French Polynesia, World Trip 2018-19

Rangiroa: Some disappointments, some surprises

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Rangiroa is the biggest atoll of the Tuamotos, but still feels very remote. Here, we were camping in someone’s back garden, a place we found on AirBnB as the usual choice for campers, Rangiroa Plage, was fully booked. It wasn’t the best place, setting up our tent on hard and sometimes sharp pieces of coral. For 5 nights I worried about our inflatable sleeping mats and tent. But for now it seems like it survived… Rangiroa itself is also no beauty. We knew there would be no beaches, but to see only dead coral everywhere was sad. We cycled the whole length of the island and there really wasn’t much to see or take photos of. 

 

The best part for us was the spot at Tiputa Pass where you can watch dolphins in the afternoon, jumping in the waves. We went there many times with the mission to take the perfect picture.

 

Of course, we also had to go see some underwater action in the Tiputa Pass! However, once again after Tikehau, we were kind of disappointed. There were definitely more sharks to see than in Tikehau, but only reef sharks once again and not in masses either. On the first dive we had 2 dolphins coming close for a bit, but they didn’t stay long to play. We met a lot of people who had expected more of the famous Tiputa Pass than there was. I guess that’s always the danger when a destination gets so much hype – your high expectations might not be met. I’m not saying the diving wasn’t good – but it isn’t one of these places that we’re gonna remember for the rest of our lives. Even people who did 10+ dives there didn’t have much better experiences. Maybe they got lucky once or twice in that time with a hammerhead or a longer dolphin encounter. But that was it!

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I think my favourite part about Rangiroa (next to watching the dolphins from the shore) was a yearly festival that we were lucky enough to see. The Farerei Haga was really cool! They had some competitions in the afternoon, like boat races or rock lifting which were fun to watch and quite impressive. And every night at 7pm there was a dance show given by a different dance group from the Tuamotus or Tahiti. And it was all for free! The dances were beautiful and they really put a lot of effort into them. Everything was well choreographed and they changed outfits after almost every dance. We went there three evenings during our time in Rangiroa and it was great every time!! Some groups were adults, some just kids but they were great! Once we were lucky to get front row seats for good pictures – so here are some:

 

The festival really made our stay in Rangiroa so much better, an island which otherwise didn’t fulfill our expectations at all…

…except for the Blue Lagoon tour we did one day! It was an all day boat tour, crossing through the whole lagoon to the other side of the atoll where the Blue Lagoon – kind of a mini lagoon inside the lagoon – is located. It was a 1 h ride across, but weather conditions were perfect and when we arrived we were straight away captivated by all the blues of the lagoon and the little picture-perfect islets with photogenic palm trees. What was more and super special for us: sharks everywhere!! Seriously, we have never seen that many blacktips in one place at once! And cute little baby ones, just the size of my underarm! And all of that in perfect clear water, white sands and a turquoise shimmering lagoon in the background. Awesomeness!

 

Our guide took us for a short walk, more through the water than on land, to Bird Island with some very nice views along the way. We were taught how to open a coconut and how to make a hat out of palm leaves. Then it was time to return to the main island where a delicious bbq lunch was waiting for us, yummy! We really enjoyed our time at this special place.

 

Too soon it was time to leave, but on the way back we made a stop for snorkelling which was amazing! There wasn’t much of a reef, but sharks, sharks, sharks!! Mainly blacktips once again, but also some huge lemon sharks! They were a bit more shy, so it was harder to get close to them, but when we managed we had some really impressive and close encounters! A perfect ending to a perfect day – and without this lagoon tour we probably wouldn’t have such fond memories of Rangiroa now. So if you go…do not miss out on this tour!

 

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French Polynesia, World Trip 2018-19

Tiny Tikehau

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From Bora Bora, we took a flight via Rangiroa to Tikehau – our first island of the Tuamotus archipelago. While the Society Islands, which we had visited so far, are mountainous and green, the Tuamotus are narrow strips of land, mostly consisting of coral rocks and palm trees. The islands are shaped in form of atolls, which means that they form a ring of land around the lagoon inside, with the open ocean on the other side. This ring is usually interrupted by a couple of passes – and this is where the main diving action takes place.

While Tikehau is not the main place for diving, we still booked 2 dives there to check out the high amount of fish said to be there… Well. It was 2 of our most boring and disappointing dives ever. There really wasn’t much of anything to see. A couple of fish groups here and there – but not a captivating amount for sure. The coral was all dead. And while we did see a reef shark or two, we had definitely expected more!

The only thing that made the day better was that we stopped by a manta cleaning station before the dives, and there were two big mantas putting on a show for us! Unfortunately we could only snorkel there, but it was awesome nevertheless!!

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The rest of our time in quiet, low-key Tikehau was spent relaxing at the beaches, cycling around the island and enjoying 🙂 Life on a small island like this also has its complications though: it was at times difficult to find food with baguettes having to be pre-ordered 24h in advance, and you can only buy beer when you have an empty bottle to return (how does one start? We don’t know.)

We were camping right on the beach at Chez Justine, in a basic setup – and unfortunately with millions of mosquitos! The location was great though – right at the lagoon with blacktips circling around. The snorkelling wasn’t great otherwise, but the sharks made up for it! Where we found even more sharks though, was in front of the Royal Tikehau Hotel. We spotted them when we picked people up there for diving, and then went back twice ourselves. Once we cycled to the tip of the main island and then swam across the 2 small channels to the hotel pier and restaurant. Another time, we took the kayaks from Chez Justine – which was the better choice! Once in the water, you’re surrounded by blacktips! We counted up to 15 at times, and some were quite curious. There was also lots of smaller reef fish waiting for scraps from the restaurant – so all in all a really cool spot to visit!!

