Mountain · French Polynesia
Mount Orohena
Mont Orohena is the highest point of Tahiti and of all French Polynesia, the worn core of a shield volcano that stopped erupting long ago. Rain has carved its ridges razor-thin.
Where is Mount Orohena?
Mount Orohena is part of the Tahiti Nui, Society Islands.
You will find it in: French Polynesia.
Summit: 17.623° S, 149.477° W
The story behind it
Tahiti is really two old shield volcanoes joined by a narrow isthmus, big Tahiti Nui and small Tahiti Iti, and Orohena is the highest remnant of the larger one. The lava that built it was erupted roughly one and a half million years ago and the volcano has been quiet ever since; the hollow left behind in its middle is drained northwards by the Papenoo River. Because the sea surrounds it, the mountain rises 2 241 metres straight from the shoreline, so its prominence is exactly the same as its height. That isolation is unusual: measured by how far you must travel to find higher ground, Orohena ranks seventh in the world. Reaching the top is a three-day job with a guide, up through Pihaiateta at 1 742 metres to a camp on Pito Hiti at 2 110 metres, then along a narrow exposed ridge where ropes are used. The rock is crumbly and often soaked, and thick plants hide the ground, which is why almost nobody walks here without help. Sources date the volcano's active period slightly differently, from about 1.7 to 0.25 million years ago in one and 1.23 to 0.48 million in another.
Find it on the globe
Mount Orohena is there as a small peak with its own shape — a horn, a ridge, a volcano — standing on the surface. From far away the planet is only a blue ball; detail arrives as you zoom in, and this one appears once you are close enough. Open it on the globe.
It sits at its real coordinates, not near them — the same numbers listed in the facts above. Switch off the layer for this kind of place and it disappears again; the buttons for that are down the right-hand edge.
Questions children ask
How high is Mont Orohena?
It reaches 2 241 metres, the highest point of Tahiti and of the whole of French Polynesia. Because it stands on an island, its prominence is also 2 241 metres.
Where is Mont Orohena?
In the middle of Tahiti Nui, the larger half of the island of Tahiti, in the Society Islands of French Polynesia. The capital Papeete and the commune of Mahina lie on the coast below it.
Can you walk up Mont Orohena?
Yes, but only with a guide and three days of hard walking and scrambling. The route climbs Pihaiateta and Pito Hiti first, then follows a narrow ridge where ropes are used on wet, crumbly rock.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
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