We spent 6 weeks making our way through the Society Islands. Minus a minor kiting mishap, it has been some of our best cruising yet! We wonder whether the distant locales on our itinerary will be able to compete with our experience here.
Friends who’ve already made a Pacific lap say nothing really compares to the views and crystal blue water in Bora Bora. Although they are quick to point out that every place has its unique charms. And we feel the same. I happen to be writing this in Samoa where the views are not as spectacular as Bora Bora but the people and landscape have much to offer combining to render an unforgettable experience.
We feel lucky to have been able to take our time winding our way through the Societies. We applied for our longstay visa which bought us a longer time window than the typical three months for the entirety of French Polynesia. This is a huge area to cover and we were thankful for this extra time to make moves when we felt like and linger when we wished.
In addition to Tahiti, we visited Moorea, Huahine, Raitea and Bora Bora. We moved on to the Cook Islands feeling that we were ready to move on, but also that there are still experiences left wanting here. I could certainly see us making a return visit at some later point.
Hiking, Rays and Kidboat time in Moorea
There are two main bays in Moorea on the North Coast. We visited Cooks Bay but spent the majority of our almost 2 weeks here in Opanohu Bay. We anchored in a fairly busy anchorage spot opposite a park and lovely beach over sand and settled in to enjoy some memorable days.
Highlights of our time here included swimming with sting rays and blacktip sharks. Dubbed ‘Sting-ray City’ there is a shallow sandy area a 10 minute dinghy ride from the anchorage, where the sting rays congregate looking for food from the daily boats and visitors that come there. These rays are tame! It is unsettling to drop the dinghy anchor and look over the side to see large rays swimming toward the boat (expecting food likely…). And then to jump in and have their silky soft bodies rub and nuzzle you as they swim by with an outer perimeter of decent sized blacktips circling. I kept looking at the barbed tails on the rays and questioning whether this was the best idea….but we went with it. Quite the experience!
Later we swam with Rays in Bora Bora – and they were not nearly as tame (probably less daily visitors?) but both good experiences.
We all loved ‘Sting Ray City’ and made several trips here. We also did two hikes to viewpoints with other family boats we’ve met along the way. One was to the Belvedere (look out) where we were able to see both Cooks Bay and Oponohu Bay. It was 17 km round trip from the beach and the kids did amazingly well, even when the downpouring rain took hold for the final stretch. The lure of ice cream and hiking with friends can work wonders!
And then the hike of nearby Magic Mountain was well worth the small sum paid to the caretaker of the area. The views were gorgeous.
We also spent time enjoying the beach, with evening cruiser potlucks and congregating on the beach for workouts and kid playtime. We even managed to rig up our slackline between our friends on SV Flocerfida and ourselves, with only two attempts at re-anchoring to get the line tight enough. Even the parents took turns traversing the line!
Kiting Mishap
It was here that we also had a kiting mishap that fortunately turned out with a happy ending. But not something I want to ever repeat! It started with Gavin launching the kite from our boat (now we are able to do this with reasonable ease) and Gavin taking off to kite in the Bay. There was good breeze and he was loving it! The kids were playing and I looked up from time to time to keep an eye on him. He was doing great zipping back and forth. Until one time (only 5 or so minutes had passed since my last time seeing him) I looked up and I couldn’t see Gavin’s kite anymore. Concerned, Nathan and I jumped into the dingy to see if we could get closer to the area and see what was going on.
It was a gorgeous windy day and there were a few kiters out, but on closer inspection none of them were Gavin. There was a pass area and nearby reef with breaking waves. I had seem him kite out through the pass into the open ocean and back and my heart sank with thoughts of him getting into trouble out in the sizable ocean swell and reef break. Nathan wondered about a boat we’d seen go out through the pass and turn around and whether we should see if they’d seen Gavin. I didn’t think them turning around had anything to do with Gavin so we kept circling around.
Nathan and I had some scary moments as we realized that we absolutely did not see him anywhere. In the way back to Slingshot with my heart in my mouth to ask for help from our friends and go back out, we saw a small figure on the boat we’d seen turn around waving both arms…. It was Gavin, thank goodness!
It turns out that his kite had just clipped the top of that boat’s mast and Gavin had been pulled along by that boat for a while before climbing aboard and they turned around. Oops and a deep breath of thanks
Love reading about your adventures Jenn!! Dave is super jealous 🙂
Thanks Katey!! Hugs!