Moorea, French Polynesia

Sunday, January 21, 2024 : In short, an absolutely spectacular day. As we anchored in the harbor, once again the weather did not look very promising. The forecast was for overcast skies and rain throughout the day. In fact, it did rain as we rode the tender to the pier for our 5 hour tour that started at 10 AM “The Crystal Waters of the Tahitian Motu”. We got off the tender boat onto a smaller boat with open sides and a canvas canopy top - that held 16 people, along with a second boat of the same size with the other half of our group, we set off. After about 30 minutes sailing around the harbor, with a very new guide who knew the names of the mountains, but not much else, we made our first stop for swimming. The water was only chest deep, but the current was very strong. Standing and walking was difficult; actually attempting to swim/snorkel was nearly impossible. We did get to see a few small black fin sharks and a number of tropical fish using the snorkel masks the few minutes we could stand. The guide, captain and one other local on the boat (we later learned was the tour company owner), were literally snagging many of us as we drifted further away from the anchored boat, and helped to drag us back. There were a few members of our group who were quite scared, so we didn’t stay long. We climbed back into the boat and continued on. As we sailed we marveled at the beautiful clear water, with the many shades of blue, the coral and even spotted a few sea turtles (but not close enough or quick enough to snag pictures). We then did a wet landing on another island, where we had music, lunch and swimming. They showed us how they prepared the traditional ceviche, made with fish, lime juice and coconut milk. And then we had that for lunch along with salad and grilled chicken, marlin and boar sausages. The marlin was caught by the guide of the boat earlier in the day. It was all awesome. Both before and after lunch we enjoyed swimming in calmer waters, although the tides and currents did change several times every few minutes. There were at least 4 stingrays and 2 sharks that were swimming right along side us. And, of course, once the guides started feeding them some fish, they stayed right along side use. It was spectacular. Later on there was a demonstration on cutting coconuts and tying the traditional Pareo garments into clothing for men and women. And music throughout the afternoon. It did rain on and off, but it didn’t put any damper on the day. We sailed back to the pier and walked through just a few craft stands on the pier while we waited for the next tender. It was truly a magical day.