Motutunga Anchorage

17° 3.7′ S · 144° 24.3′ W · approximate

Not a lagoon anchorage but a tie-up at a small coral jetty inside Motutunga's NW channel. A blind dead-end pass, like a smaller Anse Amyot, on an uninhabited atoll 20 nm ESE of Tahanea.

Tuamotus Marquesas

Practical

Coordinate is Hildegard Hansen's 2016 GPS for the channel; the jetty lies a short way inside it, so treat the point as approximate for the berth. Chugach (Aug 2020): the jetty is 15 m long, parallel to the pass, and partly collapsed at its inner end. Near the quay there is about 1.8 m, and about 3 m under the centre of the boat at rudder level. The two bollards are weak and nearby trees are badly placed for lines. They tied a rope across the pass so the steady current held the boat off the jetty, and suggest an extra anchor out ahead in the shallows in strong weather. Probably room for one boat only. Anchoring mid-channel in 15 m of hard sand and rock is possible but risks trapping the anchor in side coral in current. Hildegard (2016) found a 10 m coral wharf on the E side with 4-7 m alongside, island-style concrete bollards and tyres as fenders. Near the wharf the current almost slackens, sometimes with a weak counter-current; a coral head on the W reef takes a long line to hold you off. Water: two cisterns, one on each motu across the pass; in 2020 only the jetty-side one had water, not drinkable unless boiled, fine for laundry. Ashore are plywood copra houses used seasonally, coconut crabs on the west motu (Hildegard 2016; take few or none, as Pitufa asks of cruisers on nearby Tahanea) and good snorkeling.

Motutunga Anchorage

Practical

Best for

Season

Nearby