page_title: Tautira
section_title: Geography
hierarchical_section_title: Tautira / Geography
caption_attribution_description: English: Afterglow in the Tautira Valley
context_page_description: Tautira is a Polynesian beach village, valley, and point on the south-east coast of the island of Tahiti in the Pacific. It is part of the commune Taiarapu-Est. With a population of 2338, it is located 49 kilometres southeast of the Tahitian capital of Papeete on the coast of Tautira Bay, at the end of what is the largest valley of the Taiarapu Peninsula. Domingo de Bonechea visited the area in 1772 and attempted to spread Christianity here; James Cook landed at Tautira Bay during his voyage. Robert Louis Stevenson referred to the village as “The Garden of the World”, staying here to recover from illness in 1886. The village contains a Catholic church.
context_section_description: It is located at a distance of 49 kilometres (30 mi) from Papeete, the capital city of Tahiti. The coastal stretch of the mountainous road extends from Taravoa to Tautira via Pueu. This stretch of the coast also receives the highest rainfall. An 18 kilometres (11 mi) stretch of highway links Tautira with Taravao. The Tautira River runs nearby, and there is a beach at the mouth of the Vaitepiha River nearby as well.
  Tautira is the largest valley of the Taiarapu Peninsula, resembling Papenoo in that its innermost areas consist of the principal crater-basin. The valley runs outward in a direction a little to the west of north, and is traversed by a large river. The boundaries of the Tautira Valley are high and well marked. Aionifaa Valley lies between Tautira and Aiurua.
  
  Tautira Point is a tongue of low wooded land about 600 yards wide, extending northward .75 miles (1.21 km) from the general line of the coast and from the foot of the mountains.  It is formed by the deposits from the Vaitepiha River, one of the largest streams in Tahiti. The barrier reef fronts the coast from Aiurua Pass to Tautira Point at 3,000 feet (910 m) and less from the shore.  It encloses channels and basins of deep water. From Vaionifa Pass, barrier reef trends northwestward in a straight line, rounding Tautira Point at only 1,200 feet (370 m) and breaking off abruptly just westward of the point, where there is a gap with very deep water 2,400 feet (730 m) wide before the reef begins again. Between Vaionifa and Tautira, there is a smaller gap about 1,200 feet (370 m) wide in which there is only 9 feet (2.7 m) of water. Between this pass and Tautira, there is a channel from 1,200–1,800 feet (370–550 m) wide and 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long which ends in a cul-de-sac at the northern end, with the exception of a small boat passage to the village. 
  From 19 to 37 fathoms there is mud almost everywhere. At the northern end the soundings decrease gradually to 16 and 8 fathoms. From Tautira Point, the coast trends westward 5 miles (8.0 km) to a short distance beyond Pueu village. The general direction is straight, but two low and wooded points, Pihaa and Faraari, project about 500 yards to seaward; the first at 2.5 miles (4.0 km) from Tautira, the second about 1 mile (1.6 km) farther on. The mountains behind, from which numerous cascades descend, are steep and cliff-like.
  When Stevenson had visited Tautira in 1888 cruising through the South Seas, he had described the setting of the village as "...in a cloudy moonlight, on the forest lawn which is the street of Tautira. The Pacific roared outside upon the reef. Here and there one of the scattered palm-built lodges shone out under the shadow of the wood, the lamplight bursting through the crannies of the wall.” The present scene, however, in Tautira is one of “neat bungalows of wood or cinder block with metal roofs" in the backdrop of the hills of the Vaitepiha River Valley. About one km of trekking along hilly terrain leads to the Vaitepiha River where three maraes (communal or sacred place which serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies) were restored in 1960s. However, they are again seen in ruins.
caption: Henry Adams, "Afterglow in the Tautira Valley ", 1891
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