Hiking Mangareva

Tags: French Polynesia, Gambier Islands, Mangareva, hiking, sailing

Date: May 13, 2026

After a few days at anchor off the island of Taravai, we motored the last miles into the main town of the Gambier Islands: Rikitea on the island Mangareva. As we approached town we weaved in between the other anchored sailboats. In the background is the mail boat moored at the town dock:

The mail boat is one of two supply boats that come to Rikitea. It is not the one that brings food but it has fuel and some containers maybe with building materials and other larger supplies. The other boat that bring fresh food to the islands comes every three weeks and had already left almost a week before we arrived.

We took care of practical stuff on the island: clearing in with the gendarmerie, who takes care of immigration and customs clearance in the smaller communities and paying tourist tax and garbage disposal tax at the city hall. Finally, after handing in our laundry to a local lady, we went on a hike along the mountain ridge. Here is the path in the beginning as we are going up from town at sea level to the ridge:

Mangareva is covered in trees so it was not easy to find open areas to take pictures of the view, but here we managed to get a picture of Rikitea:

Note that the mail boat has left the municipal dock. Amanda is not visible here but is anchored to the left of frame of the picture.

Lots of trees are growing right on top of the ridge:

Here is a view of the other side of the island from where Rikitea is located. The little houses in the water are pearl farms:

Many of the trees on Mangareva are some kind of fir with very long needles and tiny round cones. Spanish moss is growing on many of the trunks and ferns are growing in the undergrowth:

This is another pearl farm but on the Rikitea side of the island (the east side):

The island in the background is Aukena:

This island to the south of Aukena is Akamaru:

Some of the trees on the far side of the ridge were very large:

Wasp nest on the ground:

The nest was probably blown off a tree during the strong winds that hit the area at the same time as we arrived at Gambier.

Félicie on the trail with mount Duff on the southern tip of Mangareva in the background:

More trees on and off the sides of the ridge:

View of the northeastern tip of Mangareva:

Félicie walking down from the ridge along a line of fir trees:

View towards Rikitea with pearl farms in the foreground as we are descending from the ridge: