Makatea Vertical Adventure

6 days on the only French Polynesian atoll with cliffs!

Last year in September, we went to Makatea, the only atoll in French Polynesia with cliffs. They have fewer than 100 full time inhabitants, so when 180 of us descended on the island for the Makatea Vertical Adventure, we more than tripled the population!

I’d kissed goodbye to my baby back in Mo’orea, who was spending a whole week with his grandparents (I only cried for about an hour when leaving him). It was just me, Martin and Emile for the week, and I was half-anxiety and half-excitement.

The only way to reach Makatea is by boat. As part of the organised adventure, we sailed on the Tahiti Nui overnight, arriving at the dock in Papeete with our bikes and camping gear.

Overnight on the Tahiti Nui

After a few hours of baggage loading, administration, and watching a dance spectacular, we were finally loaded onto the boat. Inside was cramped and loud, so Emile, Martin and I staked our place on the deck by spreading out our bedding and prayed that it wouldn’t rain on us.

It wasn’t the most comfortable night of my life, to be honest, lying on the hard deck of the boat with black sea around me. But I managed to doze a bit and eventually it grew light around us as we approached the island.

Whales danced in the bay around us and the sky turned pink and orange. Makatea’s steep cliffs glowed in the morning sun. We’d arrived!

An island of cliffs and holes

Makatea is a strange and beautiful place. As you arrive in the bay, you can see old, rusted pieces of equipment fallen into disrepair. In the early 1900s, phosphate was discovered on the island, and a British company came to mine it.

The population boomed. A whole village was constructed for the miners, including multiple cinemas, a train, and a variety of shops to cater to the workers and their visitors. When the phosphate was tapped, the company left and pretty much overnight the island was abandoned. Now, the old village is crumbling ruins in the jungle.

Toot toot! All aboard the Tetanus Express!

The phosphate mining left the entire island riddled with deep holes like Swiss cheese. We’d brought along mountain bikes to traverse the island, which was an excellent idea, as it would have been a couple of hours of walking if we didn’t have them. At each end was a sharp incline to the raised part of the island, then the road wound through the different landscapes; we slipped and slid over the paths covered in coral, through shaded jungle, and past the Mars-like terrain of sharp rock and deep holes. If you fall in one of those, you’re not getting out in a hurry.

A camping holiday next to the beach

The campsite for the Makatea Vertical Adventure was on the opposite side of the island to where we docked, and activities were scattered over various parts of the island.

The campsite was charming, right next to a little beach where whales would pass every day and we could walk over the reef to do some snorkelling. Underwater you could hear the whale song and at night you could hear a massive boom every time they jumped out of the water.

We pitched two tents but ended up sleeping outside under a tarp every night with a big sky full of stars above us. On the last two nights we built bonfires on the beach and sat around drinking our warm mixed cocktails (there was no ice or refrigeration) and making new friends. The full moon glowed orange as it rose over the ocean.

Some fun (only slightly scary) activities

I feel like this holiday is the holy grail for avid rock climbers. I am not an avid rock climber. I’m a ‘have done it once and am not that enthusiastic about it’ rock climber. So it might come as no surprise that I managed to do exactly zero rock climbing the entire time, despite my earnest intentions to do a rock climbing 101 class.

The nice thing was that there were plenty of other activities to do that didn’t involve rock climbing. Throughout the week we went on a sail on a little wind-powered pirogue, hiked 30 minutes through holy jungle to sail down on a zip-line, did the same hike and rappelled down, and did a high ropes course.

Most of these activities involved heights and/or launching yourself off a cliff. While I was freaking out about most of them before I did them, I actually had a lot of fun and was super happy afterwards!

Look ma, no hands!

Swimming in fresh water grottos

The best part of Makatea might just be the fresh water grottos. Travel down some slippery rock stairs and you find yourself in a huge cavern with soaring ceilings, stalactites, stalagmites, and cool, fresh water. After a day of sweaty activities in the sun, it’s the perfect way to refresh.

The grottos are pitch black on the inside, so we brought torches with us. Having a snorkel and mask was great as well, because there was just as much going on under the water as there was above it. Swimming between the big chambers, at times you’d have the roof just above your head and have to travel with most of your face below water. It was very cool to explore, but I wouldn’t want to have my light battery run out!

An organisational feat

I’m so impressed at the organisers who managed to corral and feed 180ish travellers for 6 days. The food was plentiful, we were greeted with a feast, the local school-kids put on a performance for us, and everything seemed to go really smoothly.

The organisers have just announced the dates for this year’s Makatea Vertical Adventure and I’m sad we can’t go. Last year we left Auguste with his grandparents for nearly an entire week, but this year I’ll have a 6-week-old baby (and probably a whole lot of sleep deprivation).

So, while I’m bummed we won’t get to go a second time (third time for the boys), I’m so happy I managed to make it last year, as it was such a unique and special place.

Thank you Emile for your beautiful photos!

If you liked this post, check out…