Maupiti Island #

Maupiti Island
Photo courtesy of NASA., under PD
Spanning less than 10 km (6 mi), Maupiti Island sits about 46 km (29 mi) west of Bora Bora. The remote island lies 5,800 km (3,600 mi) from Australia, and about 3,800 km (2,400 mi) from New Zealand.

Maupiti consists of a central island poking 213 m (700 ft) above the sea surface, framed by low-profile serpentine islands and coral reefs that enclose a lagoon. This satellite image of Maupiti Island shows the water inside the lagoon glowing electric blue, surrounded by much paler blues of fringing coral reefs.

Waves breaking on Maupiti?s southwestern shores appear brilliant white. Above the water line, forests carpet the islands. Only on the central island does the land rise high enough to cast a discernible shadow, and because this island sits in the Southern Hemisphere, the shadow falls to the south at this time of year.

On the northeastern fringing island, the landing strip of a tiny airport cuts a long east-west line across vegetated land and coral reef.