Last year we fell in love with the Tuamotus archipalego in French Polynesia when we visited Tikehau, so this year we knew we had to go back to explore more. We did both Rangiroa and Fakarava this time around and it was absolutely incredible.

I wanted to share a quick guide on all that you might need to know if you visit Rangiroa in this blog post.

About Rangiroa

Rangiroa is the second largest atoll in the world and the largest lagoon atoll in all of French Polynesia! Rangiroa is known to be one of the world’s most immense natural aquarium thanks to its large marine rich lagoon. Being very accessible yet secluded in every way, this island off the beaten track is both known from its renowned diving as well as exceptional lagoons.

• A must for scuba diving, it is renowned worldwide.
• Even if you arent a diver, its an ideal place for snorkeling and watching myriads of colorful fish.
• It has one of the most beautiful and richest coral reefs in the world.
• If you love dreamy deserted islands, Rangiroa has plenty of these idylllic “motus” (Blue Lagoon, Reef Island and Pink Sands).
• Rangiroa has the only vineyard of Polynesia that produced the delicious wine Vin De Tahiti.
• Charming villages and a slow pace of life to really get a flavor of life in the Tuamotus.
• Rangiroa also has a variety of water sports and land activities.

Getting Here and getting around

Air Tahiti has a direct flight option to Rangiroa from Papeete as well as from Bora Bora! It was so convenient for us to get here from Bora Bora. If you get one of their multi-passes you would be able to save a ton on your internal flights.

Epic views flying into Rangiroa

at Tiputa Pass

The best way to get around on Rangiroa is by bike, but you can also rent a car. Most accommodations are in the North and if you plan to be out on the water like we did on most days you don’t need a bike/car.

Where to stay

We stayed at the casual luxury Hotel Kia Ora resort and spa, which is arguably the best hotel in Rangiroa! It sits on the most beautiful lagoon and is nestled within a dreamy palm tree grove! We absolutely loved staying at this traditional hotel, it has all the amenities you would expect from a luxury hotel but still remains very rooted and authentic in tradition.

They have a variety of accommodations to choose from such a water villas, garden villas with pool , beach villas and more. We opted to stay at a beach villa and it had the most stunning view from our patio of the unending blue lagoon!

In and around hotel Kia Ora

The beach at Kia Ora is so gorgeous, you can choose to snorkel at their house reef, take a kayak out to explore or simply lay under the many palm trees.

Palm trees for days!

Kia Ora also has a restaurant and bar on property, set on the waters edge. We loved our daily breakfasts and dinners here. The property has other amenities such as a spa, fitness center, dive center, non motorized watersports (kayaks, etc) and an activities center where you can book tours.

One of my favorite spots of the property was the boat jetty, we loved catching the epic lagoon sunsets from here!

Lagoon sunsets are my forever fave!

Must do tour in Rangiroa

Since we aren’t divers I am not going to cover any diving in this. But the one activity I highly recommend to do Rangiroa is an excursion to Reef Island and Blue Lagoon. We did this with Orava Excursions and it such an incredible day exploring Rangiroa lagoon.

Reef Island :

Feo at Reef Island

Reef Island is known for its stunning lunar like landscape which has these fossilized coral mushroom structures called “feo”. They are hundreds of years old and used to be coral under the ocean but now after being exposed have fossilized.

Natural swimming pools

Reef Island is dotted with many such raised feo on the ocean side and these stretch for several hundred meters with basins and channels that make superb natural swimming pools. The visual contrasts of this place is truly breathtaking!

Picture perfect motus

I absolutely love these shallow water channels called “ho’a”, that mark out lush islets on either side. This type of landscape is very atypical of the Tuamotus. There’s nothing I love more than scenes like this – unspoiled deserted lagoons flanged by palm fringed motus and warm clear waters with so many fish.

Shallow channels called “hoa'” my fave !

Blue Lagoon :

Blues of Blue Lagoon

A must do in Rangiroa is the spectacular Blue Lagoon. Since it is located on the western edge of the Rangiroa atoll, it takes about an hour by boat from Avatoru (main town in Rangiroa), but is so so worth it.

Hanging out with the rays and sharks

This is basically a lagoon within a lagoon and felt like stepping into a postcard!  There are a string of white-sand motus and coral reefs here that have formed a beautiful natural pool on the edge of the main reef and thats how there is this large lagoon within the lagoon! We saw so many reef sharks, rays and fish even in the shallow water. And true to its name the blues here are absolutely unreal!

Snorkeling at the Natural Aquarium :

The last stop on the tour was snorkeling at the natural aquarium close to Avatoru, we saw soo many colorful fish, such a magnificent sight! After this we also spotted tons of dolphins in Tiputa pass on the way back to the hotel.

Snorkeling at the natural aquarium

Best end to our stay in Rangiroa!

Check out my travel guide to French Polynesia for guides to other islands.

Thanks for stopping by! xoxo

Jyo