French Polynesia

“Tahiti welcomes you” sign behind traditional dance performed for the arrivals was our very early first taste of French Polynesia. Nice gesture, appreciated even by somewhat dazed audience. It was well past midnight! And then the second pleasant surprise at this late (or should it be early?) hour:  on this magical island EU visitors have a separate queue. Finally a well-deserved relief from filling in little cards (getting easier by the way – we know all our details by hart now…). Quick passport check and we have now truly arrived.

Needless to say this, we would have appreciated  this swift pass thru immigration if we had a room booked for the first night. But expecting excruciating customs questions and officials (we have been way too long in New Zealand and Australia…) and to keep up with what is becoming a tradition on this trip, we planned to spend first night at the airport (we expected few hours only). At least this time we have been realistic that airport will not be huge and quite possibly closed during the night – and yes,  we have been right. We shared the space with other travellers and kipped for the night. But not before we cover as much skin as we can to avoid mosquitos eating us alive. Well, at least it was warm.

          

And yet again, we didn’t really have a plan where to go and what to do. Well, we did know we wanted to dive with sharks, but the rest was an open ticket. Boy, were we happy to discover that Air Tahiti has obviously had enough experience with people like us and allowed for ticket changes without the fee (seriously, we did not think this was possible anymore!). So, we were faced with the alternative: one option was to do what majority of tourists do – hop from atoll to atoll and visit as many islands as you can (definitely guaranteeing best airports sightseeing) or the second to be picky and spend more time on chosen places. Being quite sick of packing and unpacking at this stage, we opted for later one. Decision was made: visit the highlight of the trip first: Tiputa pass in Rangiroa. Guidebooks describe diving here as religious experience and basically this was really the only firm point we wanted to visit after leaving Cyprus. Hey, this place is considered by many as top 3 shark dive destination in the world! We just had to validate that.

We couldn’t get the flight to Rangiroa on the same day, so we were forced to stay a day in Papeete – capital of Tahiti. Nives was deeply, deeply  (yeah, roysh J) depressed by this news and had to recover by spending a day pearl shopping. Papeete is nothing much to write about (if you are not into chasing pearl bargains) and is perhaps best avoided if not stranded here.

Before the flight we had to lose some luggage weight – Air Tahiti has 20kg limit (down from 23kg on Air New Zealand flight). Once again we had to rely on proven Ryanair tactics: stuff your with pockets full of heavy items. And practically all for nothing! We almost managed to be legal at 22kg a bag and were expecting additional charges after all, but A staff at Air Tahiti didn’t even blink! Looks like they are not as strict here (yet) and we had not problems boarding.

Even from the air  we  loved Rangiroa. Views of the atoll in water  as blue as it gets were amazing. Once arrived, we heard that the local dolphin population loves to play in tidal waves in the pass – caused by outgoing current. Definitely something to check out. Just 5min walk form pension we have been greeted to a full dolphin jumping spectacle and we didn’t even need to get wet yet! Looking at each other we just nodded in agreement – we were going to like it here alright!!!

Next morning driving out to do our first dive was a time of anxiety. After hearing and reading so much about this place it is an understatement to say we had high expectations. They were pretty much out there, and one might even say that we are quite spoilt as diving goes (Never! Right?). Five minutes into the dive it was clear that our search is over, we have finally found it. Place that is a fair competition to Palau. Only one so far and this one again had to be as hard to get to. Bummer!!!  What can we say except  majestic and that we will be back many times in the future. Quick summary of first dive: dolphins on the right, school of sailfish on the left and sharks bellow – which way to go? And that blue water did not disappoint – visibility was just out of this world! To all you divers we can confirm that anything you read about this place is not exaggeration. It just is that good. And again, we are not that easy to please when it comes to diving.

Back in the room after diving we had to replan. It was clear that we will do plenty of diving here, is there a point in wasting time on anything else, really?  Visiting more famous, but less dive attractive atolls and islands (like Bora Bora and Tahiti) has been immediately cancelled by mutual agreement. And yet again, time to change our Air Tahiti tickets. We ended up staying in Rangiroa for 2 weeks diving twice every day and loved every minute of it. What’s not to love about few hundred sharks around you? Or schools of stingrays? Passing manta ray? Dolphins playing with you? Or possibly 4-5 m great hammerheads cruising the waters below? There is only one minus to diving here thou – the best stuff is deep (and we mean 50+ meters deep), which results in little energy to do anything else. No issue at all we though, while hammock snoozing in one of the most picturesque dive centres we have ever been to. I mean one has to compromise, right?

