Maupiha’a is the westernmost inhabited atoll in French Polynesia, and our last stop before moving on to Cook Islands. We sailed there over night from our last atoll, Maupiti, and enjoyed an easy sail.
We arrived in the morning, and were curious to see the infamous pass going in to the atoll. Several boats have missed this pass and sunk on the way in, which we witnessed as we dove the pass a few days later. The pass is very narrow, and ends up in a very shallow part where there is a bommie (shallow coral head) in the middle.
The captain had to choose which side to pass the bommie. We saw 0.9m under our keel, and the water was so clear that it looked like we would certainly hit something… A little nerve wrecking, but we got in all right!
There used to be 25 people living in Maupiha’a, most of them living off pearl or coconut (copra) farming. However, now there are only 6 people left who call it their home. Half of them were not on the island when we were there. There is no regular supply ship visiting this island, so the population is dependent on cruisers bringing them as well as goods back and forth to the other nearby Society islands. Therefore, there is a very good connection between the cruising community and the locals here.
We were immediately greeted by Marcello and Adrienne, a couple living on the northern side of the atoll. They are very used to mingling with cruisers, and invited us open heartedly into their home.
They took us hunting for coconut crabs, hosted a dinner with the other five boats who were there as well, and showed us where to spear fish. They were so warm and welcoming and really wanted us to enjoy Maupiha’a as mush as possible.
We further enjoyed our time on the northern side of the atoll by diving the pass three days in a row. We enjoyed some rather exhilarating dives, which had a little too much current for the admiral’s comfort two of the days. We flew through the pass, and ended up diving a beautiful wall on the outside of the pass. We also found a spot just on the corner of the pass where we saw at least 50 baby Blacktip sharks, who were there at every dive.
We also found the wreck from the German warship from WWII, which landed on the reef here. They were stranded here for several months, before some of them were able to build a boat, and sail to one of the other islands to get help to rescue the rest.
After a few days, we moved to the anchorage in the southern part of the atoll. Normally, there is a lady living there, however she was not present at this time. We enjoyed a very quiet and beautiful anchorage, in turquoise waters and explored our immediate surroundings.
The last day before one of the other boats, SY Adiona, left, we had a beach party where we gathered in the shallows.
The following day, we hosted a dinner onboard Noxoma with the two remaining boats, SY Pelagic Life and SY Pisces. The captain made an awesome long roasted steak, with a medley of cauliflower, green beans, mushroom and bacon. As we haven’t had access to fresh food for a few weeks, the guests were amazed we had any vegetables to serve. We all enjoyed the last veggies we will see for a while, as our next 2-3 stops will be remote as well.
The last night, we lit a bonfire on the beach, and enjoyed the last sunset in French Polynesia.
After it got dark, we went hunting for coconut crabs, to provide some food for the passage ahead. We did not even need to put out bait, we could just pick as many as we wanted, as they were everywhere. The largest crabs we have ever seen any place! We kept swapping the ones we had captured with even bigger ones.
After about 45 minutes, we were happy with our three crabs, and walked back to our dinghy on the beach. We counted no less than seven crabs just sitting on the path as we worked our way back. This was definitely a hunter’s dream location, and the captain was very happy with the night’s catch! The three crabs we got fed us for three dinners on the following passage.
We have spent one year in French Polynesia, and we have truly had a wonderful time. We have been amazed over how vast this country is. Compared to Europe, it is the same size in terms of its geographical reach.
The difference between the regions of French Polynesia has surprised us. We have visited four of the five archipelagos here; the Marquesas, Tuamotus, Gambier and Society’s islands. We have not been to the Austral islands, which is the last one. These islands do not share the same mother tongue, and the culture differs quite a bit between the different archipelagos.
We leave this huge country feeling very lucky that we have been able to stay here for one year. We have so many different experiences and have met many lovely people here. We have practiced our French as well as our Polynesian, and we leave this country with many impressions which will take us a long time to digest.
Thank you for having us, FP!
