Montreval
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Montreval
One moment.
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Tamerin Atoll
A lagoon eleven kilometres across, and a reef doing well.
Tamerin is a ring of nineteen islets enclosing a lagoon eleven kilometres at its widest point. Four islets are inhabited; the rest are sandbars, bird colonies, or too low to build on. Our villas sit on the leeward side of Motu Rea, which is the second largest and the only one with fresh groundwater.
The lagoon is shallow — rarely more than nine metres — and almost entirely enclosed, which makes it flat in nearly all weather and extraordinarily clear. It also makes it warm, which is a mixed blessing, and the reason the reef survey exists.
The Tamerin reef has been surveyed continuously since 1996, first by the district fisheries office and, since 2019, jointly with our own marine team. Coral cover on the northern arm has risen from 31 per cent to 46 per cent over that period. This is unusual and is not entirely explained. Our marine biologist, Vaea Tumanu, will tell you exactly how much of it is management and how much is luck.
May to October is the dry season: less rain, steadier trade winds, and the best visibility in the lagoon. November to April is warmer and wetter, with afternoon storms that clear within the hour and the year's best light.
The place, in short
When to come
May to October for the dry season
Getting there
Tamerin airstrip on Motu Rea, then fifteen minutes across the lagoon by the house boat. There is no road to the villas and never will be.
Experiences
Reservations
Our own team answers, not an agency. Rates fall on the fourth night and again on the seventh, which tells you what we would prefer.
