A family that takes care of everything

Pension Kena Family is much more than just accommodation — it's a total immersion in Marquesan life. They pick you up at the airport in their pick-up truck, stop at the most beautiful viewpoints along the way, and organise all the island's excursions. Everything is arranged on the spot, simply, on Marquesan time.

What we particularly loved, compared with other guesthouses where travellers eat more or less on their own: here, you eat with the whole family, morning and evening, every day. Truly exceptional moments of sharing.

A real mountain road

The airport is on the opposite side of the island. To reach the main village, Taiohae, where all the family guesthouses are, allow about 1h30 by road. It's a road that feels like an Alpine mountain pass: in good weather, no problem; when it rains, it isn't dangerous, but you need to be used to mountain driving.

Our advice: let your guesthouse pick you up in their pick-up truck. They're used to it, they stop at the best viewpoints and explain everything along the way. It's much nicer than a rental car for discovering the island.

The Marquesan soul on the waterfront

You always arrive in Nuku Hiva via the great bay of Taiohae, a majestic curve where the mountains plunge into the ocean. The capital of the Marquesas is nothing like a city — it's a village stretched along the waterfront, livened up by a few guesthouses, food trucks and the smiles of the locals. You stroll along the pier and watch the outrigger canoes and sailboats at anchor.

Notre-Dame Cathedral is well worth a visit — built with stones from every island in the archipelago, it houses impressive wooden sculptures. Tiki stand guard at the entrance. The craft market is another essential stop: remarkably fine woodcarvings, bone jewellery and hand-decorated tapa. At the end of the day, the food trucks set up facing the sunset — raw fish in coconut milk, roasted goat, grilled skewers.

But the real highlight is the fishermen's pier at around 5:30-6am, when the fishermen come back in. It's mostly yellowfin tuna, ultra fresh, sold on the spot for 500 francs a kilo (about €4) — unbeatable. The fishermen often let you taste the tuna heart or liver. Right next door there's a small café where you can chat with the locals, who are adorable and fill you in on the village gossip over coffee, pains au chocolat or Nutella crêpes.

Two ways to get there

Vaipo Waterfall, 350 metres high, is the tallest waterfall in all of French Polynesia. It's a must in Nuku Hiva and takes a full day. You have two options:

Option 1 — From above, by pick-up. This is what we did with Kena Family, included in their excursions. The track is in a state that requires a real driver: don't attempt it in a rental car, or you'll have to park very early and walk a long way. The bonus with this option: as well as the waterfall, you reach a second spot by 4x4, right at the top of one of Nuku Hiva's peaks, with an exceptional view over the whole landscape.

Option 2 — From below, by canoe. You leave Taiohae by sea to Hakatea Bay — already a grandiose setting with its vertiginous cliffs. The hike crosses the Hakaui Valley: traditional gardens of banana trees and taro, remains of paepae (ancient stone platforms), petroglyphs carved into the rock, and immense banyan trees whose roots form natural cathedrals.

Either way, at the foot of the waterfall, silence falls naturally. Your eyes are drawn upwards, hypnotised by this curtain of water bursting from the mountain.

Meadows, pine trees and bays as far as the eye can see

Nuku Hiva hides an unexpected side: the Toovii Plateau, at over 800 metres altitude. Pine forests, vast green meadows, cooler air — an almost pastoral setting that surprises after the tropical valleys. We did it on our own: allow a good 5 to 6 hours return, enough to fill a day. At the top, you look down over Hatiheu Bay and Anaho Bay. Magnificent — do it if you can.

All over the plateau, and in fact all over the island, you come across semi-wild horses: they belong to locals but live free along the roads, right up to the guesthouses. You can stop to photograph them, it's pretty amazing. If you prefer a shorter version, Kena Family also organises a 2-hour hike from the plateau down to Aakapa village.

The great Marquesan circuit

This is the excursion that reveals the soul of Nuku Hiva. Early morning departure from Taiohae by 4x4. You drive through Hooumi, then Taipivai — the valley where Herman Melville once stayed. Stop at the craft centre and the Te Aìtua site, steeped in history.

The road continues to Hatiheu, one of the most striking landscapes in the Marquesas, with its basalt spires rising skyward like immense black teeth. The surroundings shelter the island's greatest archaeological sites: Paepae Paeke, a vast stone platform surrounded by tiki, and Kamuihei, dominated by a huge banyan with sprawling roots and its mysterious petroglyphs. A lunch stop at Yvonne's is a must: raw fish in coconut milk, roasted goat or breadfruit baked in the traditional oven. Then the viewpoints of Aakapa, where your gaze plunges down sheer cliffs to the ocean crashing below.

We did the whole circuit with Miano. He told us about his life, what his grandfather had passed on to him, family legends, clan wars, the cannibal era, the arrival of the Europeans. Those piles of stones suddenly become homes, places of celebration, meeting places for warriors. It's full of history.

Breathtaking. Simply exceptional.

Anaho Bay is, in our view, the most beautiful spot in Nuku Hiva. Unlike most Marquesan coastlines, which are steep and dark, Anaho hides one of the archipelago's rare white sand beaches — sheltered, peaceful, almost unreal. There's a small snack bar on site where the food is excellent.

The best way to do it is a loop rather than a return trip: walk in on a trail that crosses the mountain, with splendid views over the northern bays, then return by boat, about twenty minutes, to another bay from where it's easier to get back. During the boat ride we were lucky enough to see five manta rays — and you can also spot turtles.

