Living Expenses in Marquesas

A season in Marquesas, what to bring?

Beer is what you bring, and lots of it!! Before coming here we had heard how expensive everything is to live here so we stocked up the boat massively and a lot of the stuff we stocked up with is actually as cheap here because certain things are "Subsidised."The shops here are basic, it's a shock for sure when you first arrive but you quickly get used to it and actually get quite excited finding new treats but for most of the stuff you need the shops have it all here, just not the big selection. It's France Territory so there are also quite a few unexpected purchases in these little tucked away shops also. 

So I thought I would make this list of the basics that most sailors need if anyone is coming this way, it may be useful. 

Anything with a red sticker on the shelves or in the fridges is subsidised and makes it a LOT cheaper, it's most of the basics you need, here's a quick list in US$-

Packets of 500g pasta-spaghetti ect-$1

Decent Thai rice- $1.40kg

Flour/sugar $1.50kg

Sunflower oil- $1.50ltr

Extra Virgin olive oil $10ltr

Powdered milk $3 for 300g packet

NZ tinned butter (really good) $4.50 a pound

Cheddar cheese(processed block but actually ok) $1.50 250g

Dry cheese crackers $1-1.50 a packet

Basic tins of corn, sardines, tomatoes ect are also very cheap here but then as soon as it's fancy or not subsidised it's ridiculously expensive. 

They have decent selection of Basic Asian foods also like soy sauce, sweet chilli, sesame oil, oyster sauce that are very reasonable around $3 each a bottle, but not Thai or Indian pastes and curries here. 

Coconut milk $2 can

Dried herbs ect are VERY expensive here??

Coffee $5-6 250g

Peanuts, chips ect are all mostly very expensive

Cleaning products, shampoos, cling wrap/tin foil ect all very expensive

Large wheels of French Brie cheese-$20-22kg

Swiss cheese-$12kg

No fresh cheddar??

Parmesan cheese available but expensive

Fresh bread-baguette 60c

Dozen eggs $6

Frozen meats- Its amazing the selection of frozen vacuumed packed meats in the tiniest of shops here from NZ, Australia, Argentina and Uruguay and all very good. 

There are loads of goats in the hills here the locals eat so lamb isn't subsidised but great NZ lamb legs, chops ect are all here but expensive at around $20kg

Beef is subsidised, so don't stock up in Panama or Ecuador like we did!

NZ/Australian rump 1.5-2kg packs-$9kg

Sirloin steak-$13kg

Argentine/Uruguay Black Angus Rib Eye (absolutely delicious!) $15kg

500g mince $8

12x decent hamburgers-$10

Chicken-

Whole Argentina chicken -$5

Chicken breasts are hard to find and super expensive 

2kg Box of chicken legs- $10

Pork they have in the hills so is reasonably expensive and not so much available. 

Bacon small packet $6

Fish- when you can buy from the fisherman it's super cheap at $5kg for tuna or whatever else they have caught but you have to get up real early and expect to wait!

Drinks- Like I said bring beer as it's ridiculously expensive. Took us a while but the best thing to do is as soon as you arrive is to buy a crate of bottles. They are 500ml and you pay $18 for the refundable deposit of 20x bottles and the plastic crate and then about $55 for the 20x bottles of beer or $2.80 each. Cans of beer (330ml) are about the same price as big bottle or $66-70 a case. 

Wine- cheapest but half ok yachtie grade wine is around $9-10 a litre. Half decent bottle of wine is from $20

Local Rum- $28ltr, cheap vodka ect $50+, known brand whiskey $100??

We heard stories of in the past the officials had searched boats and if they had too much spirits/wines ect they had to pay a tax, this isn't the case anymore and we even asked the official in Nuka Hiva when we checked in and he said no worries as long as it's for personal consumption. 

Mixers- coke/tonics $1.50 can, juice is also expensive $3.50 litre 

Fresh Veges are available in the main ports and it's a shock at there prices but you soon get used to it. Lettuce $2-3, tomatoes $4, potatoes/onions $3.50 so it's not so bad just the selection is not always there (weird to think you can get excited by carrots??,)

Fresh fruits are everywhere and easy to get even just going for a walk-mangoes, pamplemousses, papaya, avocado,limes ect

Hardware stores in main towns have not a bad selection but boaty things are scarce and super expensive like epoxy, antifoul ect. Sikaflex $50 a tube, tape/brushes expensive so if you have projects bring whatever you can. 

Water- drinking water is available from taps at certain places on certain islands and comes straight from the mountain, you have to dinghy. At certain times there is a lot of rain but then there are big dry spells also, I can't work out the rainy seasons??

A watermaker isn't a must here but it is more so in the Tuamotos. 

Fuel is available easy in Nuka-Hiva and Hiva-Oa

Diesel is $1.40 litre. Kevin at yacht services Nuka Hiva can get you a duty free cert or if your in Tahiti the cert is free. It's valid for 6 months and the price for diesels is then 80c a litre. 

Gas- best to buy a local bottle, $30 refundable deposit and then $30 for  big 14kg bottle of gas. We bought easy at the hardware stores or supermarkets a regulator for $12 and put this bottle in our hatch. We also bought a connector for local bottle for $10 and can fill our normal bottles by doing the gravity method. Otherwise Kevin at yacht services will fill your bottle for $50

Bars and Restaurants- good news is you won't spend much money in these places as there aren't any! Well there is a few "snack" restaurants for lunch and maybe a pizza place but that's about it. Lunch at a snack is usually about $10-12 but is such a massive serving most of the yachties share a plate between 2. The locals can eat!

I saw one place that was almost a bar in Hiva Oa but the last time we went it was closed for some time. 

Internet- This is terrible, by far the worst we've ever seen, imagine 5 minutes just to open your bank App on your phone? Faster internet is coming though as they have laid the cable and they just need to connect but things take a lot of time here I can tell you. Some snack restaurants offer wifi otherwise you buy a VINI SIM card for your phone and these work reasonably well. You can sometimes make whatsapp calls without big delays and download a weather grib file but don't expect to do any searching or especially book a flight if needed, this is really hard. A 200mb top up card costs $10 but because you can't download anything 200mb actually lasts quite a long time! You buy the SIM cards at the post office. 

So as expensive as you think it may be it isn't really all that bad if you eat the basics and don't drink too much beer but you have to remember it's some of the most remote islands and the supply boat only comes 1-2 times a month "usually".

And remember if you see something in the shop that you want buy it there and then because often it won't be there the next day, especially cheese!