In most cruising grounds a catamaran is a preference. In French Polynesia it is close to the default, and the reason is under the boat rather than on it. The week is sailed inside coral lagoons with shallow patches and few marked channels, and a boat that draws a metre goes places a boat that draws two simply cannot.
Why the lagoons choose the boat
Draught first: the anchorages that make a Polynesian week are shallow sand patches between coral heads, and a catamaran sits over them. Stability second: you will spend a lot of the week at anchor with people swimming off the back, and a flat boat is a better platform for that than a monohull. Space third: the passages are short and the days are long, so the cockpit matters more than the windward performance.
What that costs
No company in this record publishes a Polynesian catamaran rate. The clearest published statement of what a catamaran adds anywhere is Sunsail's Caribbean pair: about $3,500 for a low-season bareboat monohull against about $5,700 for a low-season catamaran, rising to about $7,000 and about $10,000 in high season. Polynesia runs above the Caribbean and the fleet is overwhelmingly catamaran, so the monohull saving that exists elsewhere largely is not available here.
Reading the water is the skill
Coral does not show on a chart the way a rock does, and the local method is to read the colour of the water with the sun behind you. Charter bases brief this properly and it is worth listening: the single commonest way to spoil a Polynesian week is to move through a pass or across a lagoon at the wrong time of day, in flat light, with the sun ahead.
Questions people ask about catamaran charter french polynesia
Why are Polynesian charters mostly catamarans?
Draught and stability. The anchorages are shallow patches between coral heads, and a catamaran sits over water a deeper monohull cannot enter.
How much does a Polynesian catamaran cost?
No company in this record publishes one. Sunsail's published Caribbean figures put a low-season catamaran at about $5,700 against about $3,500 for a monohull, and Polynesia runs above the Caribbean.
Is Polynesian sailing difficult?
The wind is not the problem; the coral is. Passages are short and protected, and the skill is reading water colour with the sun behind you and timing the passes.