Pension Cécile

Located in the Tuamotu archipelago some 350 km northeast of the island of Tahiti, Rangiroa is not only the largest atoll in French Polynesia, but also one of the four largest in the world, at 280 km in circumference. This lagoon, a veritable inland sea some 30 km wide and 80 km long, could house the island of Tahiti and its peninsula. Like all atolls, Rangiroa is the remnant of a formidable volcano that gradually sank into the waves. Originally, millions of years ago, the flanks of this volcano were surrounded by coral reefs. Now that the volcano has disappeared, only this fragile reef crown remains, varying in width from a few meters to half a kilometer.

The atoll is made up of five hundred islets and motu, interspersed with hoa, shallow channels linking ocean and lagoon, as well as two passes: Tiputa and Avatoru. The vast majority of the island’s 2,000 inhabitants live between these two passes, around 12 km apart, along with the main infrastructure such as the airport, wharves and hotel facilities. The village of Avatoru, on the edge of the pass of the same name, is home to shops, banks and administrative offices.

Although Rangiroa was “discovered” in 1616 by the Dutch navigators Le Maire and Schoutter, the atoll was inhabited by Polynesians as early as the fifth century AD. Traces of this settlement and of the civilization that flourished on this fragile atoll are still present in the form of marae remains. Much later, the first Europeans to settle permanently were the Catholic missionaries, around 1860. Today, tourism, copra harvesting and fishing are the main activities on this atoll, renowned for its rich underwater flora and fauna.

Its diving sites are world-renowned. The famous Captain Cousteau ranked Rangiroa as one of the most beautiful and richest underwater sites on the planet. Diver Yves Lefèvre was one of the pioneers of diving on Rangiroa, contributing greatly to the growth of this activity on the island.