All activities / Sailing / Raiatea
Sailing in Raiatea
The sacred island of the Leeward Society group, home to Taputapuatea, the great ancestral marae and a UNESCO World Heritage Site at the heart of Polynesian navigation history. Sharing a lagoon with Tahaa and a short sail from Bora Bora and Huahine, Raiatea is the yacht-charter base of French Polynesia.
Why here
Raiatea is the launch point for sailing the Leeward Islands, the classic South Pacific charter ground. The main marina at Apooiti is the base for the country's bareboat and crewed catamaran fleets, and from a mooring here you can raise sail and be anchored off Tahaa, the vanilla island, inside the same lagoon within an hour, then reach across open water to Bora Bora, Huahine and the outer motu over a week. This is also the spiritual centre of the Polynesian triangle: the UNESCO-listed marae of Taputapuatea on Raiatea's southeast coast was the departure point for the great voyaging canoes that settled Hawaii and New Zealand, so every passage here retraces an ancestral sea road. Steady trade winds, protected lagoon sailing between the islands and short hops between anchorages make it as friendly to a first bareboat skipper as it is rewarding for a crewed cruise.
Best months
The sailing season runs with the austral winter dry months, roughly May to October, when the southeast trade winds are steady and the seas between the islands are settled. The wet, more humid summer from November to April brings lighter and more variable winds and the small chance of a tropical depression. Lagoon sailing between Raiatea, Tahaa and the surrounding motu is sheltered, while the crossings to Bora Bora and Huahine are short open-water passages best done in the morning trades.
Getting there & around
Raiatea has its own airport with Air Tahiti flights from Papeete, and the charter bases sit at the Apooiti marina near Uturoa, the main town. Charters run bareboat for skippers with enough logged experience or fully crewed with a skipper and cook, and provision from Uturoa before sailing. The Leeward islands are close together with good moorings, so itineraries are flexible, but boats book out in the May to October high season and around events, so reserve months ahead.
Skill levels: beginner, intermediate, advanced
Schools & guides (2)
Tahiti Sail and Dive
OutfitterTahiti Sail and Dive is a skippered catamaran-cruise operator based in Papeete since 2009, sailing the Society Islands and the Tuamotu atolls. Its boats, among them the Leopard 43 Go Zone and the Nautitech 441 Kaipoa, cruise the Leeward group around Raiatea, Tahaa and Bora Bora with a skipper and hostess aboard. The operator pairs sailing with scuba through partner dive centres, so guests can combine passage-making with diving the passes and lagoons.
Tahiti Yacht Charter
OutfitterTahiti Yacht Charter operates from the Marina Apooiti base at Uturoa on Raiatea, the yachting hub of the Leeward Islands. Its fleet of about thirty French-built catamarans, from Fountaine-Pajot, Lagoon and Nautitech and ranging 36 to 58 feet, sails bareboat or crewed through Raiatea, Tahaa, Huahine and Bora Bora. Bareboat skippers need at least two years experience, while crewed cruises come with a skipper and cook for custom island itineraries.