Ok, if you REALLY want to get away from it all, the island of Huahine in French Polynesia may be your spot. This was the last stop on our Windstar Seven-Day Cruise. Huahine is 86 km (54 miles) southeast of Bora Bora, and to the east of Taha’a and Raiatea.
Left – sailing into Maroe Bay at the island of Huahine early in the morning. Right – passing through the protective reef into Maroe Bay.
Our cruise ship at anchor in Maroe Bay, looking south towards Huahine Iti.
Huahine has a population of about 6,000 and is actually two islands, Huahine Nui (the north island, larger) and Huahine Iti (the south island, smaller), which are connected by a short bridge. Both islands are surrounded by a reef as is common in French Polynesia.
This is a relief map of Huahine, our ship anchored in Maroe Bay in the upper middle of the map, you can see where the island halves nearly touch. You can also see the reef surrounding the island(s), and that there are not many entrances into the lagoon from the sea.
An image of the bridge connecting Huahine Nui and Huahine Iti.
Huahine Nui Tour
Given the quiet nature of this island, we decided to “wing it” for the day and managed to hire a car and driver to take us around Huahine Nui (the north island and where most of the population lives). There wasn’t much of a tour desk (basically a park bench) when we arrived via tender from the cruise ship, but I think there was a number to call, or someone called for us, and we secured a driver. There is one road circling the island.
Below are a few pictures from our morning excursion on Huahine. What a lovely, quiet day in another idyllic spot in French Polynesia.
The town of Fare on Huahine, with a supermarket, ‘taxi’, and lodging.
These are vanilla beans drying. Vanilla is a major cash crop on Huahine, as is the case for several of the French Polynesian islands.
Left – Huahine has a marae (religious site), similar to the one found on Raiatea, but smaller. This marae was likely a local social and worship site. Right – near the marae is a small museum of ancient Polynesian artifacts.
A ancient fish trap on Huahine, the Polynesians would use the tides to pull the fish in the direction of the trap and then it would just be a matter of scooping them up with nets in the stone circle at the far end.
We also stopped at this site, next to a stream with fresh water eels, which are considered sacred to the locals. You can feed them and touch them. In the image on the right, you can see their very blue eyes!
The tour was 2+ hours, and in the afternoon Windstar offered our last water skiing opportunity with their small boat so I went skiing in the bay with a few other passengers. A great way to end seven fun-filled, relaxing days in French Polynesia!
The Independent Tourist 