These jagged volcanic islands like Hiva Oa, 800 miles northeast of Tahiti, are covered in lush green tropical forests and the occasional upmarket bungalow. Gauguin scenes and wild horses only build on the exotic charm.
The Marquesas Islands also emerged as ”The land of men” are a small group of volcanic islands in French Polynesia, a collectivization of France in the southern Pacific Ocean. The highest point in the region is the peak of Mount Oave, located on Ua Pu island at 1, 230m above sea level. Ua Pu is the third largest of the Marquesas Islands and the only major island that was unified under a single monarch prior to the arrival of European explorers.
The capital of the Marquesas Islands is the settlement of Taiohae on the island of Nuku Hiva. The Marquesas Islands are the island group farthest from any continent in the world, lying between 900 and 1,200 km (550 and 725 miles) south of the equator and 1,371 km (852 miles) northeast of Tahiti.
Besides the lush tropical vegetation that goes culturally, the Marquesas are remarkably dry islands. They are the first major break in the prevailing easterly winds spawned from the extraordinarily dry Humboldt Current. The Marquesas Islands are thought to have formed by a center of upwelling magma called the Marquesas hotspot. The islands are divided in six communes. French and Tahitian are the only official languages of French Polynesia, and therefore of the Marquesas Islands as well, the Marquesan languages, in their various forms.
Accommodations are available in only a few hotels (Nuku Hiva and Hiva Oa) and small family homes on each island. The islands offer a wide range of activities, as Landrover excursions, horseback riding, hiking over mountain trails and to inland cascades, picnics on the beach or mountains, deep-sea fishing, sailing, motorboat rides, visits to archaeological sites, visits to artisansà workshops to buy wood carvings, tapa hangings and monoi perfumed oils.
To get there by boat try the mixed-freighter ARANUI takes up to 100 passenger in air-conditioned cabins for a 16 day cruise from Tahiti to the Marquesas through the Tuamotu archipelago and back. It includes deluxe accommodation and meals as well as land excursions in the various islands.
