Biking in Fakarava - 2026
- A Wandering Doc
- 24 hours ago
- 3 min read
It was a beautiful beach day on Fakarava! The last two years I’ve went out with Christophe from Fakarava Excursions for the blue and green lagoon and a deep water snorkel at Pufana rock (sp). It’s an awesome trip but I was looking for something different. Reports are that Christophe put out a great tour again and I’m happy to hear that he didn’t disappoint this years group.
Fakarava is an Atoll in French Polynesi. Like the Maldives, an atoll is a ring-shaped coral reef, island, or chain of islets that surrounds a central, often deep, lagoon. Primarily found in warm tropical Pacific and Indian Oceans, these geological structures form over millions of years as coral reefs grow upward while volcanic islands subside. In other words, It’s a giant ring of sand in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
For a change, I decided to rent bikes with some Of “my people” I met on this cruise 2 years ago. I had a beach in mind that was no more than a couple miles from the tenders so while it is totally walkable, it’s VERY HOT here so I was grateful for the bike. Much of the island is dirt/sand roads so if you do rent a bike it’s a workout to see the entire island (there are a few electric bikes on the island but you must rent those well in advance).
We found the beach I was looking for without too much trouble (thank you google earth). However I made the mistake of ordering the house speciality- Havaiki Lodge Rum Punch at 11:00 am. What I thought was harmless $8.90 drink turned out to be $18.90 (they make their ones weird in FP) and after half the drink I knew why! There was, what tasted like, 1/2 bottle of rum floating in my 16 oz glass.
Next thing I knew I was ordering French fries and taking a nap while my friends did some snorkeling. I am wiser now and have learned to sleep off a buzz before navigating the bike return. In my younger years I’d have ordered an other rum punch and crashed that bike smack dab into a coconut tree. A big fat coconut may, or may not, have fallen on my head.
Photos
There isn’t much shopping on Fakarava, and the shirts I did like were $80 usd. They were beautiful and hand painted, but I’m not sure how well they would hold up. I passed. There is a new vendor area but the prices were steep. Monoloi oil was $20 here and $5 at a store in Papeete. Forget the shopping, Fakarava is all about the beach.
If you wander off the ship with nothing booked it’s unlikely you will find something. Pre-book all snorkeling excursions. All the companies go to the same spots and I haven’t heard a bad thing about any of them. If you don’t want an independent excursion (HAL doesn’t offer any here), you can walk off, turn right at the road, and find a beach very close by to swim.