What makes this day unique is also the people who bring it to life. Priscille, Nelson and Korail shared nothing but joy with us — their culture, their smiles, their natural generosity.

The best sunset spots

For a sunset over Taiohae Bay, take the Sentinels walk, to the left of the main village: you pass the small helipad used for medical evacuations, keep going a little further, and reach a lovely viewpoint over the whole bay. Another option: the hike to the top of Colette Bay, with another superb view. There are also several nice little bars with very pretty views.

Our favourite sunset spot is the Nuku Hiva Pearl Lodge, the island's upscale hotel. A magnificent view over the bay, va'a outrigger canoes paddling past in the evening in incredible colours, and a happy hour every day from 5 to 7pm. You can also have dinner there even if you're not staying at the hotel.

The Wednesday evening Marquesan show

On Wednesdays at 7pm, the Pearl Lodge puts on a Marquesan dance show — very different from the Tahitian dance of the other archipelagos. There's the pig dance, a war chant performed by the men imitating wild boars: when 5 or 6 tattooed warriors adorned with bones do it right in front of you, it's impressive. And the bird dance, purely Marquesan, elegant and full of seduction. That alone makes it worth going for a drink.

Goat hunting with Nelson

It was one of the most memorable experiences of our stay. Goat hunting is very popular with locals, and few travellers ever try it. We set off with Nelson and his friend Alain, two outstanding hunters, up the mountainside, off the hiking trails, staying hidden to approach the goats. They shot a small billy goat of around twenty kilos, which they prepared on the spot — we lit a fire and cooked the heart and liver — before carrying everything neatly back to the guesthouse. That evening: goat with coconut and curry. Exceptional.

Going fishing with local fishermen

At Taiohae pier, you can ask the fishermen directly if you can go out to sea with them. You'll need to arrange it with them, but allow around 5,000 to 6,000 francs (about €50). Two time slots: leaving at 3am and back around 5:30-6am, or going out from 4pm until nightfall, back around 6-7pm. When the sea is perfectly calm, with no waves at all, there's also lobster fishing — physical, but an experience worth having.

Nuku Hiva, land of horses

With all these horses roaming free, it's hard to leave without getting in the saddle. Rides are generally done at a walk, so they're fairly calm: perfect for beginners. If you're an experienced rider, it will probably feel a bit tame — my sister, who rode for many years, found it very gentle.

That said, Nelson brought his own horse, and we were able to gallop on the beach, the horse in the water, in an incredible setting. A crazy experience. As someone who doesn't ride at all, I wasn't entirely reassured, but it was really fun.

Getting tattooed in the Marquesas

Marquesans are the tattoo specialists of Polynesia. In Nuku Hiva there are 4 or 5 highly renowned tattoo artists, and it's much cheaper than with a Marquesan tattoo artist based in Tahiti. Here, you don't really choose your design in advance: you talk about what you love, what resonates with you, the meanings you want to give it — and the artist proposes a design in which every motif has a symbolic value. My sister got one: beautiful.

Tiki, tapa and bone jewellery

In the Marquesas, crafts are not a tourist souvenir — they are a living cultural expression, and this is where they are made. Woodcarvings in tou or miro wood depict tiki, paddles and everyday objects enhanced with traditional motifs. Tapa — a plant cloth made from beaten bark — retains strong symbolic value. Bone, seed and shell jewellery echoes the motifs of Marquesan tattooing. If you want to bring back tiki, carvings or stone engravings, the Marquesas are the place to buy them.

You can also take dance classes with your guesthouse or small local troupes to learn the bird dance.

Beautiful beaches, but a raw ocean

Nuku Hiva has some very beautiful beaches, with white sand like at Anaho, or black sand. But be careful: without a lagoon, there's no natural barrier. You can get big swell, big waves and big marine species. Don't swim too far from the shore.

Unique marine life, but unpredictable visibility

The reference dive centre in Nuku Hiva is Nuku Dive. Sheltered from the prevailing wind, the dive sites are in the south of the island. With no reef barrier, Nuku Hiva offers varied topography: walls, seamounts, rocky rubble, caves. Marquesan marine life is very different from the rest of Polynesia — with the reef manta ray and the scalloped hammerhead shark as the stars. The different habitats also shelter many fish species (grouper, jack, tuna, barracuda, fusilier, moray eel, pipefish), crustaceans (lobster, shrimp, sea urchins), octopus and nudibranchs.

For non-divers, snorkelling at Anaho Bay is already lovely — calm water, colourful fish and curious turtles.

An island at the end of the world where there's everything

Start with the small morning market, very pleasant. What strikes you in Nuku Hiva is the agriculture: fish, meat, lots of fruit and vegetables, breadfruit trees everywhere. Marquesans are incredibly resourceful — they work wood, build their own houses, and you really feel they could live self-sufficiently. It's quite impressive.

Then take a walk around the main village, quickly done but with some nice buildings, like the town hall. The small prison is rather unusual: five little cells, and inmates serving time for minor offences who go out into the garden with no fence — the only rule is not to go past the mango tree. Just like the island: very zen. At weekends there can also be village festivals, ideal to soak up the local atmosphere.

For shopping, the craft centres show you how jewellery and tiki are made. And little old ladies sell delicious local vanilla: we found it at 6 pods for 1,500 francs (€12-13), really cheap for Tahitian vanilla. There's also local honey. Here, you buy directly from the producers, with no middlemen.