What makes the m/s Paul Gauguin different from a large cruise ship?

The Paul Gauguin is a small luxury ship carrying just over three hundred guests, purpose-built to sail the shallow lagoons of French Polynesia. Its size lets it dock close to islands the larger ships cannot reach, and a retractable marine platform off the stern means swimming, kayaking, and paddleboarding straight from the ship. The mood is relaxed and all-inclusive rather than formal.

Where does the Paul Gauguin sail?

The ship is based year-round in French Polynesia, with most voyages calling on Tahiti, Bora Bora, Moorea, Taha'a, and Raiatea in the Society Islands. Longer itineraries reach the Tuamotu atolls such as Rangiroa and Fakarava, and seasonal sailings extend to the remote Marquesas, Cook Islands, and Fiji.

What is included in the fare?

Fares are largely all-inclusive: fine dining across multiple restaurants, beverages including select wines and spirits, gratuities, in-room service, and onboard cultural enrichment by Les Gauguines and Les Gauguins, the ship's Polynesian ambassadors. Access to the private islet of Motu Mahana off Taha'a and the beach day on Bora Bora is included on most Society Islands voyages.

Paul Gauguin Cruises · French Polynesia

Paul Gauguin:
The Soul of the South Pacific

One small ship, built for one extraordinary ocean. For more than twenty-five years the m/s Paul Gauguin has sailed Tahiti, Bora Bora, and the islands between, slipping into lagoons the larger ships will never see.

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330 Guests · Sailing Polynesia Since 1998 · All-Inclusive

A Ship With One Purpose

Built for these islands, and only these islands.

Most ships visit French Polynesia. The Paul Gauguin belongs to it. Drawn shallow enough to enter the lagoons of Bora Bora and Taha'a, small enough to feel like a private yacht, she has spent a quarter-century learning these waters. We book her through the same consortia engine you can search below, with our amenities and care layered on top.

The Ship

The m/s Paul Gauguin

She carries just over three hundred guests, looked after by a crew of more than two hundred, a ratio you feel in every interaction. Staterooms and suites are calm and uncluttered, more than half with a private balcony, all of them dressed in the soft light of the Pacific.

A retractable marina folds down from the stern so you can swim, kayak, and paddleboard straight off the ship. It is, in the truest sense, a small luxury ship: intimate, unhurried, and entirely at home where it sails.

The m/s Paul Gauguin at anchor in a Polynesian lagoon

Bora Bora and Mount Otemanu from the lagoon

Where She Sails

The Society Islands, and Beyond

Most voyages trace the Society Islands: Tahiti and Moorea, the green spires of Bora Bora, the vanilla coast of Taha'a and quiet Raiatea. On most Society Islands sailings you have your own day on the private islet of Motu Mahana and a beach day on Bora Bora.

Longer itineraries push out to the Tuamotu atolls of Rangiroa and Fakarava, and on a handful of sailings each year, to the wild Marquesas, the Cook Islands, and Fiji.

Life Onboard

All-Inclusive, and Wonderfully Unhurried

There are no dress codes to dread and no bills to sign. Dining runs from the white-linen room to the open-air grill on deck; wines, spirits, and gratuities are included, as is in-suite service whenever the mood takes you.

The rhythm is barefoot luxury rather than black tie. Days are shaped around the water and the islands; evenings around long tables, soft music, and the warm dark of the Pacific.

Overwater bungalows and the m/s Paul Gauguin in a Polynesian lagoon

A Tahitian host in a flower crown and traditional tattoo aboard the ship

Les Gauguines & Les Gauguins

Polynesia, Brought Aboard

A team of Tahitian hosts sails on every voyage. They teach the language and the dances, string flower crowns, share the legends of each island, and play music late into the evening. They are the reason the ship feels less like a hotel and more like a Polynesian home.

It is the kind of cultural immersion you cannot book separately. It simply comes with the ship.

The Water

Straight Off the Stern

The watersports marina makes the lagoon an extension of the ship. Snorkel over coral gardens, paddle a kayak across glassy water, or join the onboard PADI program and dive the passes of Rangiroa and Fakarava, where the current carries you past sharks, rays, and walls of fish.

Marine specialists sail aboard to point out what you are seeing, above the water and below it.

Divers setting out from the ship across a Bora Bora lagoon

Begin Your Voyage

Sail French Polynesia

Search live Paul Gauguin sailings and fares below, or tell us your dates and we will shape the voyage around them, with our amenities and care included.