Toau Coast

The waters beside Toau belong to the Tuamotu maritime landscape, where a low ring of coral and sand interrupts the open Pacific. Reefs create productive habitats and shelter the lagoon, while their edges can present serious dangers to approaching vessels. Passages, currents, and changing weather determine the practical geography of the coast. Fishing requires knowledge of both protected shallows and the exposed sea beyond them.

Toau lies near Fakarava, another of the Tuamotu atolls. In April 1774 James Cook recorded a European sighting of Toau; some later maps used the name Elizabeth. This navigational record is one episode in the history of the surrounding waters and does not describe the earlier lives of the atoll's Polynesian inhabitants.