7 Best Things to Do in Rangiroa: Dolphins to Pearls!

Prepare for a long day and potentially bumpy 1-hour ride out there, but a day trip to the famous Blue Lagoon is so worth it!

The Blue Lagoon is a lagoon within a lagoon.

It’s surrounded by white sand motus and coral reefs. You have to rub your eyes a few times because the scenery almost looks unreal. It’s truly beautiful.

One of the most unique parts of the Blue Lagoon Tour is standing in ankle-deep crystal clear water surrounded by baby blacktip reef sharks. I could have hung out there all day.

The best tour company to offer this incredible experience is Rangiroa Excursion. It’s run by Laetitia, an incredible captain and guide, along with her colleagues Marius and Eva.

Since my husband and I speak limited French, we really appreciated our guides were fluent in English.

They expertly navigated our boat to the western edge of the Rangiroa atoll.

We snorkeled, hung out with baby blacktips, enjoyed a delicious BBQ lunch, learned how to weave a traditional hat with palm leaves, and even snorkeled at the Avatoru Pass. Wow, quite the day and so much fun.

See my full Blue Lagoon review for more details and photos!

Located less than 10 minutes by boat from Hotel Kia Ora Resort & Spa is a little section of reef known as the Aquarium.

Our hotel arranged this small group tour. Pick up and drop off was right at the hotel’s dock.

Besides my husband and I, there were two other couples. Perfect sized group. We had a boat captain and a guide, which were very friendly and helpful.

When I say we snorkeled in an aquarium, I really mean an aquarium!

I have never seen such a large school of humpback red snappers in my life. They were everywhere as soon as you got off the boat!

We saw a ton of other fish as Titan triggerfish, scissortail sergeants, six bar wrasses, saddleback butterflyfish, Moorish idols, bignose unicornfish, a few blacktip reef sharks, and even a giant moray eel!

Check out my full review of the Aquarium for more details and photos.

If you love snorkeling and are including Moorea and Bora Bora in your French Polynesia vacation, do not miss my top 5 snorkel sites in Moorea and the best Bora Bora snorkeling tour!

Also, if you are traveling across the world to experience French Polynesia’s best snorkeling, I strongly recommend bringing your own snorkeling gear!

And of course, a great underwater camera is essential.

These fish love to pose!

If you are going to French Polynesia, you will see pearl shops everywhere. The Tahitian pearl is gorgeous and comes in a dazzling array of colors.

Before you start shopping, it is super helpful to book a pearl farm tour to understand what makes a Tahitian pearl special and how it is priced. This knowledge will help you make an informed purchase.

My husband and I recently visited Moorea, Rangiroa, and Taha’a. I went to 8 pearl shops and took 2 pearl farm tours.

The Gauguin’s Pearl Farm Tour was an incredibly informative tour that walks you through all the steps in cultivating one of French Polynesia’s most prized possessions.

If you can only do one pearl farm tour, this is it! And it’s free!

My husband and I speak limited French, so we were very appreciative the tour was also provided in English.

After the tour, you are escorted into the shop where you can see and purchase from a selection of different pearl grades, shapes, and colors.

You can even create a pair of custom earrings. Select your pearls and setting. They create your special piece of jewelry right on the spot.

My husband and I are not wine experts but rather wine travelers. So when I heard there was a winery out in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean on one of the world’s largest atolls, I was intrigued!

The vineyard of Domaine Vin de Tahiti is situated on a small motu on Rangiroa 100 yards away from the lagoon (basically a football field away).

It took quite a few years to figure out which grape varietals could thrive in this Polynesian soil, which is made of limestone and white coral. Pretty unique terroir!

We were able to enjoy two of their wines: Rosé Nacarat and Clos du Recif.

My husband and I were celebrating our 15th wedding anniversary. Hotel Kia Ora Resort & Spa gave us a complimentary bottle of Vin de Tahiti Rosé Nacarat to celebrate. I love the coral label design, which highlights the distinctive environment where this wine was cultivated.

Although you can’t visit the winery (which would require a boat ride), you can visit their wine shop.

On Google Maps, it pulls up as “Cave à vin de rangiroa.”

They have limited hours (4-6 pm) and are closed on Sundays.

Vin de Tahiti offers a tour (in both English and French) at their wine shop at 4 pm and 5 pm. The tour costs 2,300 xpf per person (~$21 USD), which includes a film, a cellar tour, and a tasting of four wines and Mana’o rhum.

