Arutua Atoll

Arutua, or Ngaru-atua, is a coral atoll in the northwestern Tuamotus. Its low islets surround a broad, deep lagoon with a passage to the sea. In 1722 Jacob Roggeveen’s expedition visited the atoll; Frederick Beechey returned in 1826 and called it Cockburn Island. Polynesian communities had navigated among these islands long before their arrival.