Marquesas Islands

Truly off the beaten path, the tiny isle of Ua Pou is one of the least visited destinations in all French Polynesia. With its jagged basalt pinnacles rising from the sea to pierce the sky and myriad intimate bays lining its shores, it is one of the most dramatically scenic islands in the Marquesas to witness on approach.

Robert Louis Stevenson admired Nuku Hiva’s Hatiheu Bay for its postcard beauty—black sand, sweeping curves, and towering basalt cliffs. Today, Hatiheu offers rare cultural discoveries, from ancient petroglyphs and marae (temples) to the sacred me’ae l’ipoka, (open-air spaces) sheltered by a massive banyan tree.

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. Paul Gauguin himself is buried here.

Meaning “sunrise” in Marquesan, it’s reached via the seafront village of Hapatoni, where tamanu trees shade a royal stone path and the air is scented with tiare and frangipani. The island’s beauty continues in its architecture, notably a grand Vatican-built Catholic church with stained glass and local carvings.

Fatu Hiva is renowned for its handicrafts, especially tapa (decorated beaten bark cloth);hand-painted pareos and monoi, a scented coconut oil, and many ancient petroglyphs, or rock art including one of the largest in the Marquesas: that of the famous paoa, which looks like a huge tuna fish carved into the rock.

A charming seafront village, Taiohae is the administrative, economic, educational, and health center of the Marquesas Islands and the gateway to the island of Nuku Hiva’s natural beauty. Visitors are enchanted by lush valleys, impossibly blue bays, sky-high waterfalls, and ancient ruins—it’s no wonder Nuku Hiva is called “Mystic Island.”