Pukarua, sometimes also listed as "Pukaruha" (especially on French maps), is a coral atoll in the eastern Tuamotu Archipelago.

Pukarua Atoll was first visited by Europeans in 1797, when British mariner James Wilson was sailing from Tongatapu to the Marquesas on the ship Duff.

Wilson named Pukarua "Searle Island" after a friend he had in the Transport office in England.

Thirty years later another British explorer, Frederick Beechey, found Pukarua inhabited by Polynesians.

The atoll is served by the Pukarua Airport (IATA: PUK, ICAO: NTGQ).