Society Islands & Tuamotus & Marquesas Islands

The islands of Polynesia are a gorgeous collection of volcanic islands and atolls strewn lazily across the grand Pacific Ocean. The island of Tahiti proper is the largest of the 118 islands and atolls that comprise French Polynesia. Papeete, the modern capital of Tahiti and her islands, contains government offices, hospitals, banks and many other services dedicated to serving the islands as well as tourists who come to these islands for a life-enriching experience.

Fakarava is an atoll in the west of the Tuamotu group in French Polynesia. It is the second largest of the Tuamotu atolls. Fakarava’s main village is called Rotoava.The first recorded European to arrive to Fakarava Atoll was Russian oceanic explorer Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen in 1820 on the ships Vostok and Mirni. He originally named this atoll “Wittgenstein.”

Omoa Village
The village of Omoa is the administrative center of Fatu Hiva. Here, you will find a pretty church and the Musée Grelet, a small private museum founded by a 19th-century Swiss immigrant to this island. Exhibits include war clubs and spears, adzes, tikis, stone pestles, and carved-wood koka’a bowls. Fatu Hiva is renowned for its handicrafts, especially tapa (decorated beaten bark cloth). During your stay, you may see artists at work on tapa and other crafts, including hand-painted pareos and monoi, a scented coconut oil. The area around Omoa Village also features many ancient petroglyphs, or rock art. Among them is one of the largest in the Marquesas: that of the famous paoa, which looks like a huge tuna fish carved into the rock. A guided hike to the petroglyphs is available as an excursion from The Gauguin.

Hanavave & the Bay of Virgins
Fatu Hiva’s other main settlement, Hanavave, lies on one of the most beautiful bays in the world, the Bay of Virgins, and the ten-mile road linking Hanavave to Omoa Village is a wonderland of scenic delights. Behold towering cliffs, plunging waterfalls, steep gorges and valleys, and luxuriant vegetation along the way. A scenic drive between Omoa Village and Hanavave is available as a shore excursion from The Gauguin.

Hiva Oa is one of the islands discovered and named by Mendana in 1595. The main town is Atuona on the southern shore within Traitors Bay. Above the steady rumble of the Pacific surge, the sharply sculpted mountains of Hiva Oa hide their summits in the mists of rain-filled clouds. The largest and most fertile island in the southern group of the Marquesas, Hiva Oa has deep valleys, lush plateaus and thickly wooded forests. Atuona is a favorite port of call for yachts.

Taiohae is a pleasant village bordering the sea. It is the administrative, economic, educational and health center of the Marquesas Islands. Here are the French and Territorial administrators, the government buildings, gendarmerie, post office, general hospital, town hall, Air Tahiti office, banks, schools, well-stocked stores and shops. It lies on the south coast at the head of the Bay of Taiohae whose entrance is guarded by two rocks called “Les Sentinelles.”

One of the most picturesque and geographically diverse islands in the Society Group, enclosed in a single lagoon, it covers 75 square miles. Huahine is located 109 miles northwest of Papeete. The highest point on the island, Mt. Turi, reaches 2,200 feet and is located on Huahine Nui. Mt. Tavaiura in the Fitii Peninsula looks like a women’s face, leading to her chest and her round belly, hence one of the interpretation for Huahine’s original name (pregnant woman).

Bora Bora lies 150 miles northwest of Tahiti in the Society Islands. The main island, home to 4,225 inhabitants, is in the center of a multicolored lagoon, surrounded by offshore “motu” islets inside a protective coral necklace. Its lagoon is world-famous for its beauty. A partially paved road circles the island, passing colorful villages, archeological sites, and old Army bunkers and cannons left over from WWII, when 5,000 American GIs made a “friendly invasion.”

Moorea, often likened to James Michener’s mythical island of Bali Hai, is only 11 miles from Tahiti. Many visitors say it is worth the visit just to see Moorea’s spectacular bays. The volcanic peaks, reflected in the waters of Cook’s Bay and Opunohu Bay, rise like a shark’s jaw from the island’s base. Sharks sighting on nearly every dive makes this island a popular diving destination. At times a tuna will come by or dolphins will be heard clicking just out of sight.

The islands of Polynesia are a gorgeous collection of volcanic islands and atolls strewn lazily across the grand Pacific Ocean. The island of Tahiti proper is the largest of the 118 islands and atolls that comprise French Polynesia. Papeete, the modern capital of Tahiti and her islands, contains government offices, hospitals, banks and many other services dedicated to serving the islands as well as tourists who come to these islands for a life-enriching experience.

The islands of Polynesia are a gorgeous collection of volcanic islands and atolls strewn lazily across the grand Pacific Ocean. The island of Tahiti proper is the largest of the 118 islands and atolls that comprise French Polynesia. Papeete, the modern capital of Tahiti and her islands, contains government offices, hospitals, banks and many other services dedicated to serving the islands as well as tourists who come to these islands for a life-enriching experience.