Welcome to French Polynesia ???

[adjo]

Have any of you spent time recently in French Polynesia?
Or are you currently there?

This report suggests - more than suggests - that cruising yachts are no longer welcome.

What is your experience?

https://voiliers.asso.pf/2020/08/24/...ordinary-hate/

[boatman61]

Maybe copy and paste the important bits.. I for one am not prepared to pay to read this..

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Maybe copy and paste the important bits.. I for one am not prepared to pay to read this..

I read it without paying

Summary, sailboats at anchor spoil the view from my luxury villa/ hotel and anchor bans have been growing to the point where little is available.

[jordanbigel]

The author loses credibility with me when he consistently makes statements like "In short, almost everywhere in Polynesia, sailboats are now considered undesirable." referring to French Polynesia as "Polynesia" - as if the rest doesn't count. Further, while I have not been there in 20 years, one thing I know is true, the outer islands have a fraction of the visitors of the more populous islands (ie. all the ones mentioned in the article) so I suspect strongly that the Polynesian attitude of welcoming visitors has not changed outside of these heavily (over?) populated areas like Moorea, Bora Bora, Tahiti and Fakarava even. I plan to return to S. Pac in 18 months time, I do plan to stop again in Fr Pol. But, I will spend very little time in populated parts of the Society and Tuomotu chains (Tahanea is my favorite atoll, even though I caught Cigutera there - huge lagoon with dozens of anchorages and no people!

[adjo]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Maybe copy and paste the important bits.. I for one am not prepared to pay to read this..

No need to pay just click on the link.

For those of you who are confused by the constant reference to "dead bodies" this is a literal translation of "corps mort" which is the French term for fixed moorings.

[DreamCatcher37]

Originally Posted by adjo

Have any of you spent time recently in French Polynesia?
Or are you currently there?

This report suggests - more than suggests - that cruising yachts are no longer welcome.

What is your experience?

https://voiliers.asso.pf/2020/08/24/...ordinary-hate/

Bella Sirena and crew spent May June and Juky 2017 traversing the main three island groups of French Polynesia, and blessed to be able to write this here. MOST all locals respect the sailing community and did then. Some of course do better than that and welcome us as like spitits who got there the same way their forebears did.


What is tragically missing from this FP sailboat dialog is how we could be partners in climate change solutions raisiing awareness that the Tuamotus will not be here in some decades to come given the planet's addiction to having its head up its ass.

Sailors who do well and get to such places safely and honorably have a silver plater role to play in refocusing the dialog away from or elevating it from the tragedy that there are not enough marinas with 5 star restaurants..

I've written this elsewhere and comments have chosen to basically be radion silence on these matters. A culture gets what it tolerates.

[Cpt Mark]

for the latest, go to noonsite.com

https://www.noonsite.com/news/novel-...try-worldwide/

FP is closed to cruisers now with very minimal exceptions.

[aqfishing]

Originally Posted by Cpt Mark

for the latest, go to noonsite.com

https://www.noonsite.com/news/novel-...try-worldwide/

FP is closed to cruisers now with very minimal exceptions.

Yes, but that is purely covid related so not really relevant?

[Apollo366]

Another link on FP, more info on cruisers
https://www.noonsite.com/news/french...ea-anchorages/

[elee]

My first bareboat charter was in FP 10 years ago (Raietea, Bora Bora). It was fantastic and overall we felt welcome and the locals were friendly.

I am hearing more anti-cruising sentiments circulating over the internet. sv Archer / TheSailingFamily whom I watch (referenced in the OP's article whose mooring ball broke) had negative experiences about this, and reading about it further has really turned me off from visiting again, at least Bora Bora island.

I'm sure Bora Bora will never starve for tourism, but I'm not going to go if the locals don't want me there.

It'd be good to hear about some recent positive experiences to offset the negative, if there are any

[Cpt Mark]

Originally Posted by aqfishing

Yes, but that is purely covid related so not really relevant?

Not sure how it couldn't be more relevant? OP asked for current info and this is it. Additionally you can only get a 30 day visa (last time I checked) and NO automatic renewals.

The anchorages are restricted. They don't want boats/cruisers coming in. One would suppose it is to reduce covid risk but that makes little sense since they are promoting tourism by air?

Hopefully we will get through the next covid wave and the several after that and covid which will still be with us won't be the threat it is today. This lst bit is my own opinion so don't go to the bank with it. I'm hoping to go there in 2023

[double u]

it's all there:
https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...ms-226560.html

[double u]

situation seen by us in 2019.
https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...ml#post3018791

[Siberian Sea]

The problem is they want us for the money but they hate us at the same time. Their answer is to follow what many are doing in the French Caribbean is to install mooring fields and then charge you very high price per night while forbidding you to anchor anywhere else. This unfortunately has created concentration on vessels in the ever fewer spots you can anchor free leading to locals place time limits on said vessels to get rid of them. Folks on Moorea don’t want their bays to turn into places like Sainte Ann on Martinique with 500 boats anchored many of which have not moved in years.

[Saleen411]

We were in FP last year. The locals were great and we never felt unwelcome.

However, the person in charge of collecting our mooring fees in Bora Bora said the local politicians wanted to ban sailboats. FWIW.