2016_04_01 BORA BORA II

Took first tender to Viatape pier where we met up with David our pilot and guide for the day.  David is from Lyon, France and has lived in Bora Bora for 4 years.  His wife is British and was a barrister but now works at pearl shop in town.

High marks to Pure Snorkeling by Reefbleu Discovery. First off, the boat was the best boat BY FAR of any of our snorkeling trips.  Fast with very comfortable seats and quite a bit of room for the eight of us.  Plenty of little compartments to stow away our shoes and gear so there was room to move around.

David drove us about 5 minutes away to our first snorkeling stop. The boat had flippers so I got into the water where we were seeking to sight a manta ray.   Another catamaran was in the area and their guide communicated to David that there was a ray right below them.  We followed a 8-10 foot long manta ray around for a bit.  She was swimming slowly (way faster than we could swim) around for a while.  Magnificent creature, so glad to see one so quickly.  David said it can sometimes take up to an hour if at all.

Next 10 minutes more to just inside the lagoon at the oceans edge where we encountered a bunch of dolphins.  They were swimming and jumping around our boat for quite a while.  They didn’t seem interested in heading out to the ocean but swam around in the lagoon. 

After that we went out into the ocean to see the where the surf crashed into the outer atoll edge at some moth’s.  
Quite different snorkeling here with a fairly strong current towards the reef.  I skipped this one - bad swimmer.  The others seemed to like it.

David helped us find a spot just outside the lagoon to toss a bottle with a message in it out into the ocean.  Rich found this bottle on Cape Cod - it had originally been thrown into the water in the Bay of Fundy in Canada.  There was a message from a girl's family who had passed away.  Rich added the information about where he found it in Cape Cod.  Added the new location in French Polynesia to the message.  There is a web site that had a special number identifying this bottle, where it came from and following it's journey.  We hope it washes ashore somewhere and somebody can continue it's journey.

Back inside the reefs into the lagoon again for yet another snorkeling spot.  We were told to stay in the middle of the channel as the current was quite rough against us on the edges.  I went in after losing a clip on my snorkel mast.  It flew off my mask into the water while I was trying to adjust the snorkel tube.  Borrowed another mask from the boat but it’s mast was very low to the water and I kept swallowing water.  The current WAS quite hard to manage so I got out after just a few minutes.

Our lunch spot.

Ready to eat!

Table in the ocean.

Fruits and coconut bread.

Rice and raw tuna.

More fruit and lychee fruits.

Pretty hungry so we went to a private beach for a local lunch. Rich asked if a all day tour could be arranged with a lunch included.  The owner of the boat talked to a local Polynesian family who had this site and they agreed to cook for us.  We were the first ones to do this and David was keen to make sure we were satisfied with the food.  Amazing food served on a picnic table in the water!  We had Mahi Mahi as well as a raw tuna dish.  Rice with carrots and corn and coconut banana sugary dish that was sort of dessert.  One plate had 2 different types of local bananas, tapioca and taro.  No-one really liked this plate.  A second plate had “regular” bananas, orange slices, grapefruit as well as lychee fruit.  Good!  Also fantastic coconut bread as well a a bunch of baguettes.  We could have had much more of anything but we were pretty full.  I would say the lunch was a smashing success.  

Connie and Bobi floating in the impossible colorful water where we had our lunch.

You can see the surf breaking on the reef in the background.

Group of Eagle Rays!

Click on the second image for the spotted markings on their backs,

Cary Claver's underwater camera shot these Eagle Rays.

After lunch we put our snorkel gear back on and swam out just a short way from the beach where David found a group of Eagle Rays!  Just amazing to see.  Again majestic creatures - a group of about 20 swam in formation.  David said they swim back and forth there almost every day.  Like sharks they need to have water flowing through their gills so they hang in suspension facing into the current.  So great to see.

We left Gayle on the beach for our next stop to Bora Bora’s Aquarium.  A lot of boats were anchored here and it was quite loud and crowded.  One party boat of young kids showed up with music blasting!  There were TONS of fish here and the current was quite calm - easy for snorkeling.  Many of the guides were feeding the fish and huge clusters of fish swam around us like a cloud.  This could have been really cool but we cut it short and headed back to collect Gayle.  We thought the party boat was going to show up at our lunch spot shortly so we got out of Dodge.

It was hot!  Bobi gave Connie and I some zinc lip stuff!

Headed back towards the cruise ship for one final snorkeling stop.  Really hot by now and I wasn’t interested in any more water time.  Hid under a towel until the other got back in the boat.

Returned to the Viatape pier to end our day around 4:30.  It just keeps getting better!  Said goodbye to David and headed back to the ship for a well deserved shower.