How a Moana holiday sailing in Tahiti offers a taste of Polynesian seafaring culture

Inspired by Disney’s Moana? Channel the Polynesian princess in Tahiti, where traditional vessels take visitors on cultural journeys by water

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A resurrected Polynesian canoe called the Vaapiti sails in Tahiti. Boating classes and trips are teaching visitors about seafaring culture and keeping traditions alive. Photo: Vaapiti

Published: 4:15am, 5 Dec 2024Updated: 5:21am, 5 Dec 2024

Sailing is all about balance. I step over the narrow bow of the bug to take the outstretched hand of Alexis Moerai, aka Galax, who has been paddling and sailing around Tahiti’s lagoons since childhood. Nowadays, he shows tourists how to sail a holopuni.

Developed by Hawaiian Nick Beck in the early 1980s, the canoe is based on an ancient Polynesian design, with a slender hull nine metres (30ft) long, two outriggers for stability and a sail. Modern materials make it lightning fast and easy to manoeuvre.

Polynesians are renowned seafarers, and their island empire stretched from Hawaii to New Zealand and Easter Island. Although paddling remains a national sport, few Tahitians still sail.

Teiva Véronique hopes to change that with holopunis. Every Saturday morning, she gives sailing lessons for children in the marina in Papeete, the largest settlement in Tahiti and the capital of French Polynesia.

The Vaapiti, a resurrected double-hulled canoe, in the shallow waters off the coast of Moorea, in French Polynesia. Photo: Vaapiti

Véronique shows tourists how to navigate the outrigger canoe through the lagoon, Galax unfurls the sail, lowers the sloping boom and pushes off from the quay. “Paddle,” he yells, and after a few strokes we’re off. I stare straight ahead, marvelling as we plunge into the waves.