Toahotu, Vairao, and Teahupoo

Toahotu, Vairao, and Teahupoo Review

Expect to find a little more action in these three south coast villages than in the north coast towns, as they are visited by surfers making the pilgrimage to the monster wave at Teahupoo. Each village has a handful of pensions, but Teahupoo (the wave itself breaks at Hava'e Pass) is the most developed due to its legendary acclaim and as the venue of the Billabong Pro Surf Championships held in late April to May. It also has several small snacks (casual cafés), while its pensions have good restaurants as well. American novelist Zane Grey (who penned dozens of pulp fiction Westerns) ran a deep-sea fishing camp by the lagoon between the villages of Toahotu and Vairao in the 1930s, though nothing remains of it today.