Beach· Ua Huka· French Polynesia: Tuamotus, Marquesas, Gambier & Australs
Manihina Beach (Ua Huka)
8° 56.4′ S · 139° 33.9′ W · approximate
A wild cove of big grey boulders and patches of pale grey sand just east of the Vaipaee entrance, below the airstrip. Cliffs on one side and a basalt buttress on the other shelter it, and Lonely Planet rates its snorkelling and freediving highly.
Practical
Coordinate approximate: OpenStreetMap's label for Manihinatahuna bay (node 3207827271), about 0.6 nm east of the Vaipaee entrance and just south of Ua Huka Airport. Treat it as a reference point, not an anchorage. Lonely Planet: near the aerodrome, reached by a dirt track. The shore is mostly large pebbles with some grey sand patches overgrown with short grass. It is sheltered by cliffs on the left and a basalt buttress on the right. Nono (biting sand flies) can spoil a visit, so bring repellent. From a boat in Vaipaee, the practical way in is on foot or by car along the airport road. The coast here is open to the south, like all of Ua Huka's south shore, so a dinghy landing on the boulders is only realistic in calm, northerly conditions. This stretch of coast lies inside the 2020 no-fishing zone from Motu Papa east to Hane Bay (see Ua Huka Fishing Restriction Zone): no spearfishing.
Best for
A wild snorkel and freedive near Vaipaee
Season
Calm, northerly spells only; skip in any S-SE swell
Nearby
- Manihina Cove Snorkel (Ua Huka)0.1 NM away
- Ua Huka Fuel (Truck to the Vaipaee Quay)0.4 NM away
- Ua Huka South-Swell Season0.4 NM away
- Vaipaee Community Hall Saturday Lunch0.4 NM away
- Vaipaee Quay Water Tap0.4 NM away
- Vaipaee Bay Anchorage (Baie Invisible, Ua Huka)0.5 NM away
- Ua Huka Airport (UAH)0.7 NM away
- Magasin Brown Areni (Vaipaee)0.8 NM away