Cruise to Marquesas

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PACKAGE 3 CRUISE to MARQUESAS

Air ticket Los Angeles/Papeete/Los Angeles.

All transfers

2 nights in Tahiti

3 nights in Moorea

Cruise in double deluxe cabin including full board.

$4.650/person based on double occupancy

ITINERARY Sunday : Flight Los Angeles/Papeete. Transfer at the Sofitel Maeva Beach Hotel. Night in garden view room. Monday : Transfer to the dock and departure to Moorea by catamaran. In Moorea, transfer to the Sofitel Ia Ora Hotel. Night in garden bungalow. Tuesday : Moorea Wednesday : Moorea Thursday : Transfer hotel to dock and return to Tahiti by catamaran. Transfer in Papeete to Aranui dock. 4pm boarding on Aranui. 7pm beginning of the cruise for 15 days. Friday : In the morning, landing at Takapoto, in Tuamotu archipelago. You buy fresh coconuts and soak up sun in this small isle’s crystalline lagoon.
	Saturday : At sea. Sunday : Ua Pou The mist-drenched escarpments of Ua Pou comme into view, towering out of the sea like stern, watchful « tikis ». You looped with fragant leis gather at a local home for a feast of « poisson cru » (raw fish), « poi » and other polynesian delicacies. Monday : Nuku Hiva Nuku Hiva, the largest island of Marquesas. There, visitors can wander the waterfront of Taiohae, the island’s administrative center and closest thing to a bustling town in the Marquesas. Visit the new catholic church with its fine native carvings. An excursion to nearby Taipivai valley reveals ruines « marae » (temples) and « pa’epa’e » (stone foundations) harking back to the islands’ ancient pagan religion and the overgrown cannibal realm where Melville’s novel Typee was set. Tuesday : Nuku Hiva
Wednesday : Hiva Oa The beauty of primitive Polynesia lives on in the art of Paul Gauguin, who spent his last days on Hiva Oa. The Aranui calls at the village of Atuona, home of Gauguin’s simple hilltop grave. The resting place of Belgian singer Jacques Brel is nearby. Farther inland, some of the biggest « tikis » in Polynesia hide in sweltering jungles under ripe mantles of fungus. Thursday : Tahuata – Fatu Hiva After a brief stop at nearby Tahuata, which consists of the remains of a huge sunken volcano, the Aranui moves on Fatu Hiva, the wettest and, some say, the most beautiful of the Marquesas. The South Seas arts of « tapa » painting and tattooing, which reached new heights in the Marquesas, still flourish here. An eleven-mile hike from the tapa-rich hamlet of Omoa leads to the raw coast at Hanavave, with heart stopping views of the Bay of Virgins and miles of the misty shoreline. Friday : Ua Huka At Ua Huka, smallest at the northerly Marquesas, sculptors continue the Marquesas tradition of woodcarving, reportedly the best in Polynesia. You can bargain for ornate spears, « tikis », bracelets and leis in rosewood and sandalwood, even « ukulele » (local small guitar) and carved coconuts. The island still enjoys an untamed naturalness, with wild horses, goats and sheep overrunning its open plateaus.	Saturday : Ua Huka Sunday : Nuku Hiva Monday : Nuku Hiva Tuesday : At sea Wednesday : After picking up tons of coprah from Nuku Hiva and Ua Pou, the Aranui makes its final stop at Rangiroa, the Tuamotu’ premier dive destination. Snorkellers delight in its transparent fish-choked lagoon and thrill-seekers bring home tales of its abundant reef sharks. Thursday : At sea. Friday : Disembarkation in Papeete in the morning. Transfer from dock to the Sofitel Maeva Beach Hotel. Night in garden view room. Late in the evening, transfert hotel to airport. Flight Papeete / Los Angeles.