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| My trusty West Marine kayak was the perfect choice to reach the motu nearest our Maupiti anchorage. The other two kayaks were from pension guests on that same motu. |
Maupiti, one of French Polynesia’s less visited Society Islands, is ringed by protective reefs and paradise postcard little islets known as motus. Motus are small islets that were formed on the coral reef encircling the lagoon (click here to learn more about the difference between an island, an atoll and a motu).
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| This Maupiti motu has its own lagoon, u-shaped, with the tide flowing in on one side, and out the other. |
With more of a “go fast” dinghy than ours, or a second kayak, we’d have spent more time exploring Muapiti’s motus.
We toyed with camping on a Maupiti motu, and instead were dissuaded by getting in some last minute internet before our wifi hiatus and then later by some wet, blustery weather. Somewhere down the road we’re due for a motu all to ourselves, where we plan to work on eliminating our tan lines and enjoying sunset and sunrise from our nearby tent.
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| View from the Maupiti motu beach across the lagoon. In the distance on the left is another motu, on the right is the “mainland” of Maupiti. |
Location Location
Written in Maupiti, our last stop in French Polynesia (S16.26.838 W152.14.690) and set to post while we’re underway on an 1,100+ mile passage to Pago Pago, American Samoa. We hope to stop for some R&R at Suwarrow in the Cook Islands along the way, though we expect no wifi in that remote location.
