Tahuata Island Vaitahu, Marquesas French Polynesia
French Polynesia
51
Cruises availables
At departure or passage at this port
Paul Gauguin Cruises (12 Cruises)
M/S Paul Gauguin
12 Cruises
Ponant (9 Cruises)
Le Jacques Cartier
9 Cruises
Silversea Cruises (30 Cruises)
Silver Whisper
24 Cruises
| 7 March | 15 days | Round-trip from Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia |
450-628-6241
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| 21 March | 15 days | Round-trip from Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia |
450-628-6241
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|
| 13 October | 11 days | Round-trip South Sea Silver Whisper Papeete Tahiti |
450-628-6241
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|
| 13 October | 11 days | Round-trip from Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia |
450-628-6241
Call us
|
| 23 January | 14 days | Round-trip South Sea Silver Whisper Papeete Tahiti |
450-628-6241
Call us
|
| 23 January | 14 days | Round-trip from Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia |
450-628-6241
Call us
|
Frequently Asked Questions
Only by sea. Tahuata has no airport and probably never will. Ships anchor off Vaitahu, the main village tucked into a dark bay, and tenders cross the pass between swells to a tiny quay.
Mendaña's Spanish expedition landed and opened fire on the crowd that had come to watch the ships, killing roughly two hundred people. It was the first contact between the Marquesas and Europe, and it was tragic. Discreet panels and monuments recall it along the village's single street.
This stone church, built with support from the Vatican, opens onto an interior filled with Marquesan carving. Its stained-glass window dedicated to the Virgin filters coloured light onto the wooden pews. If your visit coincides with congregational singing, go in: Marquesan polyphony is among the finest sounds you can bring home from the Pacific.
Because it has built a reputation across the archipelago for the fineness of its engraving. In village workshops, artisans shape tiki, traditional fish hooks, bracelets and pendants from cattle or horse bone, fossil ivory and helmet shell, the large mollusc with warm tones.
Yes, and that is the whole point. The motifs draw on the ancestral vocabulary of Marquesan tattooing, which each family interprets its own way. Buying a piece from the carver's own hands means something quite different from buying in a shop. Bring Pacific francs in cash.
The village takes only minutes to cross between flower-filled houses: the church, the memorials, the carving workshops. Some excursions travel by sea to neighbouring bays where pale sand beaches open between headlands. This is a call about encounters, not monuments.
No. The Marquesas have neither lagoons nor protective reefs: volcanic ridges plunge straight into deep blue sea. That means swell can complicate the tender transfer, and swimming is less sheltered than elsewhere in Polynesia.
Often, yes. Dolphins frequently escort the tenders between ship and quay, as if doing the honours of the place. Nothing is guaranteed: they are wild animals, not an organised attraction.
Good shoes for the shingle shore and a hat, since shade is scarce at midday. Add water and cash. There is no organised tourist commerce: what you do not bring, you will not find.
You leave with few spectacular photographs and many lasting impressions: a carver's rough handshake, the smell of monoï and tiare flowers, church singing carried on the surf. The smallest inhabited island in the Marquesas is a reminder that the richness of a call is measured in encounters, not monuments.
