It is called the Invisible Bay, and the nickname proves true from the deck: the entrance to Vaipaee, about 200 m wide and bent, stays hidden from view until the very last moment. When the Aranui, the Marquesas' passenger-freighter, makes its way in, the manoeuvre is a real balancing act. The ship advances deep into this narrow inlet with its close-set walls, then its barges turn into miniature tugboats to pivot it on the spot, while a sailor leaps onto the rocks to carry the mooring lines. Passengers, for their part, go ashore by whaleboat to the small landing. Welcome to Ua Huka, the most secret island of the Marquesas.

An island of horses and plateaus

Beyond the head of the bay, the scenery surprises those expecting a lush Polynesia. Ua Huka unfolds arid plateaus, grazed bare by goats and roamed by semi-wild horses, descendants of animals introduced in the 19th century. You come across these free silhouettes around the bends, manes flying above the ocean. Transfers are made in 4x4 pickup trucks on a cliffside road linking the island's three villages: Vaipaee, Hane and Hokatu. Only a few hundred people live here, and every ship's visit feels like a celebration.

Vaipaee and its village museums

The village, stretched along its river, holds several curiosities. Its Catholic church replaces the organ with a traditional drum, a detail that says a great deal about Marquesan culture. The small community museum displays clubs, adzes, tikis and model canoes, patiently gathered by the community. On the heights, the Papuakeikaa arboretum lines up hundreds of citrus trees and tropical species planted over the decades, a labour of patience born of the local will to green the island again. A stroll along its shady paths, between grapefruit trees and precious woods, offers a cool break before getting back on the track.

Hane, Hokatu and the carvers

The road continues to Hane, whose bay is graced by a sugarloaf rock rising from the ocean. Above the village, the Meiaute site preserves red stone tikis, testimony to ancient Marquesan ceremonial sites. There is also a small sea museum devoted to canoes and the fishing techniques of yesteryear. Farther on, Hokatu has earned a reputation as a village of carvers: in workshops open to the street, artisans work rosewood, miro wood and bone with a precision inherited from the master carvers of old. Pieces can be bought directly from the hands that shaped them, a far more meaningful souvenir than a shop-bought item.

Birds of the open sea

Off the north coast, whitened islets serve as a refuge for colonies of seabirds, including thousands of terns; residents gather eggs there according to an age-old custom. The island is also home to an endemic parrot, the ultramarine lorikeet, a flash of bright blue that the luckiest spot in the valleys. The naturalist guides on board are happy to point their binoculars at these cliffs alive with wings. This natural heritage, combined with the horse plateaus, gives Ua Huka a character all its own in the archipelago.

Port of call at a glance

The return on board is made the same way as the arrival, by whaleboat, with the help of sailors who time the boarding with the trough of the swell. From the deck, you watch the Invisible Bay close its fold of basalt as if the island wanted to keep its secret. Of all the Marquesas, Ua Huka is perhaps the one that has to be earned the most; it is also the one travellers speak of with the most tenderness.