Anyone precruised in the Marquesas?

[ezcheezy]

We want to plan a precruise and hear a lot about Huahine but not too much on the Marquesas. I've heard the snorkling is not as good there but what about everything else? Thanks for any information!

[K.C.]

Last Oct. my hubby and I wanted a pre or post P.G. cruise destination that would be completely different from what we would experience on the ship. At that time, Huahine was not being offered, so we decided to brave it and go to the Marquesas. It was one of the best decisions we have ever made regarding our travels. In fact, the other day I was putting a few of our favourite pictures of our trip to Tahiti aside to take to show to relatives we will see at a wedding, and half of them are from the Marquesas. We were so impressed during the time we spent there, that we both started to worry that the cruise on the P.G. might be a "let-down" - of course it wasn't, both parts of our vacations were equally enjoyable, but in different ways.

 

In short the flight over from Papeete was enjoyable, the 4 wheel drive drive to our hotel was a 2 hour incredible adventure; the Keikahanui Pearl Lodge was magical (we stayed in a beautiful bungalow, wonderfully decorated by local artists...had wonderful dinners at the hotel restaurant, on the patio by the pool, overlooking the ocean, very romantic!...with friendly, helpful staff...one of our best hotel experiences ever!); a day tour over to Hatiheu arranged by the hotel, with local guide Jon Pierre (an amazing guide, and a warm and intelligent man, very passionate about his island) was fabulous!

 

I guess you can tell we REALLY LOVED our time at Nuku Hive, and would highly recommend it. One of the brochures I picked up describes the beauty of Nuku Hiva as "mysterious and spectacular", and that about sums it up.

 

If you have any questions, I would be happy to try to answer them for you.

 

K.C.

[Ngaire]

This is the information I have from our trip to the Marquesas, Nuku Hiva was a port of call but we did spend the night there and fly home from Nuku Hiva. We did not have time to complete the whole trip and had done the Society Islands part before.

 

Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands

 

The population on Nuku Hiva is 2500 with 3 major towns. The entire Marquesas island population is around 8000 people so this is the major island of the Marquesas.

 

Taihoe

When you arrive in the Bay of Taiohae it is like civilization again after the tiny ports of the previous Marquesas Islands. The Bay has houses and buildings all around although well scattered. It is a picture post card bay. The tender ride in is fairly short. A nice pier where the people greet the ladies with the traditional flower lei and the men with beads. A group is singing on the dock and all the little children are lined up for the adventure of the day. Smiling and waving. The wooden handicrafts are again on display. They were more expensive here by the way the best values were in Fatu Hiva in Omoa although smaller selection or in Ua Huka on the tour of tiny town Hane where you visit two different stores.

 

From the pier it is a short 15-minute walk along the waterfront to the main town of Nuku Hiva. When we were walking the waterfront there were boys on their horses on the beach front, small children playing it was really very delightful. The main attraction is the Notre Dame Cathedral. This is truly a surprisingly modern and very attractive complex. As you walk up it looks like a castle entrance with turrets on each side. Once inside the courtyard you see a statue straight ahead on the hill, smaller buildings with beautiful wood carvings and then the major Cathedral. This is a LARGE church, with a wood ceiling and wooden sculptures are on all the walls. It is open air and exotic flowers all over the place. The pulpit is an incredible carved piece of wood. This is surprising in the workmanship and the size. We were there on a Sunday and saw the service with the ladies all dressed up in long dresses with straw hats covered with flowers singing hymns. It was quite a sight.

 

The main tour here is to see the Taipivai Valley. Extremely lush and tropical the drive offers breathtaking views along the way. This is of course where the famous writer Herman Melville hid out in the 1800’s and wrote the novel Typee.

 

Also the road to the airport through the interior of the island offers similar spectacular views. This island is very diverse with lush tropical vegetation, high mountain type vegetation with pines trees and on the other side very barren rock like areas. Truly a beautiful island.

 

Helicopter Flightseeing is also available. I did not do this but those that did said it was breathtaking and I am sure it was.

 

The Pearl Lodge offers a wonderful view of the bay and is a nice place to have a cool drink and soak in the beauty of the bay. They told me about a guide named Jon Peirre who is supposed to be truly excellent. He is a local, speaks excellent English and knows the history of the Marquesas and can impart his knowledge well and has a great personality. You can arrange for him and there are also two other guides they recommend by emailing the hotel prior to arrival and making arrangements. The email address is rose.corser@mail.pf She runs the hotel and arranges a lot of tours. She is an American. The full day tours are about $120 a person and half days probably around $80. This is about the same price as the ship but you do have the opportunity to control your own destiny and return when you want etc.

[ezcheezy]

Thank you for the information. It sounds like an adventure we would enjoy. Now I have to wait and see if a pre-cruise is offered there when the new brochures come out.