6 Best Sights in The Other Islands, French Polynesia

In the tiny village of Hokatu about 2 mi east of Hane look for the Geology and Petroglyphe Museum, which is tiny but interesting.

The Jacques Brel Cultural Centre is adjacent to the Paul Gauguin Centre and they share a ticket office. The center honors the life of Brel (1929–1978), a Belgian singer and actor that lived in Atuona for several years at the end of his life. Brel's Beachcraft Bonanza plane—which he named Jojo, after a good friend, and one of his most famous songs—is on permanent display. A souvenir market now stands next to the museum.

The village's main attraction is the Musée Communal, the oldest museum in the Marquesas. Its collections include mortuary canoes and various decorations such as bracelets, earrings, sperm whale teeth, and adzes. Local wood-carvers work and sell their wares here. The museum is also known as the Archeological Museum of Vaipaee.

Sea Museum of Hane displays pirogues (outrigger canoes) and various fishing equipment and hooks.

The Museum of Wood, or "Jardin Bontanique," is situated in the Papua-keikaha Temoohe Arboretum.

The Paul Gauguin Cultural Centre has no original works by the artist but does display reproductions of some of the paintings from his time in Polynesia. A replica of his thatched Maison du Jouir (House of Pleasure) has been rebuilt nearby; the outside is finished in sculpted wood panels, with copies of Gauguin's originals. There's also a craft center.