All the diving aside, not sure why non-divers come here. There is little to do, but to watch dolphins surf on the waves and show off their jumping skills. We heard that there are nice places to visit like Blue lagoon, but we only thought “not another one…”. There is a blue lagoon is almost every country we have been to and we decided to skip this one. We would have to skip a dive to do that – not an option really.

Best thing about having no plan is that you can listen to local advice and visit places that you never heard of before. Quick call to Air Tahiti (yes, we know…) confirmed that we will be able to visit the much talked about Fakarava atoll (not sure who came up with the name?). Our dive guide Katy told us that its south pass is one of the most reliable places in the world to see the wall of sharks (school of hundreds of sharks) and that we will love it for sure. Well, since we are very sensible people you can’t not listen to advice like that.

Truly sad to leave, we ploughed on further. It was hard to imagine that we could do something as good as Tiputa, but we kept an open mind. Next stop was atoll of Fakarava. This one had two passes: North and South. Advice was that South was better for diving  but North had better amenities. Well, obviously we had to see both. So, we started with North. Bad weather has limited out diving to the reef only on day one. As a consolation,  a manta decided that she was fond of us and staid  around us for 20min – and we do  mean touching distance close. No need to mention probably, but Nives was definitely in the seventh heaven. Fine Dejan thought, but we are here for the sharks!!! Luckily weather improved on the second day and we have been able to do a single dive in the pass. With exceptional visibility we saw our first wall of sharks. Counting made no sense at all, as there were hundreds of them in front of us cruising the current!!!

Nives had to make yet another sacrifice. Pansion we were staying at was also a pearl farm. So, all sharks aside a visit was a must. Actually even better, Dejan was able to dive down and later pick a shell to get whatever pearl was inside. Lottery it was called, pretty cool, hey?

Quite romantic (and lucky) we thought as a nice pearl was found inside.

Few days passed quickly and we were off. South Fakarava is not (yet!) a very touristic place as  the only way to get there  was by boat. What should have been an hour sail in centre of atoll turned into 3 hours of “stay close to reef” sail due to very windy conditions – nice to see that our ‘weather luck’ is still holding (at least no cyclones this time!). We went past the French Polynesia president’s villa. He has chosen the place well and we have to agree that Fakarava is indeed a postcard kind of place.

Our pension was basically on the pass itself. You finished the dive in the center. Not bad, hey? Not to mention all the sharks circling around the on the water built restaurant and bungalows. After couple of days here we can truly acknowledge this as one of the premier dive destinations in the world – mecca for shark enthusiast. You cannot not look at sharks. They are around when you eat your meals, sunbathe on the pier, snorkel on the reef and obviously when you go diving. For the true shark spectacle you must go underwater and face a wall of hundreds of sharks (truly beyond counting) – majestic doesn’t come close to describe it. We have visited plenty of places, but this one is one of the best as long as you stay on the pier or in the water. Rest of the options are limited. Keep in mind  that the only accommodation option is basic, which makes long tropical nights even longer. And darker as this is eco resort. After 5 days here we were very homesick for any kind of civilisation (actually, Nives was pretty much flipping). This magical place would be in its own league if it wasn’t so remote and well… basic. There was one more sad thing we will remember this place for - our camera broke the moment we arrived! Some things really don’t change…

After all the re-planning we have been lets with only 2 days to see the remaining of Polynesia (this obviously included one more flight change with Air Tahiti – they probably have us black-listed by now!). There was really only one choice left – visit Moorea. It’s only 20min by ferry from Papeete and one of the most beautiful islands in Polynesia (so the brochure goes). Have to say that we chose well and the island is extraordinary beautiful combination of reef, lagoon and steep volcanic interior. After watching nothing but blue water for 4 weeks island’s intense greenery was a much needed sight. Well, for a short while anyway. Us being water baby’s, it was only few minutes before we booked a stingray feeding tour. There will be plenty of green colour once we return home we figured.

After chasing sharks and rays for a better part of our stay (now there is a change!) it was time to look at the only thing that grows in abundance in Polynesia – coconut. Everywhere you stay there will be plenty of them about and locals are happy to show you how to pick, open and consume them. Happy to report that we will be able to treat our guests to homemade coconut milk in the future.  Well, providing that we can buy fresh coconuts anyway…

And in a blink of an eye it was time to leave. All in all, we loved our time in French Polynesia. The diving is up there with the best; and if you are into sharks this is a true paradise. Price is really the only negative thing about it. Everything from accommodation and food to internal flights is expensive. For some reason diving is cheaper than Fiji, Australia or New Zealand – at least something! Also this place doesn’t really cater for travellers, people come here on a honeymoon or short holiday and thus all transportation is centred around moving guests to / from airports. Will we come back again? Now there is a certainty. As soon as it is possible!

Some more pictures here.