French Polynesia vs Bahamas

Cost

Bahamas, checked 7 September 2026: an inexpensive restaurant meal $48.75; a three-course dinner for two at a mid-range restaurant $165; a pint of domestic draught $5. The Bahamian dollar is pegged to and interchangeable with the US dollar.

French Polynesia is not covered by the cost-of-living dataset this directory uses, so there are no sourced figures for it and none are offered. It prices in CFP francs, and anything beyond Tahiti adds a domestic flight or ferry.

The Bahamas is among the most expensive places to eat in this directory, and it is the one of the two we can actually price.

Getting there

Nassau is the principal gateway; several Out Islands have their own airports and some take direct US service in season. The Bahamas needs a passport valid six months, a return or onward ticket, hotel confirmation or an address, and proof of funds. Visa requirements track the period of leave to land, so anyone staying beyond 90 days should check their nationality. US citizens entering as bona fide visitors may stay up to eight months without a visa; Canadian landed immigrants holding Form 1000 may enter visa-free for up to 30 days.

Faa'a on Tahiti is the territory's only international gateway. Inter-island travel beyond it is by domestic flight or ferry. French Polynesia is a French overseas collectivity: French and EU citizens need no visa, and many other nationalities are exempt for tourist stays under three months, with a valid passport required in every case.

The beaches

Two different physical propositions.

The Bahamas is scale — shallow pale water across enormous areas, with the quiet sand an Out Island flight beyond Nassau. French Polynesia is the lagoon: reef-ringed, deep-blue, and about being in the water rather than walking beside it.

No sourced beach-level data for either yet.

In this directory: French Polynesia has 2 beaches listed, 2 rated calm for swimming. Bahamas has 1, 0 calm.

In the water

French Polynesia's lagoon runs 27-29°C depending on season, warmest November to April, with air temperatures of 20-30°C year-round.

The Bahamas is warm for most of the year and cooler in winter than the equatorial destinations here. No sourced monthly figures, so no numbers claimed.

Humpbacks migrate through French Polynesia between August and November with guided excursions.

When to go

The Bahamas is best December through May, outside a hurricane season that runs June through November. Many Bahamian hotels carry hurricane cancellation policies giving a full refund if a storm disrupts the trip.

French Polynesia's Season of Renewal runs May to October: dry, cooler at 21-27°C, lower humidity, and the clearest conditions for diving and snorkelling. The Season of Abundance, November to April, is humid with tropical showers heaviest December to February — generally brief and followed by clear skies — and the lagoon is at its warmest then.

May is the only month comfortably inside both. A February trip is the Bahamas; a July trip is French Polynesia.

Beyond the beach

Neither is inland-rich, but French Polynesia's archipelagos give it more range — the Marquesas are a year-round cultural destination rather than a beach one.

The Bahamas has Nassau at the developed end and quiet by design further out.