Nuku Hiva

387 km² • 3 025 residents • 1 224 m (Mount Tekao)

Herman Melville deserted his whaling ship here in 1842, inspiring his first novel. The island has lost none of its grandeur: towering basalt cliffs, valleys stretching kilometres inland, and at the end of one of them, Vaipo Waterfall, plunging 350 metres into a canyon reached on horseback or on foot.

Access

3h15 flight from Tahiti.

Good to know

Nuku Hiva’s most unique natural landmarks : Hakaui, the highest waterfall in French Polynesia, plunging from a hight of over 350 meters.

Ideal for

Hiking, archaeology, culture, Aranui cruises, wide-open spaces.

Not to be missed 

• Vaipo Waterfall in Hakaui Valley
• Taiohae Bay
• Taipivai Valley and its pae pae (traditional stone platforms)
• Toovii Plateau
• The archaeological sites of Kamuihei and Hikokua in Hatiheu
• Anaho Bay
• Notre-Dame des Marquises Cathedral

Images credits
1 – ©TAHITI TOURISME/Stéphane Mailion
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 – ©Tahiti Tourisme