10 Nights Papeete to Papeete

This extensive star Flyer voyage explores all three archipelagos, the Society Islands, the Tuamoto Atolls and the Marquesas. Miles and miles away from any land mass, the Marquesas are an unlikely place to find the origins of Polynesian culture, but these shark toothed islands cut by cascading waters and lush valleys where wild horses play and where it all began. Nuku Hiva, 1400 km from Tahiti, was home to Robert Louis Stevenson, and Herman Melville based his novel Typee here. The island sprouts a unique twin caldera, one inside the other. The dauntingly steep slopes hide idyllic valleys populated by small farms and villages where vanilla orchids bloom. Archaeologists believe the royal ruins in the Hakauii Valley point to one of the first settlements of the ancient Polynesians. In Atuana on Hiva Oa, the vine entwined graves of Paul Gauguin and Jacques Brel overlook Taaoa and Tahauku Bay, favorite anchorages for visiting yachts. Fatu Hiva is the remotest island in the Marquesas. It may be the most authentic. Known for its superb Polynesian arts, you may see craftsmen at work whose bodies bear the swirling designs of traditional Marquesan tatoos.