We arrive in Maupiti the old fashioned way: the catamaran’s sails up, passing the island’s famous (and often infamous 😯) pass. The pass is so incredibly narrow and fraught with dangerous rocks close to the surface, that you can only access the pass if the swell is in your favour. We get lucky – Papa has been talking about going to Maupiti for weeks now -, and so we leave Bora-Bora swiftly to take advantage of the conditions. The 6 hour ride is not too bumpy, after all, we are going with the flow. The gorgeous silhouette of the island appears – Gérard tells me that Maupiti is known as the perfect artist sketch seen from the water, with its imposing rock, the green hills and the incredible colours of the lagoon. I see why! Getting through the pass is quite an adventure in itself and requires Gérard’s full attention. Half an hour later, we anchor in front of Mt Teurufaatiu and plunge right into the turquoise waters.
On our first day, we just walk around the village which is cute, but mostly, we spend our time in the beautiful water. Oh – and Nilay FINALLY loses his first tooth!! Which takes up a lot of his time, because he prepares the most beautiful bricolage for his tooth fairy. On day 2 we want to do the famous walk up Mt Teurufaatiu which is known to have the most spectacular views. I grumble quite a bit – it is super hot, but mostly, it is soooooooo humid. Mama says it’s at least 90% humidity. Which attracts my biggest nemesis: mosquitoes. We clamber up the mountain, involving steep rocks, ropes and a few slips but the views are, indeed, worth it. We can see all around, almost 360 degrees, and it is fun to see our big, now seemingly tiny, catamaran down in the bay. The following day we explore the motus, and decide to rent some bicycles to go around the full island which is small enough to do in a couple of hours. The bikes are rusty, but do the job. We ride to the beach, with Mama stopping to stock up on Maupiti’s luscious fruits and, being her, it is of course, more than we can carry with kilos of mangoes, grapefruit, and papayas. The lady from the small kiosk gifts her a whole banana stem for the boat. Once at the beach, we walk across to Motu Auira for some snorkelling – the water is only waist high, but it is still nearly an hour walk! We can’t do the full tour, so we cross the “Route Traversière” that cuts through the island, over and down the mountain. We struggle up the hill, collecting more mangoes on the way which grow in abundance here (between what we find and what Mama already bought, I guess we will live on mangoes for the next few weeks). Once at the top, Mama encourages me to ride down the very steep hill and not to push. I am not super comfortable with the idea, but I go with it. I jump on, the bike accelerates quickly and when I try to break with the retro pedal, it just doesn’t react, seemingly no matter how hard I push! In a panic I let go of the pedals altogether, now rushing down the steep, winding road, screaming. Papa sees me coming at him like a maniac, and, in despair, just jumps in front of me, sending us tumbling down. Bruised and scratched, in a bed of smooshed mangoes, we collect ourselves up, sore but luckily mostly intact, which, without a helmet no less, was not a given. We make it down the rest of the hill ON FOOT (@Mama) and back to the port. We collect the fruit, including balancing the full stem of bananas and head back on the – much safer – boat.
It is soon time for us to head back – as the swell has to be favourable to get in, so it does to be able to get out. So, after 5 wonderful days and with a delighted Papa, we head out back to Bora Bora.
History
Maupiti was first discovered by Jacob Roggeveen in 1722, along with Bora-Bora, Makatea and Rapa Nui (Easter Island 🗿). He was also the first European to be on all of them.
Fun Facts
- Maupiti is the westernmost volcanic high island in the archipelago.
- In 2007, Maupiti’s population was 1200 people.
- Maupiti is composed of three main”parts”: Maupiti Island itself, Motu Auira, and Motu Tuanui