Travel Guide Onetahi

Tetiaroa: the only atoll in the Windward Islands, a simple atoll, perfect postcard portrait, with immaculate white sand and a crystal-clear lagoon, 42 km northeast of Tahiti.Twelve virgin motus surround a lagoon 7 km wide, 30 m deep, to form a piece of terrestrial paradise where nature has never yet had the opportunity to lose its rights. The island (whose name means "who stands at a distance") was once called Teturoa or Tetuaroa (the high sea): it served as a hiding place for royal treasures, and taro was cultivated there.Although they are close to Papeete, these 6 km² of land barely emerging from the abyssal depths (3 m maximum) have a rich history. Once the second home of the Pomaré family who came here to escape from Tahiti, the island has since had two prestigious owners. The royal family first offered the atoll in 1904 to Tahiti's only dentist at the time, Dr. Williams, who exploited copra and then died there in 1937. In 1966, during the Hollywood filming of the Bounty Rebellions, Marlon Brando's passion for Polynesia led him to buy the atoll, or rather to rent it for 99 years, perhaps in memory of the few Bounty mutineers who had lived there for a time. Then, an airstrip and a hotel of 14 bungalows - discreetly located on the motu Onetahi - were built. Since Marlon Brando's death, the buyers have been impatient: today, the small hotel is no longer in operation, and the Intercontinental Resort group has started to build extremely luxurious villas there, to attract kings, international stars and all the top names in the world (a bit like in Dubai).You will be able to visit Tahuna Iti, the Bird Island, a true sanctuary for seabirds, unique in Polynesia (this is where Jean-Paul Belmondo takes refuge in Itinerary of a Spoiled Child): frigate birds, black terns, brown madmen with red feet, petrels... In addition, you will be able to enjoy the exceptionally rich lagoon. It is regularly analysed and observed by oceanography students, and a project for a marine ecosystem study station is under study.