Taiohae Bay looks like a crater open to the ocean. Green ridges plunge into dark water, horses graze freely by the roadside, and no reef protects the shore: the Marquesas have no lagoons. The ship drops anchor in the middle of this amphitheatre, and the tender drops passengers on a small concrete pier, right in the main village of Nuku Hiva, the largest island in the archipelago.

A village set by the water

Taiohae stretches along its cove for a few kilometres. From the pier, everything can be explored on foot: the waterfront, the administrative buildings, a few shops and a craft market where sculptors display their pieces in rosewood, bone or volcanic stone. Marquesan art is also expressed on the skin; the archipelago remains one of the cradles of Polynesian tattooing, and the motifs you glimpse on the forearms of residents tell of entire lineages.

The cathedral and the shoreline tikis

Walking west, the Cathedral of Notre-Dame des Marquises deserves a long stop. Its walls combine stone from several islands in the archipelago, and its interior gathers wooden sculptures in which local artisans have reinterpreted biblical scenes with Marquesan faces and symbols. Farther along the waterfront, the Temehea esplanade lines up its stone tikis with enigmatic gazes, some contemporary, others inspired by ancient models. Facing the bay, these massive silhouettes set the tone for a culture that has never stopped carving.

In Melville's footsteps

In 1842, a young American sailor deserted his whaler in this bay and took refuge in the neighbouring valley of Taipivai. His name was Herman Melville, and his stay among the Taipi inspired his first book, Typee, long before Moby-Dick. Four-wheel-drive excursions let you reach this deep valley, carpeted with coconut palms and mango trees, where stone ceremonial platforms remain. The archaeological sites in the north of the island, around Hatiheu, rank among the most impressive in Polynesia: giant banyans, petroglyphs and esplanades where the great ceremonies were held.

Getting some height

The road that climbs behind Taiohae leads to a lookout overlooking the entire bay. The panorama reveals the island's particular geography: fan-shaped valleys, sharp ridges and the ocean striking the cliffs directly. Showers pass quickly, and so do rainbows. Those who prefer to stay at sea level can follow the shore to the small fishing port, where tuna landed in the morning sometimes attract rays into the clear water.

Marquesan time

Here, there are no lineups and no set circuits. Distances are measured in bends rather than kilometres, and a successful port call often comes down to small things: a fruit bought at the market, a conversation in front of the cathedral, the scent of tiare drifting beneath the trees. The village lives at its own pace, and travellers would do well to adopt it. Marquesan grapefruits, huge and fragrant, sell for a few Pacific francs; they go nicely with the wait for the tender, in the shade of the flame trees. Bring closed-toe shoes for outings inland, a hat and something to protect yourself from nonos, the beach midges whose bite leaves a more lasting souvenir than expected.

As you return on board, the ridges of Taiohae stand out one last time in the evening light. Melville took years to tell what he had experienced here; a few hours are enough to understand why he never truly left these valleys. The Marquesas are not to be described but felt, and Nuku Hiva guards their entrance.