Omo'a

Omo‘a (or Omoa) is the name of a small town and valley at the head of a

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

by the same name, on

Fatu Hiva Fatu-Hiva (the "H" is not pronounced, see name section below) is the southernmost island of the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. With Motu Nao as its closest neighbor, it is also the m ...

. The bay of Omo‘a is the southernmost bay on the western coast of Fatu Hiva, and provides a good anchorage. The village of Omo‘a was home to 247 inhabitants at the 2002 census. The village is home to the island's only

Protestant church Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

. The valley of Omo‘a is well-watered, and curves in a half-moon shape, first to the southeast, and then to the northeast, terminating at the island's central

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ha ...

. This is where

Thor Heyerdahl Thor Heyerdahl KStJ (; 6 October 1914 – 18 April 2002) was a Norwegian adventurer and ethnographer with a background in zoology, botany and geography. Heyerdahl is notable for his ''Kon-Tiki'' expedition in 1947, in which he sailed 8,000&nb ...

and his wife came ashore in 1937, an experience recorded in his book ''

''. Populated places in the Marquesas Islands Geography of the Marquesas Islands Bays of the Pacific Ocean Valleys of Oceania {{FrenchPolynesia-geo-stub