FYI. Mana’o is a local award-winning rhum distillery that we visited in Taha’a. Selected rhum distillates are aged in French oak barrels or vats in Rangiroa. 

If we could have visited the actual winery, we would have booked a tour in a heartbeat.

Instead, we opted to stop in just to try a glass of the Clos du Recif (700 xpf or $6 USD) and a Ti’Punch made with the Mana’o Rangiroa rum (1000 xpf or $9 USD).

The Clos du Recif surprisingly had good structure. Dry, fresh, with some minerality. Definitely drink it chilled. Fun to try.

My husband’s Ti’ Punch was fantastic. This is the quintessential cocktail to order any time you are on a French island! We also enjoyed this island cocktail while at Coco Beach in Moorea. 

Rangiroa’s lagoon is massive! It’s so big that the entire island of Tahiti could fit into the lagoon!

There are only two passes that connect this massive lagoon to the open ocean. One of them is the famous Tiputa Pass.

You can drift dive or snorkel at the Tiputa Pass but only when the tide and conditions are right.

If this activity is high on your list, I would advise staying in Rangiroa for at least 4 nights in case your excursion has to be rescheduled.

You cannot predict the weather. If you fly halfway across the world (like we did!), you want to make sure you have a high probability of doing this unique experience!

My husband and I are avid snorkelers, so this tour was one of the first ones we booked through our hotel. The tour is scheduled based on the tide table, so start times will vary.

The current is fast but manageable and incredibly fun!

The Tiputa channel offers the opportunity to see some of the bigger sea life because of the high amount of nutrients cycling through from the ocean and lagoon currents.

We saw several blacktip reef sharks, a grey shark, and even an eagle ray.

By the way, if you love the thrill of snorkeling with sharks, do not miss the Sharks & Rays Sandbar experience in Moorea!

Dolphins, manta rays, and hammerhead sharks can also be spotted in the Tiputa Pass, but we didn’t see them. You never know what you are going to see.

Here’s our full review of this thrilling snorkeling experience.

Unlike the mountainous islands of Moorea and Bora Bora, Rangiroa is unique in that it’s completely flat.

What that means is it’s great for biking!

We rented bikes from Hotel Kia Ora Resort & Spa. The cost was 2000 xpf/bike (~$18 USD) for 4 hours.

It was so much fun! You have the ocean on one side, and the lagoon on the other. We biked from the hotel to the Catholic Church at the Avatoru Pass, which took about 35 minutes at a leisurely pace.

We also biked about 10 minutes in the opposite direction from the hotel down to the Tiputa Pass to watch the dolphins play.

Before sunset every day, you can usually see dolphins leaping out of the water at the Tiputa Pass.

We biked to an area called “Dolphin Viewpoint” on Google Maps. There are several concrete blocks to sit on while you watch them play.

They started to come out around 4:40 pm during the tide change and were really fun to watch.

With all that snorkeling and exploring, do not forget to relax!

I have to tell myself this often because I want to see and do “all the things.” One great way to spend a leisurely afternoon is to enjoy a delicious lunch and a glass of Sauvignon Blanc at Les Relais de Josephine.

This family-run guesthouse has a fantastic location right at the Tiputa Pass! You can stay in one of their 7 bungalows, but outside guests can also enjoy lunch or dinner on their property.

You do not need reservations for lunch, which is offered on the terrace from 11:30 am to 2 pm. Lunch is on the lighter side with offerings like quiches and sandwiches.

My husband ordered the plat du jour, which was rilletes (slowly cooked fish in its own fat) and a delicious red sauce.

I had the plateau de déjeuner (lunch platter), which was a lovely assortment of a quiche, toast and white fish, and a fresh salad. You are on a French island, so of course, we paired our lunches with a refreshing glass of white wine.

Lunch for 2 + 2 glasses of wine + fantastic view + very friendly warm service came to $70 USD. Great value for the money.

For more dining recommendations, do not miss my post on the best restaurants in Rangiroa!

Rangiroa is a short 1-hour flight from Tahiti. It’s an incredible French Polynesian island not to be missed.

Four nights is the right amount of time to take in all it has to offer. Snorkel with sharks, enjoy a glass of local wine, and learn about what makes the Tahitian pearl so special. That’s one great vacation!

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Questions about our favorite things to do in Rangiroa?

Let me know in the comments below!