Tikehau

Tikehau is an oval atoll in the western Tuamotu, about twenty-seven kilometres long and nineteen wide, with a single pass and a village on the southern rim. Its beaches have a pink cast from crushed coral and shell mixed into the sand. A Cousteau survey in the 1980s reported the lagoon as exceptionally rich in fish, and it still supports commercial fishing that supplies Tahiti. Bird Island in the lagoon holds nesting colonies. The village of Tuherahera occupies the southern rim with the airstrip beside it, and the rest of the ring is uninhabited motu with a handful of pensions scattered along it.

History

The first recorded European visitor was the Russian navigator Otto von Kotzebue, who named the atoll Krusenstern Island after the explorer Adam Johann von Krusenstern, and the Wilkes Expedition passed on 9 September 1839. In 1987 Jacques Cousteau's research group studied the lagoon and found it held a greater variety of fish species than any other place in French Polynesia; the name Tikehau means peaceful landing in Tuamotuan (Wikipedia, Tikehau).

What's there

• The pink sand - beaches tinted by crushed coral and shell.
• The lagoon fishery - the fish that supply Tahiti from this atoll.
• Bird Island - the motu in the lagoon with nesting seabird colonies.
• The pass - the single opening where the lagoon meets the ocean.

When to go

May to October is the dry season. Cyclone season runs November to April. Flights are limited and should be booked ahead.

Before you go

Facilities are limited to a handful of pensions and one resort. Flights are infrequent and expensive. There is very little to do beyond the water.

Nearby

Rangiroa is east, and Mataiva is west.

Key facts