Running in Oceania: you won't get lost on Tikehau!

While the whole atoll is an oval of 17 by 12 miles, the main island where the airport is and we stayed on is less than 5 kilometer long, and with only one paved road so you won't get lost there! As a matter of fact, I had to do a few loops around the mini airport to complete a half marathon. Yet, the air strip is almost a mile long, representing 1/3rd of the whole island!

In other words, I assume it's safe to say that nobody comes here for running. Instead, for snorkeling or diving. Captain Jean-Yves Cousteau listed that atoll as having the most diverse fish species of the whole French Polynesia. Indeed, we did swim with a Manta ray, dozens of blacktip reef sharks and hundreds of colorful fish, like in an open water aquarium.

Kayaking between motus is another favorite and relaxing activity!

If you visit --and I hope so!-- make sure to ask for Denis Grosmaire. He is the one who led us to the manta ray, then the coral garden at the main pass. He is so modest, we only discovered later that he is in the top 10 of the free divers worldwide, and I almost even missed him laying down at the bottom of the lagoon and making dozens of perfectly shaped bubbles (I just got the last one of that series):

More on Denis' story, in French. Denis is also one of the sons of Christiane who offers one wonderful bungalow right on the lagoon beach (airbnb).

2 maps to better situate our island and the atoll:

Including neighbor Rangiroa, the 2nd largest atoll in the world, our next destination after three nights in Tikehau:

With the tropical heat and humidity, the best place to be is in the water as a matter of fact. Yet, with that road and a very nice dirt road South of the airport strip, logging a few running miles is very doable. Much better than laps on a cruise ship (yes, I did that too, albeit only once in 25 years! ;-) ). The best part of this run was to run in the shade of the coconut plantation bordering the airport:

A shallow pass between the Pacific Ocean and the lagoon at the end of the air strip:

The Catholic Church of St Nicodemus:

Here is a fly over of my loopy run (click on the image or this link to run it):

That's it for Tikehau, see you in a few miles on the next Tuamotu atoll, Rangiroa!