SAINT-MAURICE BAY
Read moreLeaving Vao to the north, you will have to take the first right to discover them, all carved wood, with their expressions as fascinating as amusing. This site owes its fame to the magnificent Kanak woods (totems) erected as a palisade around the monument. This monument commemorates the arrival on the island of Fathers Goujon and Chatelut and thus the first Catholic service given on August 12, 1848 on the island. James Cook would have passed by there in his time and tourists and locals never tire of it. It is one of the most picturesque places in the area.
CEMETERY FOR DEPORTEES
Read moreThe island had five villages of deportees, most of whom never returned to France. 230 graves were built to accommodate the remains of victims of scurvy and deserters who drowned in the lagoon. No need to look for the graves, only a white stele was built by the convicts in homage to their companions. The cemetery of the administrators, where the former employees of the prison are buried in tombs carved in the coral, is just next door. Ask for permission before crossing.