Mon, February 3rd – First day on Moorea.
Just a housekeeping note – I have added more pictures to the post from yesterday since it was published so you might want to go back and take another look at the post.
While enjoying the excellent service and our lovely (free) breakfast overlooking the turquoise South Pacific we took a look at the activities that the hotel had to offer to see what our next three days might look like. One thing that caught our eye was snorkelling and so after breakfast and some pool time we stopped in at the on site dive centre to get more details. First of all we got complementary flippers and snorkel and mask to use during our stay here. The beach off the hotel apparently offers some good snorkelling, with a band of coral running across it and the over-water bungalows provide a habitat for lots of fish. But the dive shop also offered an excursion to a small private island about 20 minutes by boat south of our location for a reasonable price. So, despite little sleep on our flight over, we decided to spend our afternoon doing that, since the weather looked good and the diver master said tomorrow’s weather won’t be as good.
By now our bungalow was available and so we went in search of it. We’re about 25 metres from the beach with no other bungalow in front of us, so this is the view from the front porch.
Our bungalow looks like this one with a beautiful wash area. Double sinks and a shower surrounded by glass windows into an outdoor garden. Hibiscus flowers were placed as decoration everywhere. I think we could be quite comfortable here.
We changed into our snorkelling gear and coverups and had a lovely lunch at the beach cafe that is right on the other side of the bungalow opposite us. It’s a limited menu but we both found something we would like to eat and most importantly it had a million dollar view.
I felt more like a nap than snorkelling but I hoped that once I got out in the boat and the ocean air, not to mention the water, that I’d wake up. So off we went with 3 couples, all from the U.S. I think, the dive master, and the official photographer. We travelled only about 20 minutes through a well marked channel. The water depth changes dramatically in the area between land and the reef which almost entirely encircles the island. From the boat you can see the light turquoise areas where it is shallow, dotted with dark spots which is coral, or a stingray! And within feet you can see the dark blue areas where the depth dropped off dramatically.
The captain tied up along side a small privately owned island that has been transformed into a snorkelling Mecca, especially for newbie snorkelers. They have laid out a ropes in a grid in some areas and along a track through the coral in others. So you can use the ropes to hold on to in order to stay in one place, to help propel you along the way. There were different coloured buoys to mark special points of interest or to show you a channel through the coral. And the water is really, really clear, and very warm. We were in for a couple of hours and I didn’t get cold at all.
We started out just standing in knee deep water and the people that own the island brought the stingrays over to us so we could see and touch them and learn about them. Then we put on the snorkel gear and floated holding on to the line while the owners dropped food for the fish, rays and sharks which brought them really close to us. It felt like cheating to have them brought to us rather than having to work for it, but it actually did feel like being in an aquarium with them.
Don’t be worried about the sharks – they are black-tipped reef sharks and unless cornered won’t attack a human. And they are very used to people here. I saw a lot of them in the Galapagos, where they are wild and we steered clear of them when we saw them just to be safe.
After having our fill of watching the feeding, we followed the dive master out along the line almost all the way to the coral reef surrounding the island. The current got stronger and stronger along the way, and you could feel the waves that were splashing over the barrier. Along the way we saw lots of coral in various shapes and sizes and some of the most brilliant colours. One iridescent blue one that was gorgeous. There was even one that looked like penne pasta swaying in the current.
Once we’d had our fill of snorkelling we were able to visit the little island and they had tea, coffee or hot chocolate which was free, you just had to clean your own cup. They had some really rustic one room huts along the beach which they rented out, for day or overnight use but they were mostly empty on this day. Everything was adorned with strings of sun bleached shells hanging from the railings and roofs.
I’m sorry I didn’t take along a camera on this trip. Because I was sleep deprived I didn’t want to worry about taking pictures and keeping myself alive while snorkelling. But we did have a photographer along for the trip. We saw the rough clips from the video that he shot and of course had to order it. He will sent a link to a customized version to us by email in the next couple of days. We’ll try and figure out a way to post it or a link to it.
The ride back included juice and water and the warm sun. All in all, an excellent 4 hours.
We finished up the day with happy hour and dinner at one of the resort’s restaurants, on a deck overlooking the ocean. I am now well outside my normal eating program with a burger and chips and Diet Coke for dinner.
Lois' Adventures 