Montreval Tamerin

Everything at Tamerin arrived by sea. The villas were cut and jointed at the boatyard at Manda, shipped in pieces, and assembled on site by the same eleven people who built them — an approach that took four months longer than building in place and produced something considerably better made.

Fourteen villas sit over the shallows on the leeward side, each with a ladder into water about a metre and a half deep. Ten sit back among the palms with private sand. All twenty-four are timber, louvred rather than glazed, and cooled by the trade wind and a ceiling fan rather than air conditioning — with the honest exception of the bedroom, which is conditioned, because nobody sleeps well at twenty-nine degrees.

The marine team

Three full-time marine staff run the reef survey with the district fisheries office. They are not an activity desk. They will take you out, and they will tell you what is happening to the coral in terms that are neither reassuring nor theatrical, which is rarer than it should be.

Getting about

There are no vehicles on Motu Rea. Everything is walkable within eleven minutes and there are bicycles for people who would rather not walk it. Luggage is moved by the house; guests are not expected to carry anything anywhere.