5 Best Sights in Huahine, French Polynesia

This is both the name of the motu and a great surfing beach at the southern tip of Huahine Iti. It's about 2 km (1 mi) south of the hotel Relais Mahana. Slow down when you see a sign for the archeological site of Marae Anini. Follow the road to the marae and there's the beach. It's a fantastic place for photos—the black basalt of the marae against the azure blue lagoon. The sand is coral and rocky. The surf is good here and you may see a few surfers out towards the reef. It's a quiet spot, which you just may have to yourself.

This marae is located at one of the best locations on the island—virtually on the tip of Parea. It functioned as the island's temple long before Europeans arrived. Sacrifices, including human ones (to Oro the god of war), are said to have taken place here.

Situated on the Maroe Bay, this village has a rotunda on the water's edge, a big billboard style map of the island, a buttercup-colored Protestant church with adjoining church hall, a little restaurant serving fish, and a few baguette sandwiches, and that's about it. It does, however, have a spectacular view over the wide bay where cruise ships dock. Passengers are brought ashore at Maroe at the rotunda site where they then board L'Truck buses for circle tours or meet their 4WD tour operators or rental car agents. If you look to the east you can't miss Te Moa o Hiro, the looming phallus-shaped rock. The restaurant, Rauheama, is a popular watering hole for ship passengers.

With its two sizeable lodgings, a white church, small tidy little houses in secluded lanes off the main road, a restaurant, a roadside snack bar, and the occasional small grocery store, this village—that stretches for a couple of mi with big gaps between most of the infrastructure—could be considered the epicenter of Huahine Iti. The island's best beach is here (at the southern tip) and the Anini Marae (also called the Parea Marae) is virtually standing on the shore. Across the lagoon is Motu Aara'ara.

This tiny village midway down the east coast has a buttercup-yellow church on one side of the road and a small graveyard on the other, which is backed by rain-forest covered hills. Across the lagoon is Motu Murimahora, a lush island where melon growing is the main activity.