbecue, to the mountainous mass of Tahiti.

Islands without runways can only be visited by boat, you can bring small-scale tourism to local communities who don’t get many other visitors. Cruises can also help the islands by removing the need for additional coastal development – no Olympic Village required when your bed and board can float instead.

French Polynesia has capped its visitor numbers to prevent damage from overtourism, yet tourism represents 18 percent of jobs here and is a vital source of income. Travelling on a smaller boat, or a ship that divides its load between vital goods and a supply of tourists, can be a way to lower the effect of overtourism.

Don’t miss the boat: If you cruise on a freighter, you must stick to freighter timetables; your boat serves communities and businesses and has a schedule to meet. Time in port is fixed – it might be overnight; it might be a matter of hours. There are also options to sail on smaller ships in the region which means a more agile itinerary, and more chances to swim, but cruising a smaller area. However, you’ll be surprised at the little harbours in which an experienced freighter-passenger boat can dock. There are some long passages between islands, notably to the Marquesas from Tuamotu which takes a day of cruising and crosses a time zone in the process. Or, cruising on a smaller boat, going from Tahiti to the Society Islands, which involves an overnight crossing. A smattering of French can be useful, both on land and on sea; it is the official language of French Polynesia, and between 30 and 40 percent of visitors are from mainland France. The marine life is spectacular, from manta rays to migrating humpback whales, which are here between July and November. You can dive if you are already certified to do so, but snorkellers will find plenty to see among the many accessible coral gardens, and there are glass-bottomed boats, too.