After looking for rare birds and visiting two beaches it is time for the first marae of the day. And it is a doozy, the huge and impressive Marae Maha’iatea right next to the black sand beach of Taharuu Beach. It is the biggest marae in Tahiti and one of the few where you can still guess how it looked at its heyday.
It is quite famous as it has been described both by Cook and following navigators as it was still clearly visible during their visits. During its heyday it looked like a pyramid with 11 terraces and was 17m high with a stone fish and wooden stone at the top. It was built in the 1760s and then described by Cook in 1769 and Captain Wilson in 1799 before being slowly dismantled after the arrival of Christianity.
We start exploring the ruins, you can walk around but we are not sure if you can climb and in the end decide to not force the issue, we don’t want to be shouted at or arrested. As the marae was built relatively late there is still a lot left, you can see the pyramid like structure but there are no platforms left except the first one that was reconstructed.
There are some great views from the path along the marae of the beach, mountains and of course the ocean. During its heyday there was a coral path that crossed the lagoon to facilitate the arrival of the chiefs.
After walking around the ocean we return towards the parking on the other side of the pyramid with some nice views again of the marae which sits on the end of a small peninsula.
There is some beautiful artwork on this stretch, we especially like the mural of a sea turtle which is quite well done. And then we are back at the parking and it is time for our next stop the Water Gardens of Vaipahi.
