Eiao and Hatutu Nature Reserves

8° 0.1′ S · 140° 42.2′ W

Since 1992 the whole of Eiao and neighbouring Hatutu have been nature reserves: seabird and endemic-landbird refuges, including the Eiao Marquesan warbler and Iphis monarch on Eiao and the endemic northern Marquesan reed warbler and Marquesan ground dove on Hatutu.

Tuamotus Marquesas

Practical

Coordinate is the Eiao Island Nature Reserve position from Wikipedia. Eiao (about 12 x 4 km, plateau to 576 m) has been badly overgrazed by feral goats, sheep and pigs, so its surviving forest clings to steep gullies; the Eiao monarch went extinct before the reserve was created. Hatutu, about 3 km NE across a 50 m deep channel, rises to 428 m and is the largest Phoenix petrel colony in French Polynesia, with red-footed and masked boobies, black noddies, white terns and great frigatebirds; Polynesian rats are its main threat. Neither article gives landing rules: treat both islands as protected, never bring animals, seeds or rats ashore, and check with the Nuku Hiva authorities before landing. Hatutu's only anchorage is a small-ship spot in the south.

Best for

Seabird watching on a remote expedition

Practical

Best for

Nearby