All vestiges of stomach woes appear to be gone this morning! We've been steaming towards Rangiroa all night and we have another all day non-private tour for more snorkeling in a couple of hours. The cumulative effect of all the sun baked snorkeling is starting to become a bit of a worry. Really have to protect yourself from the sun! Hopefully there will be fins available again on this tour so I can get in the water and check out these reefs.
Rich and Richie hoisting their packs high to cross the lagoon.
Crossing the lagoon.
After lunch they cleaned up the wooden plates in the water at the beach and tossed some leftovers to a huge bunch of back finned sharks that congregate for their lunch! They literally come up the the edge of the beach to get the scraps.
Hard to see but bunch of black finned sharks swimming around me in a circle. Pretty cool!
Had to walk just this far to the boats.
Last look at the silly blues - the darker blue is where it got deeper.
Our "formal" staircase image waiting for our "lost" dinner reservation to be filled.
First look at Rangiroa
Early kayaker
Nice rainbow behind what looked to be a "working" ship with accommodations.
It keeps getting better!
Traditional Polynesian greeting at the pier
The group waiting to board one of those 2 boats.
Leaving the Oceana Marina in our wake
Headed for the pier this morning and met Leon and his mates from Pa’Ati Excursions. Jumped in one of two boats he is in charge of and headed across the atoll for an hour until we reached Ile Aux Recif’s.
First look at the lagoon.
Another postcard image.
Leon took us right to the beach edge where we jumped out and got our agenda. We hiked a bit along the beach and turned into a lagoon. Dropped off our bags and took our snorkel masks with us. No flippers required. This lagoon was very shallow and for the timid swimmers (me) it was great. We swam around for about 20 minutes or so and go out.
Climbed up on the coral formations to see the surf pounding the beach.
Headed towards the edge of the atoll where we came up to a bunch of high walls of coral. This was the protective barrier at the edge of the atoll.
Two of the tour guys showed off diving from the top of the coral into a slightly deeper pool. No takers from the tourists! Lisa Claver shot this image. Nice!
There were a million sea cucumbers around and the guides delighted in picking them up and making them squirt water out. Of course I had to do it as well.
Relaxed in the warm pools until we were able to head towards our lunch.
Nice calm "swimming hole".
Rich and Richie hoisting their packs high to cross the lagoon.
Crossing the lagoon.
Walked across yet another lagoon in waist high water - maybe a bit higher for some of the shorter ones!
At the other side we walked around the corner to an area where our lunch was being prepared. Pretty tasty I must say. Started with come coconut bread and then had raw tuna, cooked Mahi Mahi, grilled chicken, rice and a delicious coconut/banana cake for dessert. Serenaded by Leon on guitar and one of the other guys on a ukulele like instrument. Polynesian music and they could really play!
Lunch!
After lunch they cleaned up the wooden plates in the water at the beach and tossed some leftovers to a huge bunch of back finned sharks that congregate for their lunch! They literally come up the the edge of the beach to get the scraps.
Hard to see but bunch of black finned sharks swimming around me in a circle. Pretty cool!
Had to walk just this far to the boats.
Last look at the silly blues - the darker blue is where it got deeper.
Walked through the sharks to the boats - harmless and headed back the hour in reverse to near our cruise ship. They went out into the ocean in some pretty impressive surf looking for dolphins but none were around.
TONS of fish! I didn't even see the black finned shark right in front of me until I was reviewing the images.
Pretty great coral as well.
One last closeup!
Finally went to “The aquarium” a fabulous snorkeling site in close proximity to the ship. Astonishing amounts of his and pretty impressive corals as well. No flippers on the boat but I was able to get around with a life jacket. Probably was harder with the jacket but the water was pretty deep. The security blanked helped. I chanced my underwater camera again (it came back to life) and got some great shots until it stopped working completely. Will take a look at it tomorrow after it dries out!
Back to the Oceana Marina for a shower in anticipation of another dinner in the Polo Grill. Meat!
Our "formal" staircase image waiting for our "lost" dinner reservation to be filled.
Another fabulous day in paradise! Ship set sail at 5:00 heading for our two day stop in Bora Bora.
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