Day 31: Rangiroa, Tuamotu Islands … French Polynesia

Sunday, 5 February 2017
At Sea — South Pacific Ocean … En Route to Papeete, Tahiti

Stats @ Ship’s Time 9:00p (TAHT) … UTC 7:00a (6 February)
Temp: 82.2F (27.9C)
Position: 15.30.84S / 148.20.44W

Make voyages!  Attempt them … there’s nothing else.
~ Tennessee Williams ~

What a fantastic day!  One of the best ever shore excursions.  Excellent weather … oh, and that Polynesian water, which we were told is described as “50 Shades of Blue” these days.

At Ile aux Recifs in Rangiroa.

The Captain arrived just outside Tiputa Pass at 7:00a to pick up the pilot.  From what I understand, this is one of the two passes between the motus that ships can navigate through to anchor in the lagoon.  The current is fast … the passage is narrow — great care is needed to get through.

Rangiroa is literally a circle of coral islets — or motus — encircling the world’s second largest lagoon … the largest one is in New Caledonia.  In other words, it’s an atoll … often described as a “giant pearl necklace laid upon the water.”  There are 240 motus, each rising no more than 3 feet (just under 1 m) in elevation.  Combined, they are 110 miles (177 km) long.  The water along the outer perimeter is known locally as Moana-uri [wild ocean], and along the interior shoreline of the motus as Moana-tea [peaceful ocean].  Wild vs peaceful is all relative as the lagoon was far from peaceful IMHO … as we were to find out during our wet and wild ride.

By 7:30a we were in the Insignia Lounge to collect our tender tickets — color red for the first tender boat … yay.  The tender was called shortly before 8:00a with surprisingly few people ready to go — certainly less than the 70 people they usually load up.  The ride to the pier was short, and soon we were shaking hands with Leon from Pa’ati Excursions (there is no website, but click here for the contact link).  Our group was small — eight of us who knew each other already, and three other couples … for a total of 14 people.

Leon split us up between the two speed boats — unevenly … 8 in one, 6 in the other … I’m thinking because one boat has a bigger engine.  And off we went on a bumpy — OMG was it bumpy — ride … clear across to the other side of the lagoon from where Insignia was docked near Tiputa Pass.  The hour-long ride — may have been longer due to the rough water — seemed interminable, but we put it quickly behind us when we arrived at Ile aux Recifs [Reef Island] and found ourselves immersed in the gorgeous scenery … white sand beach, shallow and warm turquoise water, palm trees swaying in the breeze.

The boats were brought as close to shore as possible and we were offloaded into knee-deep water for a short walk across a dead reef … water shoes a must.  We left most of our gear in the boat, taking with us sunblock, hats, daypacks, and snorkeling gear — no need for fins the snorkelers were told.  Of course, we all had to stop to take photos, but within a few minutes we were walking in ankle-deep water along the edge of the motu to the first snorkeling spot with picture-postcard-perfect Polynesian scenery.

In no time, the snorkelers were face-down in the crystal-clear water.  I joined them for a swim — the salt water so buoyant that I felt comfortable venturing into the deeper areas.  We were at this lagoon for about 45 minutes, and could have stayed here all day, but there was more on the day’s agenda.

Following the edge of the lagoon, and later crossing to the other side by wading through water that was at times past the waist for us shorties, we walked to the far end of the motu where the Pacific Ocean was pounding the old coral beds rising out of the water like a fortress.  These walls of coral serve to trap small lagoon pools where we relaxed in the water, and also wandered around to explore the area a bit.

Again, we could have spent more time here, but lunch was awaiting us on the neighboring motu.  Before we could eat, however, we had to get there.  And no, we weren’t going to take the boats.  No sirree bob … we were going to wade!  Through water … against a fairly strong current … at depths ranging from waist high to neck high … carrying our bags.  Mui took my daypack as there was no way for me to keep it dry when we got into deeper water.  By the time we reached the motu — 20-30 minutes later — we all felt that we had definitely earned the lunch that was awaiting us.

After dropping us off, Leon had continued on to the lunch site with the captain of our boat.  There the two of them had gone to work preparing our meal in a makeshift kitchen.  The lunch area, which was little more than a lean-to, had two picnic tables covered with woven palm-tree-frond placemats.  In the rafters of the shade cover over the tables, a brilliantly hued coconut crab added color, but the piece de resistance was the fabulous scenery … with blacktip sharks circling in the shallow water just off-shore.  The yellow boats added a pop of additional color just a little ways off.  Like I said — picture-postcard-perfect.

The food was great.  The coconut bread, warm off the grill where it was baked just before we arrived, was a crowd-favorite.  As well, we had rice, raw fish, grilled chicken, grilled mahi mahi, and cake for dessert.  So much food … all washed down with a variety of sodas, water, and beer.  As we ate, Leon and one of the other guys played their ukuleles … so we even had entertainment.  Once lunch was over, some of the leftovers were fed to the sharks … quickly increasing the number of them that had been circling just off-shore.  As the guys washed the dishes using sand and sea water, we entertained ourselves by photographing the sharks.

We were just about ready to leave when the heavens opened up in a tropical downpour — short in duration.  Soon, the sun was out again and we were wading through shark-infested waters to the boats for the ride back across the lagoon.  By this time, it was 2:00p, and we had a schedule to keep if were going to make it back to the pier before the last tender at 4:30p.

The ride back was just as wet and wild as the ride out to Reef Island … definitely something anyone with back or neck problems should consider seriously before booking an excursion to the far side of the lagoon.  Somehow this ride felt shorter — perhaps because we weren’t battling the currents we had on the way to Ile aux Recifs.  By around 3:00p, we were anchored in an area of the lagoon known as the Aquarium … rightly so as this place is known to be a who’s who of ocean critters.

As though there weren’t enough fish around already, the guys threw the rest of the leftovers in the water, starting a literal feeding frenzy right next to the boat … good for those of us not snorkeling.  Those who did go in the water later reported seeing fish galore, a couple of moray eels, a couple of sharks, and at least one purple jelly fish with its attendant tropical fish feeding off what was probably its eggs.

By 4:00p, we were paying Leon the well-deserved XPF 8,500/person (about $77/person at today’s exchange rate) for a truly great day and bidding the guys adieu.  A few minutes later we were on the tender back to the ship, pleasantly tired, in dire need of a good rinse to remove the salt that encrusted us, and totally satisfied with our day … back- and butt-aches from the pounding boat ride notwithstanding.

What a truly fantastic day.  I am so glad we don’t have any concrete plans for Papeete tomorrow … taking it easy is sounding really good at this very moment.

You will have noticed by now that there is only one photo in this post.  Between the iffy internet and the lack of time now that we don’t have long runs of days at sea, I no longer have time to format blog posts the way I would like to.  Fear not … I am trying out a new format where I will provide a link to an online gallery to which I have uploaded some processed photos.  This is a last ditch effort on my part to continue to provide stories and images from our ports of call.  If this proves too cumbersome as the days go by … well, we’ll wait and see what happens.

Click here for the online photo gallery for a few of the images from today.

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