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After a couple of days, it was time for yet another scenic flight onwards to Rangiroa.

French Polynesia, World Trip 2018-19

Bora Bora: 50 Shades of Blue

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When we booked our air pass for French Polynesia, we couldn’t resist including Bora Bora in our itinerary. We wanted to see what all its fame was about and if those over-the-water bungalows are really all that amazing (they are – at least from what we could see from the outside!). Our flight from Raiatea landed in the late afternoon so that we were treated to a beautiful sunset when taking the free Air Tahiti shuttle boat from the airport motu to the main island. What a view!

We were then picked up by our host from AirBnB – Rosalie, who took us out for dinner at one of the food trucks before showing us around her and Marc’s lovely place in Vaitape. Instead of having to camp, they had recently built a cute little cabin in their garden with a private hot shower and toilet! Awesome!! During our whole stay, they went out of their way in hosting us: cooking dinner, surprising us with free included breakfast and helping us in any possible way. Luxury „camping“!

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We had three full days on Bora Bora, which was perfect. On the first day we took the bikes Marc and Rosalie offered us and circled the island in the course of the day, going North first to be able to end the day at Matira Plage. The 32km road is easily doable by bike – there’s only two hills where we had to push our bikes up, everything else is flat. We’ve of course seen quite some cool islands now, but the mountains and the lagoon of Bora Bora are special yet again! Also, the cycling was nice and relaxed, stopping for photos at viewpoints many times.

Matira Plage on the other hand was a bit of a disappointment. It surely was a pretty white beach and you can snorkel with big stingrays easily. But it was a bit too crowded and touristy for us. Still – a good beach to relax on for a couple of hours before closing our circle around the island with the final 8km back to Vaitape.

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After we had circled the island, we wanted to get a view from the top. So hiking day it was! Marc dropped us off at the trek start near the fire station and off we were…to be honest, we had expected something easier and shorter. The path led up steeply and soon we were drenched in sweat (and still nowhere close to the top). However, the first views we got between the bushes encouraged us to go on.

Soon, there were ropes to climb up the steeper parts of Mt Ohue. And more and more ropes, while the views became more and more spectacular! The best was of course the view from the top though! Wow!!! Definitely one of the most amazing views I’ve ever had – if not THE most amazing one! We had an almost 360° view radius in which we could see the entire lagoon surrounding Bora Bora, the ring of motus with their over-the-water bungalows, and Mt Pahia and Mt Otemanu – just slightly higher than Mt Ohue and suddenly so close to us! Needless to say, we took hundreds of photos…

We also made a short attempt to climb Mt Pahia as well since there is a trail continuing to that peak. However, at one point this trail became a scary climbing adventure and we decided to turn around to keep ourselves safe! Unfortunately since we had expected a shorter, easier hike, we didn’t bring enough water and no snacks – so we had to get on the long way down soon. The trail brought us back down a different way, not sure where it suddenly split, but I feel like this version was shorter and a bit easier – so in the end it was all good!

Our third and last day on Bora Bora was spent in the most typical way possible I guess: We booked a lagoon tour to see everything from the boat. During the tour, there were some stops for snorkelling, the first one being in shallow waters where stingrays and blacktip reef sharks were being fed by the guides of different tour boats who all meet at this same spot. Not really my thing… but luckily when we arrived there was only one other boat. In the water it was very busy – rays and sharks everywhere, coming really close! While it was fun on the one hand, I don’t appreciate these feeding snorkel tours. I think it’s much more special when you spot rays or sharks the natural way, even if it’s less of them then maybe. So after some pictures and videos, I returned to the boat and watched the whole spectacle from the surface, with tourists splashing and screaming around and rays and sharks circling around in masses. A bit of a circus if you ask me, but there was only one lagoon tour we could find which doesn’t participate in this activity – and it was out of our budget.

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We then continued our tour around the island. It was cool to see the mountains from the boat and pass by the little motus, but the best were the colours of the water! 50 (or more?) shades of blue!! Wow. And the water was so incredibly clear! Certainly one of the most beautiful bodies of water we’ve ever seen!

Lunch was prepared for us on one of the bigger motus. While our guides were cooking, we were able to snorkel with leopard rays just off the beach! Super cool!! This snorkelling was without feeding and the rays were peacefully swimming around in schools, not caring much about us snorkellers. We were even able to dive down and swim with them really closely! All in a natural way.

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Then, a delicious lunch awaited us! Seriously, the bbq-fish was one of the best ones I’ve ever eaten! There was also poisson cru, the local speciality, some veggies and fruits and cakes for dessert. Not too bad!! The motu itself was very pretty too. We walked around a bit and of course went crazy with the camera!

Our tour then continued to yet another snorkelling site – Jardin du Corail (or: coral garden) – a bit disappointing since the coral were not very healthy at all and there were visible traces of people having stepped on them too many times… Sad. To end this on a good note though, overall we really enjoyed the lagoon cruise. It gives you the chance to fully appreciate Bora Bora with its clear and amazingly turquoise waters.

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Destination: Everywhere