2013_03_26 MOOREA

First full day of activities on the Oceana Marina commenced this morning early.

Woke up and looked outside to see Moorea up close for the first time.

Took a ship’s tender to the pier at Moorea where Roman and Olivia were waiting for us with their small outrigger.  Their company is named Moorea Miti Tours.  We highly recommend this company.  They treated us spectacularly with a quintessential day in paradise.

In a beautiful lagoon.

We were taken into a lagoon where we heard local lore about the mountains and Island.  Afterwards we stopped to swim with stingrays and black tipped sharks in shallow water.  Pretty cool.

Roman feeding shrimp to the rays.

 Lots of colorful fish.  Some of our friends from our saltwater tank.

Black finned sharks swam around us.

Black finned shark up close.

My underwater camera worked pretty well.  For a while anyway. I left one of the sealing covers unlocked and salt water got in and the camera worked spottily at best after that.

Next, another stop to snorkel afterwards lunch on a picnic table in the water.  Olivia made a wonderful lunch. Curried chicken with eggplant, pineapple and shrimp salad, black rice, star fruit, pomelo and unbelievable coconut bread.  Dessert was a banana nutella muffin with papaya.

Bobi Steingart image.  I really liked the local fishermen in front of our cruise ship.

The color of the water was amazing!

Roman on outrigger support and Olivia swimming.  Olivia took about 100 images and sent a Picasa link to Rich tonight.  Will have to see them tomorrow

The water was incredibly warm and the colors were spectacular..

Some napped on shore others sat on the outrigger and eventually we headed back to the cruise ship after one last stop for more snorkeling.  Quite a bit of sunburn among the group.

This evening we attended the Captian’s Reception where we had drinks and appetizers.

Back to Rich’s suite for more appetizers than you could imagine.  5 plates per couple from The Red Ginger Asian Restaurant delivered to the suite.

The Oceana Marina set sail early at about 8:30 for a day long sail to Raroia.  This is the only day at sea.  Spa plans have been made and some will attend cooking class.