Nuku Hiva and different islands of the Marquesas are very completely different completely different experiences from the long-lasting French Polynesian trip. There’s no turquoise waters or lagoons, it’s extra of a volcanic distant island with a tiny windy street.
Situated 1500 km from Tahiti, it’s one of the vital distant islands on the earth. That is the place one of many Survivor seasons was filmed.
Sarcastically, we determined to enterprise there with a 6 month previous child and a barely 2 12 months previous toddler. It was probably the most fantastic distinctive expertise for all of us.
How We Ended Up in Niku Hiva with a Child and Toddler
I admit, visiting Nuku Hiva or Marquesas wasn’t initially the plan. I had my dream journey to Moorea and Bora Bora deliberate that we deliberate on bringing our toddler on, however then 2020 occurred and the journey acquired canceled.
A 12 months later, now with one other child and toddler in tow, we rebooked the journey as I deliberate my excellent birthday getaway. It’s protected to say that issues didn’t go as deliberate this time both. French Polynesia was absolutely opened by then and everybody was having fun with their holidays… till the day we acquired on the airplane we discovered that it re-closed once more.
Vacationers have been nonetheless allowed to come back in, therefore why they allow us to fly (or I ought to say pressured to, because the refund choice arrived a day after our flight), however we weren’t allowed to depart the resort premises. To the prolong that we couldn’t even swim out to the reef, as a result of it was exterior of the resort zone.
We didn’t wish to waste our time and maintain spending cash to be locked in a resort, so after 20 hours in Moorea we turned again and flew again residence.
I used to be about to surrender on my dream journey simply but, so I rebooked it for a number of months later. However, because the date of the journey approached I didn’t wish to expertise one other “can’t go away the resort” sort of journey. I started to analysis our choices and… that is how I found Marquesas.
Marquesas has by no means locked down, as a result of the 100% of the inhabitants acquired vaccinated. Being situated so remotely, the 3000 individuals of Nuku Hiva understood the significance of it.
The best way to Get to Nuku Hiva
Nuku Hiva is the most important island in The Marquesas, that are a gaggle of islands in French Polynesia. Nuku Hiva is situated within the northwest of this island group and about 3.5 hours away from Tahiti on a propeller airplane.
The flights to/from Nuku Hiva aren’t low-cost and don’t function each day, so it’s not shocking that almost all of little or no vacationers who go to come on a sailboat or Pacific cruise.
There’s additionally a Tahiti Air Move that works for each islands – Nuku Hiva and Hiva Oa, but it surely’s separate from every other islands and nonetheless pricy.
Clearly, we have been the one crazies with kids on the airplane, however I used to be instructed that very sometimes they get French vacationers with older youngsters visiting.
The place to Keep in Nuku Hiva
There aren’t many selections in Nuku Hiva because the island is inhabited by solely 3000 individuals. There are a number of native stays, however just one resort – the one resort Le Nuku Hiva by Pearl Resorts.
After discovering that you simply principally must e-book each day ventures and excursions from the place you keep, as there aren’t any rental automobiles, the selection was easy (we later discovered you can lease an area automobile, however with out web you received’t actually know the place you’re going). We determined to remain on the resort, as that they had no restrictions on kids they usually even had an infinity pool.
The airport pick-up was organized for us and it took us 1.5 hours to get tot the opposite aspect of the island the place the resort was situated. We arrived with a number of different incoming visitors, so all of us needed to squeeze into one van. I used to be dreading having to carry the infant once more after the flight, however think about my shock once they really supplied us with a automobile seat.
How Distant is Nuku Hiva?
There’s just one fuel station on the island proper by the airport, however everybody just about lives on the opposite aspect of the island, behind the mountains. In the event that they drive to get fuel they’ll use half of the tank already which defeats the aim.
As a substitute, locals are using to the airport on a horse to get fuel into small barrels to carry again to their automobiles. We noticed a lot of them, typically with their toddlers using with them – which impressed me to enroll my very own son for early horseriding classes.
Web is sporadic, with solely 2G community, however the resort had some within the widespread space. There’s a bit of hospital, small retailers and market, and primary main college. To attend older grades locals should journey to Tahiti and attend a boarding highschool.
What Can You Do in Nuku Hiva?
When you received’t discover white sand seashores, the island is really unspoiled. It’s an island identified for mountain climbing with the principle level being a hike to Vaipō waterfall within the historical village of Hakaui.
It was a protracted hike, with a further boat trip, so we opted towards doing it as a result of we didn’t suppose the youngsters would make it.
As a substitute, we embraced experiencing native tradition. We spent the day hanging out within the native village of Nuku Hiva’s essential harbor, chatting with villagers and attending to know the tales behind quite a few Tiki statues across the island.
Looming over Taiohae Bay, not too removed from the resort, is a 40-foot-tall Tiki statue that we additionally visited. It’s the very best up to date sculpture within the Pacific. There are quite a few archeological websites on the island and you may be taught in regards to the island of Polynesian tradition. That is one thing you’ll by no means expertise in Moorea or Bora Bora.
One other day, we hopped on a jeep and together with another visitors did a full-day tour of the island filled with viewpoints and shorter hikes. My husband and the infant rode contained in the automobile, however my toddler was having a blast in an open-air automobile.
Our information from the resort, William, made the whole lot attention-grabbing for our son and engaged him in quite a few kid-friendly actions. After we had lunch, we have been instructed to not fear about ending our beneficiant parts of fish and veggies. William took our plate and began dumping it into the shallow stream by the restaurant.
Inside a number of seconds the little stream acquired invaded by a loopy quantity of eels, preventing for our leftovers. We have been all mesmerized.
We noticed historical petroglyphs and new tikis which were constructed within the twenty first century for numerous cultural festivals. We stopped at a serene seashore for some swimming.
Nuku Hiva with Children
As a distant place, it wasn’t probably the most baby-friendly or kids-friendly spot, but it surely wasn’t unfriendly both. Each of our youngsters have been handled usually wherever.
We had our personal bungalow with a terrace and the employees kindly introduced us dinner to the room, as a result of the youngsters have been exhausted after an entire day and didn’t wish to drag them to a restaurant. Whereas the meals was easy, the toddler discovered some pizza or fried fish and the infant munched on some fundamentals (he was solely starting to experiment with solids).
We introduced sufficient diapers and system, however I used to be instructed that there have been some diapers accessible on the town if we ran out.
Actually, the one drawback we encountered was mosquitos. Regardless of bug nets over the beds and loads of insect repellent, our toddler acquired completely attacked by mosquitos and so did I, however my husband and child acquired spared.
We discovered later that our toddler is barely allergic to mosquito bites they usually love him wherever we acquired, however this was in all probability probably the most I’ve ever seen in my life.
