Taravai

Tags: French Polynesia, Gambier Islands, Taravai, sailing

Date: May 22, 2026

After provisioning a bit in Rikitea, buying mostly cheese and the few vegetables we were able to get, we headed back to Taravai. This time to a different anchorage on the east side of the island. This is the part of the island that holds the islands' permanent population of about five people at this time. As we approached the anchorage, the large church with its spire was visible:

We anchored off the southeastern corner of the island:

We took the dinghy ashore and looking back towards Amanda, we had Mangareva in the background:

First up was a remnant of a portal leading from the waterfront to the church:

The relief shows to hearts, symbolizing the "Sacred Hearts Mission" which was the first Catholic mission to arrive at the Gambier Islands.

The backside of the portal, looking towards Mangareva:

The Saint-Gabriel church on Taravai:

The church was built in 1868 when a lot more people lived on the island. In 2021, restoration of the church started and the roof was changed from a leaking tile roof to at metal roof and the outside plaster was cleaned and whitewashed.

The reliefs used to be outlined in blue but now the church is all in white:

The restoration of the inside is not completed.

Just inland from the church is a very well tended lane that connects to the houses close by:

North of the church, we visited Hervé and Valérie, who are two of the inhabitants on Taravai. They live in a pretty yellow house with turquoise trim and grow fruts and vegetables in their large garden:

They also arrange Sunday barbecues and we went to one along with a couple from a Swiss sailboat:

We had a lovely lunch of pork curry with coconut, rice, breadfruit and green papaya salad.

The next three photos taken by Valérie:

After lunch we had a game of petanque:

Here, we are waiting for our turn next to the dog Panu (which means black):

We came away not just with full stomachs but also with a bounty of fruits and vegetables: lemons, oranges, pamplemousses, bananas, avocados, mangoes and coconuts:

The next morning we had our usual bread rolls supplemented with a banana-mango smoothie and a half giant pamplemousse, best described as a kind of grapefruit, but usually a lot larger and with hardly any bitterness even though it's not pink:

The wind was going to change so we moved to boat a few miles to the south coast of Taravai and anchored between Taravai and the island of Agakauitai:

We stayed the a couple of days and went snorkeling and on a short dinghy expedition to the beach:

Here we are looking from the beach towards the anchored sailboats with Agakauitai in the background: