Gambier archipelago

Located 1,600 km from Tahiti, the Gambier archipelago, also called the islands at the end of the world, is the easternmost settlement area of French Polynesia. The group is composed of fourteen high islands, four of which are very small, as well as several motus anchored on the reef that encloses a deep lagoon. Its largest island, and the only one permanently inhabited except for a few isolated homes, is Mangareva with Rikitea as its capital. It has a population of about 1240 inhabitants spread over an area of just under 10 km2. According to Polynesian mythology, Mangareva was raised from the ocean floor by the demigod Maui. A center of Catholicism in Polynesia, its mountains are impressive and rise above a luminous lagoon. To the east is the island of Pitcairn, famous for having sheltered the Bounty mutineers at the end of the 18th century. It should be noted that no diving club is present in the Gambiers, which offers a real paradise for all amateurs who evolve in autonomy.