Nuku Hiva is the largest and most populated of the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia. Taiohae is the administrative and governmental hub of the archipelago, and the Aranui is able to dock a short distance from the village. Nuku Hiva was the second island we visited in the Marquesas. We went ashore in Taiohae and did some handicraft shopping before being entertained by some young Marquesan women dancers.


We then took 4x4 vehicles to the only cathedral in the Marquesas before driving across the mountains to the next bay, where we hiked to an archaeological site at Taipivai. On the road to Taipivai, we stopped on the mountaintop for a picnic lunch brought from the ship.

Click on each link below to see more of our visit to Taiohae and Taipivai on Nuku Hiva.

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