Heaven must be Fatu Hiva

Fatu Hiva takes the prize for most beautiful island I’ve ever visited. It literally took my breath away.

The most southern island in the Marquesas Islands is dominated by rugged basalt calderas, mountain rainforests, steep cliffs and peaks rising over 1000m. It’s home to just 600 residents, who live in two villages—Omoa to the south and Hanavave to the north.

The island has no airstrip and is only accessible via boat, which has preserved it from the impact of mass tourism.

We anchored in the stunning Bay of Virgins and started the day with a zodiac cruise. Each new cove brought another gasp of amazement at the incredible vistas.

The verdant cliffs felt like something from ancient times. I half expected a brontosaurus to pop its head up from the jungle at any moment.

Just when I thought the morning couldn’t get more wonderful, word crackled over the zodiac driver’s walkie-talkie that a pod of spinner dolphins had been spotted in the next cove. The driver put the engine in high gear and powered over to the action.

The dolphins were excited to see us and frolicked around the zodiac, swimming under and around it, then leaping into the air to perform a few of their favourite twirls. They stayed with us for around 10 minutes and I could have floated there forever watching them play.

But all too soon it was time to head to the wharf at Hanavave, where we wandered through the lovely little village before arriving at the local hall for a cultural performance.

I noticed once of the dancers had a little girl with a swollen eye. The expedition crew must have spotted her too and she was whisked to the ship’s doctor for medical attention while we were docked. She wasn’t allowed in the pool after her eye was attended to and bandaged, but she was delighted to dangle her feet in the pool and sip a soft drink while lounging around on the deck.

After lunch we were ferried back to the wharf and taken on the most stunning and terrifying jeep ride over the mountains to Omoa.

My photos don’t do the interior of Fatu Hiva justice, it was literally the most spectacular place I’ve ever been. But negotiating its many hairpin turns was quite something. Some of them required three-point turns to negotiate, with the jeep reversing perilously close to the edge of cliffs!

Omoa wasn’t quite as pretty as Hanavave, but we were excited to purchase a few local handicrafts there—the island is famed for its traditional hand-beaten paper cloth designs. We chose two tapa pieces featuring a small turtle and a tiki as momentos of our trip.

Then it was back over the mountains again to Hanavave (below) on the hairpin-filled roads. It was a huge day, but possibly my favourites of the holiday!