After our wonderful experiences in Huahine, I wasn’t quite sure how Raiatea & Taha’a would stack up, but they haven’t disappointed!
After a great 20nm downwind sail from Huahine, we entered through Pass Iriru or Maire & headed into Faaroa Bay – a deep bay into which 2 small rivers flow. One of them, Apoomau River, is apparently the only navigable river in French Polynesia, so whilst the sun was still shining, we hopped into our dinghy & went exploring. It was like stepping into another world, edging our way up the shallow water which twisted & turned amongst the dense tropical vegetation. After about one & a half miles we arrived at a dock alongside the Botanical Gardens, after which the river shallowed further. We had a brief walk around the gardens & then headed back, this time switching off the engine and drifting slowly downstream in the current. The gentle sound of lapping water only interrupted by bird call. Magical!
The following day we didn’t have to travel far to find a very beautiful anchorage off the island of Tipaemau, just across the channel. The anchorage is a deep basin, but with good holding close to the archetypal tropical paradise, (see photos). That evening, to our delight, we were joined by John & Kerry on Kelani. There is a long story, but the short one is that they both are from Sydney & I have worked with Kerry in the past. They too, have bought a boat to enjoy the beauty of French Polynesia for a year or two. It was wonderful catching up & we have since enjoyed several memorable experiences catching up in different anchorages, reflecting on our ‘old life’ in the medical field & how well a cocktail goes down as the sun sets.
After a couple of days in that particular paradise, it was time to head north to the west coast of Taha’a to snorkel the ‘coral gardens’ – super shallow water teeming with fish. Just like swimming in an aquarium & so good to visualise the kaleidoscope of colourful fish at such close quarters.
It was a little busy, but I had to keep reminding myself that this is peak tourist season here in French Polynesia – July/August school holiday time.
Being with our tour guides, John & Kerry, who have been in Raiatea for 3 months now, meant they knew all the cool places to go & this included Fare Miti – a cocktail & tapas bar on a Va’a in the bay. Fabulous place for sundowners – the sky a palette of pinks & coral with Bora Bora in the distance. Great time to reflect on whether retirement was a good option!
We were fortunate to have a couple of snorkels with the manta rays in the bay. I always feel incredibly grateful in to experience these magnificent creatures at close quarters. They are huge, (3 or 4m across), and quite inquisitive, so if you stay still they will cautiously approach & then glide away.
We parted company with Kelani for a while & headed to the NE of Taha’a where we dropped the anchor on a shallow sandy shelf, (a bit nerve wracking when Bill stood up next to the anchor!) and had a great snorkel team with fish & healthy coral. As I ‘sucked in’ to skim over a very shallow patch, I looked to my left only to see a reef shark doing the same just a couple of metres away! That gave me a bit of a surprise but of course, it wasn’t the least bit interested in me & hastily swam away.
We spent another fabulous few days in a large sandy anchorage off Motu Ceran. The weather couldn’t have been better & the mornings so still that I could see the coral & fish easily whilst paddling around, as well as a few spider conch, augurs & other large molluscs settled on the sandy bottom.
Time to reprovision, so we headed off to the ‘town anchorage’ to visit what is said to be French Polynesia’s 2nd largest town: Uturoa.