Pitufa.at » Photo Galleries » Marquesas: Nuku Hiva

Nuku Hiva is the biggest and busiest of the Marquesas with good infrastructure and plenty of sights. Lots of cruisers stop in the capital Taiohae to enjoy the amenities of civilisation (restaurants, well-stocked supermarkets, daily veggie market, hospital, etc.). We explored the island from mid September to end of October 2013, enjoyed beautiful hikes, but soon got sick of mosquitoes, murky water, and rolly anchorages.

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1/50: Huge southerly swell finds its way into the wide bay of Taiohae. Great for the surfers, bad for the anchoring yachts.
2/50: The church of Taiohae.
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4/50: On bad days the swell lifts and lowers the boats a few metres.
5/50: We hiked to the eastern Sentinel (rocks at the entrance of the bay), enjoyed great views...
6/50: ...and a picknick with Steirische Käferbohnen (styrian beans) and breadfruit salad.
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8/50: Anse Hakatea (Daniel's bay) almost looks like a lake, but the swell makes it in nevertheless.
9/50: We usually had the bay just for ourselves, just occasionally boats came by.
10/50: Entering the river in the neighbouring bay Hakaui needs good timing to make it through the waves and over the bank at high water.
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12/50: The beautiful valley of Hakaui.
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15/50: The hike to the waterfall at the end of the valley takes 2.5 hours, several river crossings and lots of mosquito repellent.
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17/50: Despite a thick layer of monoi (coconut oil) and mosquito repellent on top we got bitten quite badly. The bites hurt and itch a week.
18/50: Daniel's Bay.
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21/50: The long bay of Hakahaa with the pretty village Taipivai was our calmest anchorage on the southern side of Nuku Hiva.
22/50: The village Hooumi in the neighbouring bay.
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25/50: Money laundering after beaching the dinghy went wrong...
26/50: On the way to the northern coast.
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28/50: Anaho bay: the prettiest and calmest anchorage of Nuku Hiva. During the high season usually 15 to 20 yachts anchor here, we had it just for ourselves.
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36/50: Another beautiful hike leads over the pass to the village Hatiheu.
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40/50: We hiked over the ridge to the bay Haatuatua on the eastside of the island.
41/50: In this remote valley we found a veggy farm. They transport all produce on horseback over the mountains to Hatiheu, where it's then loaded on pickups and sent to the market in Taiohae.
42/50: There you can pick your veggies (aubergines, tomatoes, peppers, avocados, salad, melons, etc.)...
43/50: ...but you have to carry them back to Anaho (about half an hour).
44/50: On the way to the airport we stopped on a viewpoint into Nuku Hivas Grand Canyon.
45/50: The Toovii plateau.
46/50: The cruiseship Statendam stopped in Taiohae for a day.
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48/50: Painted tapa cloth from Fatu Hiva.
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