Above the steady rumble of the pacific surge, the sharply sculpted mountains of Hiva Oa hide their summits in the mists of rain-filled clouds. The largest and most fertile island in the southern group of the Marquesas, Hiva Oa has deep valleys, lush plateaus and thickly wooded forests. Located 1,184 km. (740 mliles) northeast of tahiti, the town of atuona is the administrative center for the southern Marquesas. Framed in a theatre of mountains with the Bay of Traitors providing safe anchorage, Atuona is a favorite port of call for yatchs and copra ships. Atuona village has a gendarmerie, small hospital, post office, banks, weather station, Air Tahiti office, pensions, restaurants and snack bars, stores and shops, telephones and TV.
There is a catholic mission with a boarding school and a Protestant church. A path up the cliffs behind the village leads to Calvary Cemetery. here are the simple graves of to men who choose the Marquesas as their final home and resting place, the French Painter Paul GAUGUIN and Belgian Singer Jacques BREL.