Tahiti in Dec -- Learned it's the Rainy Season ??

[delraydoll]

Yikes, already booked on the LA-Papeete cruise and have discovered that Dec is one of the wetest months altho' it's great weather for the 4 Hawaiian islands. Did anyone go on the 2013 cruise (assuming there was one). Comments re your weather would be appreciated, realizing no one knows for sure what a year will bring!

[Wendy The Wanderer]

We've been there in December. Half the time we were up in the Marquesas Islands which are usually drier at that time of year, but the Societies were fine. I don't actually remember any rainy days really, perhaps a cloudburst or two. It was humid, however.

[DaveFr]

Yikes, already booked on the LA-Papeete cruise and have discovered that Dec is one of the wetest months altho' it's great weather for the 4 Hawaiian islands. Did anyone go on the 2013 cruise (assuming there was one). Comments re your weather would be appreciated, realizing no one knows for sure what a year will bring!

My wife and I are also booked on this cruise and we're not worried. Here's a website showing weather data for Tahiti since 1999 for December. (http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/NTAA/2014/12/1/PlannerHistory.html?dayend=31&monthend=12&yearend=2014&req_city=Papeete&req_state=&req_statename=French+Polynesia) Some months are rainier than others so it's hard to say what kind of weather we'll encounter. Remember, though, that tropical rainstorms tend to be of short duration and may not occur where and when you're out and about.

 

Hope this helps.

[tnr]

Friends were on Oceania last February. Their complaint was not about the rain but how choppy the waters were. They could not tender to a few of the islands.

[elmwood]

We visited the South Pacific in December on the Paul Gauguin and only had one rainy day and that was at the end of our cruise when we were staying on Moorea.

[Emdee]

I was in Tahiti in Jan 2013 and I heard that 2012 was the rainiest December ever. It even rained a lot in January and February when we were there especially in Moorea.

 

I have been another time in December and had decent weather with occasional showers.

 

Regarding the Oceania Marina in February - they had to miss ports like Moorea because they were too large and had difficulty entering the lagoon. Granted it was a windy day and night but the Paul Gauguin had no problem entering the lagoon though it chose to stay in the open waters during the night since the winds were high.

Edited January 7, 2014 by Emdee

[purpleally]

We are booked and December is beginning of rainy season but are staying put. Also going to Moorea for three days post cruise. Weather is weather, it will be wonderful going to a place I haven't been. :)

[NavyHM75]

My experience in the Tropics is that December tends to be in the cool/wet cycle but it is drier than Nov or January and cooler.

 

In Bangkok the "winter" with temperatures down to 80F is usually a couple weeks in mid-December.

[forevertravel]

We are booked in December for Tahiti to Tahiti cruise. I have been told that it will be hot and humid but have not heard about a lot of rain. The weather has been so unpredictable this year that is hard to tell. Hopefully, we'll have nice days. I'm so looking forward to this cruise.