Nuku Hiva - Docking
This island offers many protected anchorages.
Taiohae Bay
This bay lies in the middle of the south coast. The entrance is straightforward and may be possible to enter at night, using the red flashing range lights, when aligned they provide a good entry course. Use caution if entering at night as there may be boats at anchor without anchor lights. The swell can be bad here and a stern anchor may help to face into the swell, but most boats swing freely.
The large quay is easily visible to Starboard when entering in all conditions. The area between the large quay and small municipal quay, at the end of the bay in the NE corner, is a NO MOORING zone. There is also an underwater cable, avoid anchoring near it. See image on right.
Dinghy Dock
Extreme care must be taken at the municipal quay (dinghy dock) particularly when there is swell in the bay. At low water, dinghies can end up under the wall and several cases of damaged dinghies have occurred. There is now only one ladder to get onto the quay. It is better to exit your dinghy and then move the dinghy to the southern wall by the large tires. Do not leave the dinghy further north near the local fishing boats, as dinghies have been rolled here too. Don’t lift your outboard or use a stern anchor.
Fuel is available here. If no supply ship is in you can do this directly at the quay if the wind allows you by dropping anchor, reversing to the quay and using a stern line.
Rubbish Disposal – The Nuku Hiva Council have also introduced a fee for rubbish disposal and for taking fresh water. You can drop your unsorted trash in the containers at the entrance to the dock or separate and put glass, cans, tins, plastic, batteries and used oil in recycle bins a little further away (note that because oils and dangerous materials like batteries will be shipped by boat to Tahiti, you might as well keep them onboard until you reach Tahiti if heading that way).
Please fill the municipal form and pay the monthly trash /water fee of 1,500 CFP at the Mairie (municipal office) located nearby, on the left when you come out of the dock. Your receipt gives you a 10% discount coupon at Nuku Tai Nui Marine.
Anaho
This bay is on the north side of Nuku Hiva and the approach is straight forward until reaching the coral reef in front of the beach. There is a pass in the reef which provides shore access by dinghy and small local boats. It is marked by buoys to keep you off the reef and is more visible when the tide is out.
This is a popular anchorage with good holding. Crystal clear waters let you watch small sharks and rays swimming below. The bay is well protected from swells but can suffer from strong gusts that blow down from the mountains. If you’re feeling energetic, hike over to Haataivea Bay where there is a fruit and vegetable farm. Allow several hours to walk there and back, but there is a beautiful sandy beach to break your visit.
Baie du Controlleur
This is a three-fingered bay and yachts can anchor in the middle one. It is reported to be less rolly than in Taiohae Bay. You can get drinking water here at the shed at Taipevai, or just beyond the shed at Hooumi. There are three shops at Taipevai.
Last updated: October 2022
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Related to following destinations: French Polynesia, Marquesas, Nuku Hiva
Port Navigation
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Kevin Ellis from Nuku Hiva Yacht Services has provided an update on the new online system for checking into French Polynesia.
“When using the online system, you must have on the same device, usable scans of the following documents, all passports, Ship’s Papers, Zarpe, & Flight Tickets. The tickets would be for anyone leaving the boat at the time of check-in, which is common.
We have done a couple of entries with the new system and if you are from a non-EU country, the system is useless. Useless because, 1) you still need to go to the Gendarmerie to get your passport stamped, 2) the officers at the Gendarmerie have no documentation on this system and are not aware of how it works, 3) so you have to complete the paperwork manually again if you did it online already, and, 4) it takes at least 3 business days to get your entry reviewed and accepted. This leaves you in a state of limbo not knowing if you have completed your formalities or not for three days.
If you complete your formalities on paper and present them to the Gendarme, once stamped and returned, the process is complete as they will require any other supporting documentation you need. Like departing airline tickets or Bond Exemption letter or Repatriation Bond, or a valid visa for those from countries where a visa is required to enter French Polynesia.
However, other than the 3 days of limbo part, if you and all your crew are EU citizens, this could be a viable alternative.
Now this has been in place for only a few weeks, I would like to believe with time some of the issues will be addressed and corrected.
I hope this is helpful and informative.”
Cheers, Kevin Ellis
Controller Bay – Hooumi Bay
There is a small village with a shop that you can walk to from both bays. It’s nearer to the main bay than Hooumi. There is recycling in Hooumi Bay where you will need to beach your dinghy. There are two fresh water pipes. We walked from here to a waterfall, it was a 20k round trip but well worth it and a better water fall than at Daniel’s Bay.
Taioa ( known as Daniels Bay)
We anchored here and it was still quite rolly. We anchored in sand.
Part of the beach is rocky so we beached the dinghy near to the mooring buoys used for local boats. A man came over and explained that if we were going to walk to the waterfall then we needed to pull the dinghy right up to the grass because the tide would take the dinghy out later, he then helped us pull it up the beach. We think this may have been Daniels son.
The path to the waterfall is on the left side of the bay ( looking towards the beach ) , if the tide is in you need to walk in the sea over the rocks to reach it. We had to do this when we came back from the walk. From here it took us 2 1/2 hours to get to the waterfall and my husband walks fast. You should wear walking shoes or trainers that you can wear in the water. This is because of the 3 small rivers that you need to cross. At the second river people have left walking sticks to use to help you across the river.
Make sure you wear mosquito repellent as there are many mosquitoes on this trail.
