Les Isles Marquises
- Impressions of the Marquesas in French Polynesia -
Nuku Hiva, Ua Pou

Looking to the southeast in Anaho Bay

One of our big surprises in the South Pacific was the frequently lousy weather.
The awesome scenery was often shrouded in clouds and rain that lasted days or weeks
at a time when the South Pacific Convergence Zone would pay a leisurely visit.
We often found our stays in places signficantly extended when we waited
for "better weather" to arrive for our next sail.

One guide book mentioned a "large variety of enormous sharks" when describing Tahiohae Bay
in Nuku Hiva, and that mention could be extended to cover most areas of the South Pacific.
For people like us from the Caribbean, where it's very rare to see a shark,
the shark population out here is a bit daunting when contemplating a swim.
For the first time ever, we saw three huge hammerhead sharks accompanying us,
right under Naga's bows, as we sailed into Tahiohae.

Ah, and then there are the Marquesas' notorious No No Flies that are encountered near
most sources of water - where, of course, we all like to hang out!
They are aggressive to say the least, and their nasty bites can infect
and cause very uncomfortable and unsightly problems.

It's a mixed bag in this wonderous zone. But, in the end, the Marquesas
is still one of our most favorite places anywhere!

Look at this fish!

It's amazing what can come out of the water just a couple of miles from town -
when the waters are not over-fished! This merou, or grouper, was perfectly typical
of the monsters fished from just outside of Taiohae in Nuku Hiva.