Sail Around French Polynesia by Yacht on This 10-Day Itinerary

Board the eight-hour Air Tahiti Nui flight from Los Angeles to Papeʻete—on arrival, your transfer from Fa’a’ā International Airport to the InterContinental Tahiti Resort & Spa for a two-night, pre-cruise stay. (Your transfer and accommodations are included with your fare, too.) The property sits on 32 acres of lush tropical gardens and faces an idyllic lagoon, making it a perfect place to start decompressing.

Enjoy the resort at your leisure, from complimentary breakfast to coral reefs, a lagoonarium, a scuba center, and two infinity pools. Guests can also relax in the Algotherm Spa, which blends ancient Polynesian techniques with French beauty and wellness science. Soothe yourself with a lomi lomi (traditional kneading) massage or a treatment featuring monoï, a perfume oil made by soaking Tahitian gardenias in coconut oil.

Dine and catch traditional dance performances at Te Tiare, serving French Polynesian cuisine like poisson cru au lait de coco (raw fish marinated in coconut milk). Or savor a more intimate meal at Le Lotus, an overwater gourmet restaurant. World-renowned French chef Bruno Oger’s dishes include seared squid with bell pepper and anchovy sauce, as well as mirin-glazed butterfish accompanied by crunchy vegetables and puffed rice, served with a lemon-lemongrass sauce.

Finish the night with live music and a nightcap in the Tiki Bar, featuring drinks like banana pineapple juice with coconut syrup. Or try a cocktail pairing gin with lychee syrup, apple juice, passion fruit puree, and a citrus kick from lemons grown in the island nation’s Marquesas archipelago.

After a complimentary buffet breakfast, check out and transfer to the Star Breeze, Windstar Cruises’ 312-guest, all-suite ship. Want to experience more of Tahiti before casting off? Consider the East Coast Highlights Tour, which includes extraordinary viewpoints, the island’s only lighthouse, and a handicraft center. This three-hour excursion (available at an additional cost) also visits the home of James Norman Hall (1887–1951), the American writer who co-authored Mutiny on the Bounty.

On board, you’ll find the ships’ cabins rival U.S. hotel rooms in size—all are at least 277 square feet—and have memory foam mattress toppers. Hit the teak decks and explore. Check out the Yacht Club for games, reading, unobstructed views, and gourmet coffee and café bites. Belly up to the Star Bar on the top deck, serving Windstar classics, including the Cucumber Press mocktail with citrus and mint.

Expect dishes crafted by chefs who’ve helped earn Michelin stars thanks to Windstar’s partnership with the James Beard Foundation. Your cruise fare includes all five restaurants. The Star Grill serves internationally inspired dishes like tea-smoked duck and barbecue brisket. Turn to Candles to dine al fresco on surf and turf or to Basil + Bamboo for Mediterranean-Asian fusion fare.

The Star Breeze first moors at the island of Mo’orea, with the sharp peak of Mont Rotui as backdrop. Explore bays, ridges, jungles, and ancient sacred sites on a gentle walking tour or a more adventurous four-wheel-drive excursion. Both include ample time for photography and are an additional cost. You can also play coral gardener and help with conservation efforts in an underwater nursery (also not included), or simply swim, snorkel, and kayak off the ship’s marina on the bow.

Disembark on Ra’iātea Island—formerly known as Hava’i—the Polynesian homeland and choose among excursions (all for an additional cost). Learn more about this heritage on the Opoa tour to Taputapuātea, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and complex of marae, sacred places where legends claim the physical realm intersects with the plane inhabited by gods and ancestors. (Note: this excursion also stops at the Botanical Garden and a local pearl farm that only accepts cash.)

Adventurers can kayak the Society Islands’ only navigable river, flanked by bamboo groves, Tahitian chestnut trees, and purau (wild hibiscus) trees. This three-hour jaunt concludes on a small motu (islet), where you have time to swim or relax in the sun. Other excursions invite you to try scuba diving and harvest your own pearl. Hikers and gardeners may prefer to climb Mount Temehani in search of the rare and fragrant tiare apetahi blossom that grows nowhere else on Earth.

Motus encircle the majestic island of Bora Bora like a strand of pearls. The Star Breeze docks at an exclusive one for an al fresco barbecue lunch and beach sports, all included. For an additional fee, you can also drift-snorkel off the west coast of Taha’a, the Vanilla Island, allowing the current to sweep you through a shallow lagoon with a lavish coral garden unrivaled in Polynesia. Or learn more about the area’s signature flavor at a small family plantation before finishing at a snorkel site that often hosts stingrays and reef sharks.

Around the third century C.E., Polynesian voyagers arrived in Bora Bora on double-hulled sailing canoes—navigating from Tonga and Samoa only by the stars, wind, currents, and animal behaviors. Happily, the Star Breeze offers less challenge and more ease.

Dive into one of the world’s most beautiful lagoons to snorkel, scuba, or skim the waves in a glass-bottomed boat. Another option is the off-road Land Rover excursion, climbing above the natural harbor and stunning Matira Beach, the finishing point of the world-famous va’a (outrigger canoe) race, the Hawaiki Nui. Other stops include lush valleys, a traditional plantation, and cannons abandoned by the U.S. after World War II. (Excursion costs apply to both.)

Cap your day with the complimentary Windstar Destination Discovery Event. Staff will welcome you to a private motu with a flower lei before serving a feast under the stars. Then, fire dancers light up the night with blazing props as dancers in loincloths perform high-speed acrobatic moves.

The Star Breeze anchors at the island of Huahine, nicknamed the “Garden of Eden” for its tropical landscapes and authentic villages. Water activities abound here, allowing for a last plunge into the cerulean sea, and off-road excursions reveal the secrets of the forested interior (for an additional cost). Archaeology aficionados gravitate towards Maeva, home to the most extensive collection of pre-European marae, on a four-hour tour (also for a fee). Wildlife fans will delight in feeding blue-eyed eels, which mythology claims are a reincarnation of Hiro, the Polynesian god of thieves.

After disembarking, enjoy a day room at the InterContinental Tahiti Resort & Spa, available from 3 p.m. until your transfer to the airport (included along with your hotel stay). Relax on the beach, unwind at the spa, or experience a cultural demonstration before catching your flight back to Los Angeles.