When is the best time to come on vacation to Tahiti?

The classification of climates is based mainly on criteria of temperature, precipitation heightss and, to a lesser degree, of duration of sunshine. Due to the geographical position of French Polynesia, the Polynesian climate is tropical, of the humid maritime type. We generally distinguish there two great seasonsThe first one spreads from November to April. This season is called "hot", or Australian summer, with some temperatures and humidity higher. The May to October we are in the middle of the so-called "season"fresh". It is thesouthern winter with temperatures and humidity weaker.

Cyclones in French Polynesia

Often, mainland French people who come to Polynesia are very worried because of the cyclone risk. For some, it is even prohibitive to risk going to Fenua at this time. Now if it is true that the cyclone risk is very present on the territory, it is important to know that these phenomena only occur during the "hot" season and that the last one, Oli, goes back to 2010. It would therefore be a shame to avoid this period just for this reason, the risk being really low.

The data used

When you want to make a climatological study worthy of the name, we use what we call ““normal”. Those are averages over a long periodAt Météo France, we use 30-year normalsThey are updated. every 10 yearsThe diagrams you will see below were developed for the temperatures and precipitation heights with the normals for the period 1991-2020, the most recent available. For thesunshine, some recent data being missing, I used the normals for the period 1981-2010. These data calculated on a 30-year period allow to to free oneself for each parameter of an exceptional year. So they are really representative and allow to draw precise conclusions et usable. 

The units 

The units used are the degree Celsius for temperature, millimeters for précipitations, 1 mm corresponding to a volume ofone liter of water per square meter and fraction of insolation forsunshine. This value corresponds to the percentage of sun presence compared to the theoretical length of the day.

How to calculate a monthly normal

Let's take a concrete example and see how we are going to calculate the precipitation normal for the month of January. We will first add for the place that interests us all daily precipitation values ​​for January 1991 and divide them by 31. We will then do the same thing for the 29 other Januarys between 1992 and 2020. It will finally be enough toadd these 30 averages and them divide by 30 to obtain this famous normal for the period 1991-2020. And there you have it. Now that you know what a normal is and how it is calculated, we will be able to study them, parameter by parameter et archipelago by archipelago.

The data 

Society Archipelago

The temperatures

For this value calculated as explained previously over the period 1981-2010, I used the fraction of sunshine relative to the theoretical length of the dayThis allows us to overcome the fact that in June, July and August the days are shorter than in December, January and February. In meteorology, we say that there is sunshine when there is presence ofshadows cast on the ground. In short, if you see your shadow, the shadow of the trees, it is sunny. Scientifically, this shadow threshold corresponds to the arrival from the sun of an energy of 120 Watts per square meter. If it is sunny from sunrise to sunset, the fraction of sunshine will then be 100 for 100. I might as well tell you that this almost never happens. In the tropics, the Cumulus take care of doing lower this percentage. But beware, no sun does not necessarily mean precipitation.

I think that if you intend to come to French Polynesia, it is certainly to find sun. Now we see that the sunniest period for the Company is locatedApril to September. This also corresponds to the driest months. And if you also want to benefit from less stifling temperaturesThen June, July et August will perfect. So in summary, if the heat is a problem for you, come rather when it's summer in mainland France. As to months to avoid, it would rather be December, January et february, watered most of the year and with a fraction of sunshine that exceeds 55 percent at best. My personal choice knowing that I don't fear the heat, that I prefer the sun and that I don't like the rain, will obviously be April, mai, October et November.

For this archipelago, I communicate the data of the Takaroa weather station. Located in the northern Tuamotus, we can compare your data to those of tourist atolls like Rangiroa, Fakarava, divers' paradise or even Manihi. But'Tuamotu Archipelago is vast (see map above). So the weather situation can change radically depending on whether you are in the north or south of the archipelago. If you visit the South, he will do for sure a little cooler than in Takaroa with slightly higher precipitation amounts to those presented below.

As seen in the sunshine fraction diagram, this archipelago is sunnier than that of the Company. Only the month of December is below 60 percent. It is therefore not with this parameter that we will be able to determine the best time to come there. It is also often warmer than in Tahiti, month the most frais being the month ofAugust. And as for the précipitations, if we avoid December et January, tropical downpours are more than bearable. In summary, if heat is a real problem for you, you have to go to the Tuamotus in August or at least between July and November. Personally, and with my climate preferences,  I'm going to the Tuamotus rather the months ofApril, mai, September et October. These months are lightly watered and hot, everything I love.

Gambier Islands

The temperatures

The precipitations

The number of rainy days

The fraction of sunshine

Data interpretation

Austral Archipelago

The temperatures

The precipitations

The number of rainy days

The fraction of sunshine

Data interpretation 

Even though, as I have already stated above, the weather conditions are better in the islands of the Austral archipelago located north of Rapa, précipitations are important there et well distributed throughout the year. Thesunshine is the weakest of Polynesia and the minimum temperatures can go down below 15 degrees Celsius even in the northern part of the archipelago. Under these conditions, my choice to visit these islands of the great south will be during the months ofAugust, September, October et November, period fresh closest less rainy.

Marquesas Archipelago

We will end this tour of Polynesia by doing a great leap north, all close to the equator, to join the Marquesas archipelago, land of man of course but also tattoos, tiki and wild horses. While Nuku Hiva, Ua huka et Ua pou to the north have a almost arid tropical climate, Fatu hiva et Hiva Oa South are watered more. And it's Hiva Oa, dear to artists Brel et Gauguin which will serve as our study area for this archipelago.

The temperatures

The precipitations

The number of rainy days

The fraction of sunshine

Data interpretation 

Ultimately

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