Grocery Shopping in the Marquesas

Grocery Shopping, Marquesas-style. Here are three  things to know about restocking your food supply in the Marquesas.

Summary

Before we arrived in the Marquesas, I worried about the ease of provisioning groceries. Yes, everyone eats everywhere. However, I had heard that stores were mostly nonexistent, had few items available, and what was found would be expensive. What was the reality?

First, you'll find three types of "stores": magasins (small, department-store-ish businesses), green markets, and locals selling affordable produce from their gardens.

Second, we found most of what we needed. We had heard that black beans were hard to find, so we stocked up in Panama, as we eat them frequently. But everything we looked for, we found.

And finally, necessities (like flour, canned vegetables, and some meats) were subsidized by the French government to make them affordable. You can find them by looking for red tags. These appear either on the item or the shelf.

Bottom line? While costs for many items were higher than we're used to in the United States and Canada, the availability of produce from local sellers and subsidized groceries makes provisioning manageable.

For more details, listen to the full podcast or check out Grocery Shopping Marquesas-Style - https://www.fit2sail.com/countdown-to-cruising/2025/5/26/grocery-shopping-marquesas-style.

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Links (Amazon links are affiliate links, meaning that The Boat Galley Podcast earns from qualifying purchases; some other links may be affiliate links):

Gear Hammocks  (Amazon) - https://amzn.to/3HoskKR

Storing Food Without Refrigeration -  https://products.theboatgalley.com/products/storing-food-without-refrigeration 

Eating Well with a Tiny Fridge Course -  https://products.theboatgalley.com/products/eating-well-wi