French Polynesia
Weather locations in French Polynesia
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French Polynesia illustrated weather map
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Climate of French Polynesia
Country climate guideFrench Polynesia covers an area larger than Europe spread across the South Pacific, from the Marquesas at about 10 degrees south to the Tuamotus and Tureia near 20 degrees. Almost all of it is tropical, but the rain depends far more on where an island sits with respect to the wind and how high it stands than on latitude. Cruise ships and small aircraft aside, the weather is governed by the ocean.
Main climate types
Every group is classed as tropical, but rainfall differs enormously. The Society Islands, and Tahiti in particular, sit squarely in the path of the south-easterly trade winds, so the windward coasts take over 2,000 mm a year while the leeward side, Papeete included, gets nearer 1,700 mm. The Marquesas, nearer the equator and outside the main trade track, drop to about 1,000 mm or less, and the low Tuamotu atolls, barely a metre or two above sea level, receive roughly 1,000 to 1,600 mm.
Temperatures
Temperature is remarkably constant. At Papeete, monthly means run from about 25 °C in July to about 27 °C in February, a range within the year of only a couple of degrees. Daytimes in the wet season can climb into the low 30s after a storm, and winter nights in the south drop to around 20 °C. Sea temperatures stay between roughly 24 °C and 29 °C.
Rainfall
Two seasons are usually recognised: a wetter, warmer one from about November to April, when the convergence zone steers moist air towards the islands, and a drier, cooler one from May to October, when the trade winds take hold. Windward slopes still take a lot of rain during the clear season, so the split is not as simple as wet-warm versus dry-cool, but the heaviest totals do come with the austral summer. Cyclones are possible in those warmer months.
When to go
Most visitors come between May and October, when the trade winds give reliable sunny days, good snorkelling and cooler nights, although the windward coasts stay cloudier at that time. February and March are the warmest and wettest, and also the months when cyclones are most likely. Combining groups in one trip is difficult, because the islands are thousands of kilometres apart.