Landfall! Fatu Hiva, Marquesas

To 4 sailors who had not sighted land since the Galapagos Islands, 15 days and 3100 nautical miles before, our first few moments of landfall taking in this stunning, lush, wild and dramatically beautiful bay will never be forgotten.

A soaring hinterland of carved valleys, craggy rocks, chiselled ravines, deep gorges, sheer cliffs and velvet, plunging rock curtains dripping with lush, untamed, jungle was a bewitching scene from which we struggled to tear our eyes….

Hanavave Bay was also known for many years as the Baie de Verges (Bay of Penises) by navigators who were apparently inspired by the lofty, basalt spires that shoot skyward from the folded ridges overlooking the bay. At some point, missionaries slipped an ‘i’ into the word verges (penises) to form the word vierges (virgins) and so Hanavave became The Bay of Virgins!

Fatu Hiva (pronounced with a silent h) is the most southern island in The Marquesas archipelago in French Polynesia (an overseas territory of France that includes The Society Islands, The Tuamotus, the Gambiers and the Australs)

In 1936 archaeologist Thor Heyerdahl (the Norwegian explorer of Kon Tiki raft fame) and his wife were looking for an isolated, idyllic island where they could escape civilisation entirely. Fatu-Hiva was their place of choice. Thor described the island as “mountainous and lonely, rich in sunshine, fruit, and drinking water, with few natives and no white men” They stayed for a year and a half from 1937 until 1938.   

There are are two small villages on Fatu Hiva and the island is home to just 587 people. The village Hanavave sprawls back from the waterfront with open, thick carpets of grass separating one neat, corrugated roofed dwelling from the next. Children play and women wash clothes in a wide, bubbling stream that flows into the bay where young men paddle outriggers while trawling for fish. The community gather daily at the wide expanse of waterfront and youth can be found throwing a basketball and playing soccer while their relatives ocean gaze and chat on a long, wooden, plank-seat that sits under the trees and faces out to the Pacific… 

The village itself consists of two small shops, a church and a community hall scattered amongst manicured gardens, ancient tiki statues, banana palms, breadfruit and mango trees.

We were invited to dinner at Cathy’s place- the village’s self appointed dinner host for yachties. We were introduced to our first Poisson Cru, a delicious, raw fish dish with lime and coconut milk- the beginning of a love affair that lasted through-out French Polynesia! Cathy’s husband and son jammed for us on the ukulele as we soaked in a very authentic experience. It was almost surreal comprehending this new planet that we had arrived on- as the chirping of insects brought in a Marquesan night, it dawned on me; Polynesia, we’ve arrived!!!

Cathy was also the local dance teacher and, after dinner, we wandered back though the village and stopped by the community hall to watch the local children as they practiced their hypnotic hip-wiggling traditional dance.

A hike up through the dense forest and gnarly banyan trees deep into the rugged topography brought us to Le Cascade. The walk was steamy and the mosquitoes ferocious but the natural mountain pool and cool water swim at the base of the waterfall was pure heaven!!  We soaked in the fresh water until the ingrained salt from the passage released from our very pores…

We simply couldn’t have wished for a better landfall- it was perfect to chill out for a few days in Fatu Hiva before we hit the main islands. I guess the journey of thousands of miles and the elation of making landfall after crossing the world’s biggest ocean added to the magic of Fatu Hiva, but it really is a precious jewel and about as far away from the rest of the world as possible…

Next Post; Hiva Oa and Tahuata; The Marquesas