We were stopped by Koa just after the first river crossing. This is the lady who runs a restaurant in her home, she offered lunch on our way back from the waterfall. Telling us that it was a 2 hour walk. She speaks some English and is a lovely lady.
We were stopped again ( just after the telephone box) by a lady who you need pay 1000 francs pp to go on the trail . They did seem to maintain the trail and she also gave us two Pamplemousse to take with us. Take a knife with you to cut them open!
So 4 1/2 hours later we arrived back at her house for our “lunch”. ( around 15.30) .
If you’re not a walker then this seems quite long but definitely worth doing. Although we were told by other cruisers who went after us that there was a dead goat in the waterfall and it had attracted many flies.
No rubbish disposal here.
Taiohae Bay
This is the main town. Even though the Gendarmerie is open morning and afternoon, they will only process yacht clearance in the morning before 11am, Monday to Friday. NB This is different to the Office in Hiva-Oa, although they have the same opening times, Hiva Oa process yacht clearance anytime, even Saturday. Even though we were told in Hiva-Oa that we must show our papers here this is definitely no longer a requirement as we tried to but they really weren’t interested.
The anchorage is huge. We didn’t roll too much at first and we didn’t put out a stern anchor. We anchored near to the shore in 8 metres. On our second visit here after 10 days away it was very rolly. The dinghy dock or the stone wall, can be a bit of a lottery if the swell is bad. Two dinghies suffered damage when their outboards banged against the gendarmerie boat which is moored here but is only used once a month.
Yacht Services on the quay provide laundry service at 1500f and they will refill your (small) gas for 2000f, if you need diesel in cans or petrol they will drive you around to the petrol station for 1000f . Car hire is also available here but Kevin ( the owner) likes you to stick to the main roads. You can pay for WiFi , the password is changed each day. Kevin will also help with delivery of spare parts etc . Yacht services are not open on Saturday or Sunday and it says they close at 3pm during the week but we found they were open later than that.
There is also a book swop here.
A road Island trip for 2 people cost us 15000 F. But that was the lowest the driver would take because they usually charge 6500F each for 4 people. We booked our trip through the Tourist Information office. If you go on the tour then take mosquito repellent. The no no flies are terrible and it took four weeks for my bites to go.
Most cafes have WiFi, all the speeds vary and it doesn’t seem to matter how many people are using it. Passwords are usually changed daily. The Pizza restaurant WiFi is good ( at times) and we sat outside when it was closed and had “super fast” internet, they don’t change the password everyday. There is car hire available here too.
There are 4 supermarkets here, prices are all very similar.
If there is no bread left in the supermarkets then you can walk to the bakery and they always have baguettes. They maybe frozen but there doesn’t seem to be any difference in taste once defrosted.
Recycling bins for glass, plastic, aluminium cans, other plastic , tins , batteries ( big and small , oil . They ask that you wash your recycling. The recycling bins are just past the tourist information office across the road in the large car park.
Everything else ( including paper and cardboard) goes to landfill.
There is a fruit market open nearly all day, although the best produce gets taken very early. If they don’t have something you want then ask and they can get it for you for the next day. E.g Capsicum Peppers, courgettes
The hardware store is past the second supermarket up the main road, keep walking until you come to a bus stop then it’s turn left over the small bridge and walk for a minute or 2 and it’s on your left.
There are toilets at the tourist office -100 francs to use or use the cafe toilets , the same price but free if you buy a drink there.
Bringing alcohol, tobacco etc into French Polynesia , you can bring as much as you like but you must declare it on your clearance form.
There is a cruisers net which runs each day at 8am, start on ch 72 and they usually moves to 68.
I just wanted to put a good word in about Yacht Setrvices Nuku-hiva, Kevin has gone out of the way more times than I can count to assist us with so many things. He is kind and generous of his time in a way that is often somewhat selfless. I am so glad that he is on Nuku Hiva.
lderamus says:
Aug 20, 2018 11:42 PM
Highly recommend making landfall in Nuku Hiva instead of Hiva Oa. Much better anchorage and dinghy dock in Nuku Hiva, shops, fruit and veggie market, and small restaurant right near the dock.
Kevin and his lovely wife at YACHT SERVICES in Nuku Hiva are absolutely fabulous!! Their services are worth every penny and more. They help with check-in, paperwork and pretty much anything you need.
Response from Nuku Hiva Yacht Services:
We are aware that this gentleman is not happy. However, I am a middle man between the marine stores on the island of Tahiti and the customer. The customer wants his sales tax refunded. Well, the marine store has not followed through in processing the paperwork, which has to be done by a freight forwarder, to get permission from the Custom’s officials to refund his VAT.
I have tried and tried with no luck. I did not promise him he would get his TVA back. But they said he would and I passed on the message. This is the way things are in 2nd & 3rd world countries like here.
We regret that we were not able to meet his expectations and have changed our policy when doing this type of transactions.
Sincerely Kevin
Reported by Ulrich Kramer:
I bought a new expensive Dinghy from Kevin at Nuka Hiva Yacht Services because he assured me that he would do the paperwork for the payback of the tax and that I would get the tax back for sure.
I left French Polynesia, took the Dinghy out, Kevin had all the documents but never transferred the tax refund of more then €500 to me, what he had promised to do. He does not answer mails anymore. So, if you deal with him, be prudent if he promises you any tax refund…
Uli Kramer
SY Destiny