French Polynesia
When
May to Oct
Price
From 4 500€ excl. flights
(based on 2 people sharing)
How long
6 nights
Ideal length
The Marquesas, French Polynesia's most remote archipelago, over fifteen hundred kilometres from Tahiti, differ radically from the rest of the territory in the total absence of a protective coral reef, leaving their vertiginous volcanic cliffs to plunge straight into a lagoon-less Pacific Ocean. Paul Gauguin spent his final years there and now rests there, drawn like other artists by landscapes of rare wildness, between deep valleys, wild horses, and some of the best-preserved Polynesian archaeological sites.
Unlike most Polynesian islands, the Marquesas never developed a barrier coral reef around their coasts, a phenomenon attributed to the archipelago's relative geological youth and the unusually cold ocean currents surrounding them. The absence of a lagoon exposes the volcanic cliffs, some over a thousand metres high, directly to the Pacific swell, shaping a landscape of deep bays and sharp peaks radically different from the flat atolls of Bora Bora or the Tuamotus.
Paul Gauguin settled on Hiva Oa in 1901, leaving Tahiti, which he already considered too marked by Western influence, and painted some of his darkest works there before dying in 1903. His grave, at Calvary Cemetery overlooking Atuona Bay, remains a pilgrimage site for art lovers, while the Marquesas preserve one of the highest concentrations of Polynesian archaeological sites, including monumental tikis carved from volcanic stone and centuries-old ceremonial platforms.
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A Lodge Overlooking Atuona Bay
A simple lodge overlooking Atuona Bay on Hiva Oa island, rooms overlooking the lagoon-less ocean, within walking distance of Paul Gauguin's grave.
A Nuku Hiva Family Guesthouse
A family guesthouse on Nuku Hiva, the largest Marquesan island, simple rooms and shared meals of local produce with the hosts.
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