French Polynesia Part 1: High Islands

Jean Michel Machefert · Issue 108, May/Jun 2019 · pp. 72–81

Products mentioned: Nikon D2x, Aquatica housing, Nikkor 10.5mm, Sigma 17-70mm, Nikon Sb 910 strobes, Patima housings, Olympus TG5

This year we decided to visit a dream place we’d never been before: French Polynesia. This location is far from Europe but quite convenient to reach. The international airport of Faa’a close to Papeete on the island of Tahiti has direct flights to Los Angeles (8h flight) and also to Auckland or Hawai and even to Japan. Then from Faa’a local planes comfortably dispatch the travellers to all the most important islands of the French Polynesia. French Polynesia is a group of 118 islands and many more islets located almost in the middle- south of the pacific. These islands are constituting 6 archipelagos: Marquesas Islands, Society islands, Tuamotu Archipelago, Gambier Islands, Austral islands and bass islands. All these islands are scattered over more than 2000 kilometers (almost the same surface as Europe) and from a geological point of view they can be separated in high islands (islands wi…