Fatu Hiva, Marquesas
Steep cliffs. Crashing waves. Rich greenery, covering rocky peaks. This is Fatu Hiva – and it’s one of my new favorite places in the world.
Beautiful Fatu Hiva island, rising from the sea
Let’s backtrack a little. It’s April 7, 2023, and we’ve just had two days sailing from Mangareva, in the Gambier Archipelago, up to Fatu Hiva, in the Marquesan Archipelago. Yes, TWO sea days to sail from one island to another, in the same country. Of the five archipelagos that make up French Polynesia, the Marquesas are the furthest north, and aren’t visited too frequently. They lack the lagoons that provide the other archipelagos with calm waters and easy snorkeling access around their islands, they’re difficult to land on, and they’re just plain far away.
Yet, here we are. Staring up at an imposing cliffside which drops vertically into the sea. Luckily, the ocean is on our side today, and we have low swell and surf, allowing us to disembark and go ashore easily. We first land in Omoa, on the west side of the island, and right away are greeted by song, dance, leis, and friendly faces from locals. There is a beautiful market set up in a brand new building (built in 2021!), with many traditional crafts and foods from around the island for sale.
There’s a lot to talk about here, so I’m going to break this blog post up in sections: the market and tapa art, the tiki statues, the petroglyphs, and the ride across the island.
Market:
The market featured wooden tiki statues (more about those in a moment!), shell and pearl jewelry, sweet dried bananas, beautifully hand dyed pareo (a versatile clothing wrap), and lots of tapa art. Tapa is a traditional bark cloth. It was historically used for clothing in some cases, but was quickly replaced by fabric upon European contact. That said, it’s still used today for art and practical purposes, like room dividers and mosquito screens. Although it’s found throughout Polynesia and parts of Melanesia, it’s more prevalent in the Marquesas than any other French Polynesian area, so this was a real highlight. Not only did we have a chance to browse this traditional art, we were also given a demonstration of how the cloth itself was made, and hand painted.
Local Marqueasan artist painting tapa cloth
The bark of various trees from the island is stripped, soaked, and beaten until it is pliable and soft. Tapa cloth is not woven, it is directly created from the bark of trees from the islands. It’s a unique tradition, and something the people of Fatu Hiva are understandably proud to share. You know I had to pick up a small piece for myself!
The tiki statues:
From the minute we stepped on to this beautiful island, we were greeted not only by the locals, but also by many, many tiki statues! The tiki isn’t an unfamiliar motif for many of us. Who hasn’t seen tiki faces on Hawaiian shirts, at theme parties, or on TV sometime? The word “tiki” has almost become synonymous with outdoor, pool party vibes. But of course, there is so much more to tikis than that – and Fatu Hiva’s collection of tiki statues made that abundantly, and beautifully, clear.
Tikis are widely variant in size, from the largest at 2.3 meters, to small enough to be worn as an amulet on a necklace. They also vary in material (stone, wood, bone, coral, even shell!) and in form. Most tiki are standing, full body statues or representations, but it’s not uncommon to see some tiki as just heads. That said, there are some overarching elements of tiki statues that nearly all tiki have: big eyes, and hands with distinct fingers, placed on their front midsection. Tikis are found throughout Polynesia, from Tonga to Hawaii to the Rapa Nui/Easter Island (although the moai, the island’s famous large stone statues are very distinct, the hand placement and carving directly connects them with tiki statues). Suffice it to say, strolling through the market at Fatu Hiva was an eye opening and amazing experience, as I absorbed the wide variety and style of these important statues. I’ve included a gallery below of the statues on Fatu Hiva and a reference picture of the hands on the moai of Rapa Nui for you to browse.
The Petroglyphs:
After our wonderful welcome, the tapa demonstration, browsing the market, and admiring the tiki statues, a group headed out for a short hike to go view an important petroglyph on the island. It was about a 30 minute walk through a beautiful, jungle setting. It was a nice walk, though as we went, we kept getting warnings to not rest under coconut trees – for an obvious reason! I’m no avid birder, but we did catch a glimpse of the white-capped fruit dove, endemic to the island, which was a real treat. Eventually, as we rounded a big rock in a clearing, a striking petroglyph came in to view.
Petroglyph on Fatu Hiva
This petroglyph, our guide explained, represented a whale or a tuna, and the priests of the old religion would come here to pray in times of famine, after which the villagers would go out and search for food from the sea. There was also a faint tiki face petroglyph on the other side of the rock, and over to the side there was an overgrown marae, or ancient temple platform. I’ll admit I have a bias as an archaeology lover, but it was a really special site to witness, before turning around and heading back to Omoa.
Tiki petroglyph circled in yellow
The ride across the island:
As I mentioned at the beginning: Fatu Hiva is a steep, dramatic island. Only about 33 square miles, the island has two small villages, Omoa and Hanavave. They’re only 4 nautical miles apart, but they are more than 10 miles apart by road. And yet, although we were travelling in a big boat, the locals on the island pooled their car stash together and offered anyone who wanted to, to take a ride with them across the island to Hanavave, where afternoon activities would take place. You bet almost all of us jumped at that opportunity! As we divided in to groups of 4, we hopped in to Jeeps or similar rugged terrain vehicles and started the climb. Right away, the views were stunning. Our driver stopped every once and a while for photo stops, and then, at the crest of the island, overlooking Hanavave & the Bay of Virgins (our afternoon stop) pulled out fresh bananas, coconut, and mango for us to enjoy. It was a “pinch me” moment!
Bay of Virgins overlook
As we descended, we got a closer look at some of the basalt columns that surround the Bay of Virgins (fun fact – because of these columns, sailors originally named it “The Bay of Phalluses,” but missionaries who arrived later quickly changed it!).
After this amazing ride, I went to the small port and began helping shuttle guests from the landing site back to the ship – and made some new friends in the process.
To me, this was the highlight of an already incredible day. Sweet kiddos, hanging out in my zodiac, asking questions and practicing their English (and helping me practice French), and pretending to drive the Zodiac. As it finally became time to head back to the ship for the day, I drove the boat out of the harbor to calls of “Au Revoir Mila!! Miss you!” which put a smile on my face then, and every time I’ve thought of it since. What an incredible day.
Au Revoir, Fatu Hiva – Miss you!
