Mataiva

Mataiva is the westernmost of the Tuamotu and its lagoon is unlike any other in the archipelago: coral ridges divide it into around seventy shallow basins, so from the air it reads as a grid rather than an open lagoon, and the name means nine eyes, for the nine channels through the reef. The atoll has one village, a phosphate deposit that has been repeatedly proposed for mining and repeatedly resisted, and very few visitors. The village sits on the western rim beside the main channel, joined to the rest of the atoll by a bridge, and the whole island is walked or cycled in a day.

History

The first recorded European visitor was the Russian admiral Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, on July 30, 1820, with the ships Vostok and Mirni, who named the atoll Lazarev after Mikhail Lazarev. On April 14, 1980 the voyaging canoe Hokule'a, a replica of the ancient vessels that carried Polynesian explorers, made landfall here after 31 days from Hawaii, navigated by Nainoa Thompson without instruments or charts, only by the stars, winds, waves and birds. In the south-east of the main island stands Marae Papiro, built of large blocks of cut coral and linked to a pre-Christian turtle cult, the site of the atoll's main village until 1906 and one of the most important archaeological sites in the Tuamotu; Mataiva Airport opened in 1999 (Wikipedia, Mataiva).

Highlights

• The divided lagoon - around seventy shallow basins separated by coral ridges.
• The nine channels - the openings through the reef the name refers to.
• The single village - Pahua on the western rim.
• The quiet - an atoll with almost no visitors.

When to go

May to October is the dry season. Flights are infrequent and easily disrupted. Cyclone season is November to April.

Practical notes

Flights are few and being stuck is possible. Accommodation is a couple of small pensions. There is essentially nothing laid on for visitors.

Nearby

Tikehau is east, and Rangiroa is beyond it.

Key facts