Ta'a Oa

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View of Ta‘a ‘Oa, looking southwest over Atuona Bay from the area of Calvary Cemetery, where Paul Gauguin and Jacques Brel are buried. The islet of Hanakee is in the center of the image. The headland Feki lies to the left off the field of view on this image.
Photo Credit: Terry & Heidi Kotas

Ta‘a ‘Oa is the South Marquesan name of a wide bay on the southern coast of Hiva ‘Oa. The bay is widely known in English as the Bay of Traitors, and in French as Baie des Traitres.

The highest point on Hiva ‘Oa, Temetiu, rises majestically above the western end of the bay.

Atuona, the administrative center of the southern Marquesas, is located on a small inlet, Atuona Bay (called Vevau in Marquesan), on the north shore of Ta‘a ‘Oa. The western extensions of Ta'a Oa are separated from Atuona Bay by a small rock called Hanakee. One of the best harbors in the Marquesas Islands, Taha Uku, is also located on the northern shore, near the eastern end of the bay, separated from Atuona Bay by a headland called Feki.