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Landscape of Hiva Oa, Marquesas Islands Landscape of Hiva Oa, Marquesas Islands

The Marquesas Islands

The Marquesas archipelago, Fenua Enata in southern Marquesan or Henua Enana in northern Marquesan, meaning “the Land of Men”, lies about 1,500 km north-east of Tahiti.

The first Polynesians are thought to have settled in the archipelago around 150 BC, before going on to colonise Hawaii and Easter Island.
The Spanish navigator Álvaro de Mendaña reached the islands in 1595, sighting Fatu Hiva and Tahuata. He named them the Marquesas in honour of the wife of the Viceroy of Peru, García Hurtado de Mendoza, Marquis of Cañete. The archipelago became part of the French Establishments in Oceania in 1842.

These volcanic islands are divided into two distinct groups:

  • the northern group, with Nuku Hiva (administrative centre of the Marquesas), Ua Pou, Ua Huka, Hatu Iti, Eiao, Hatutaa and Motu One;
  • the southern group, with Hiva Oa, Tahuata, Fatu Hiva, Mohotani (Motane) and Fatu Huku.

Many Marquesan artists keep their ancestral art alive, with carvings that rank among the finest in the Pacific. The islands are home to unique land and marine wildlife and plants, with many endemic species.

Map of the Marquesas archipelago

Hiva Oa

Hiva Oa is the main island of the southern Marquesas; its centre is the village of Atuona. Covering 320 km², it is the third largest island in French Polynesia after Tahiti and Nuku Hiva. It is also the base for boat connections to the two other inhabited islands of the southern group: Tahuata and Fatu Hiva.

Map of Hiva Oa showing the location of Hanakee Lodge

Hiva Oa is nicknamed the “garden of the Marquesas” for its fertile, lush land. Wild nature stretches as far as the eye can see: green, abundant, luminous. Roads are few, and so are houses. The island’s rugged landscape combines sharp ridges, peaks and valleys scattered with archaeological sites, home among others to the largest tiki in Polynesia.

The island is fringed with black sand beaches and steep cliffs plunging into the rich waters of the Pacific. At the foot of its towering ridges lies Atuona, the island’s main village. Hiva Oa cherishes the memory of its two most famous residents, the painter Paul Gauguin and the singer Jacques Brel, who are buried in Atuona cemetery.

Practical information
  • Time zone: GMT -9:30 (Tahiti is GMT -10)
  • Currency: CFP franc, XPF (€1 = 119.332 XPF)
  • Population: 2,243 (2017 census)
  • Area: about 320 km²