Because it is endowed with a fringing reef, Rūrutu has in recent years become known for whale watching: Humpback whales come and reproduce here between July and October within easy sighting distance from the beach.
The economic disadvantages of the protectorate status became even more evident when France closed the Tahitian ports to all foreigners in 1899, including merchants from Rurutu, in response to an outbreak of bubonic plague in San Francisco.