I am writing this up 5 days after we first landed in Raiatea so my memories already are slipping. I have plenty of photos though to help me remember what I think I’m missing.
On this day, we had already booked a scuba diving session and were to be picked up at 9:30. When I heard the announcement that the tenders were running, we ran down to get off the ship before all the crowds started. Well, Roxanne is silly and set the time forward instead of back and we were over an hour early. No big deal, we found a shady spot on shore and waited.
Today’s dive was amazing. I had no idea what we were in store for, but I kept a positive attitude. Today we dove with sharks! To get into the water, we had to sit on the edge of a boat and drop down about 2 feet into the water. I was terrified. First because the drop was so big, and because I had already seen the sharks coming towards the boat. To get me into the water, the dive master sat on the rail with me linked arms and fell backwards on the count of 3. I am fine once I’m in the water, but for some reason just can’t quite get my head around jumping out of a perfectly good boat.
Once we went down to the bottom, I was comfortable and enjoyed watching the fish and taking photos. We purchased Sea Life Sport Diver cases for our iPhones and they work fantastically as long as you turn on the do not disturb-but that is for another day.
We saw lots of corals and a large number of small colorful fish, but the real highlight was the sharks. For the entire dive we had 4 of them swimming around us. I kept trying to get a photo of the face of a shark but never could. Later George told me it is because they want to be able to see us at all times.
Towards the end of the dive, there were 5 sharks that began circling us. At this point my heart began to race and I had to control myself. I was afraid they would sense my fear. I’d always heard that when sharks circle they are going in for the kill. We made a gradual ascent and soon were back in the boat energetically discussing what we saw.
On this day we used steel tanks which are smaller and heavier. I was told to drop my weight down to 5 kilos and went with it. I had a big problem staying down so the dive master came over at one point and put an extra kilo on my BCD. When we were in the boat, he told me he thought my BCD should be changed to a different one. He also explained that I should twist my left shoulder a bit to help me descend easier.
We were taken back to the dive shop where we showered, had a payday bar, and then headed back to the boat. Once on the ship, we put our gear out to dry and headed up for lunch. We were warmed by the sun so a dip in the hot tub was not necessary.
When George went up to take a nap, I decided to go back into the town and look around. I didn’t buy any souvenirs, but I did find a few bottles of wine that was produced locally and decided to give it a try.
We brought a bottle to dinner with us for dinner and shared a glass with our table guests. Little did we know it was a dessert wine. We put it off to the side and enjoyed it at the end of our meal. I wouldn’t buy it on a regular basis, but it was a nice change.
The next day we were in Bora Bora for an overnight stay. As on the previous islands, we had arranged to have a dive trip in the afternoon. We spent the morning lazing in bed and went for lunch around noon. After this we took a tender to the shore to meet our driver.
When we arrived, we were told that we would be diving with eagle rays if we were lucky. This days dive was along a sandy bottom and coral that went down to yet another sandy bottom. We were told to stay along the bottom and the coral or the rays would run away. They are skittish creatures. After we got down, we were not disappointed. We saw what we came for and yes, when some of the other divers with us got too close, they ran away.
On the ascent I saw some of the most beautiful fish I’ve seen yet. Sadly I forgot to turn on the do not disturb and I had a discord message come through as I went under water. It made my camera useless. I did grab photos from George thought so all is ok. I was able to hold a starfish, and the dive master had me touch a sea anemone. It has little suckers on it. George got some great shots of fish playing in it. It was yet another wonderful dive. Oh, the advice I was given the previous day worked. I was a happy girl. I don't need to get a new BCD. I just needed to learn how to use the one I already have.
We had originally planned to spend both days in Bora Bora on a dive trip, but in the end we decided to cancel the next day. I think we are both very waterlogged.
We returned to the boat took some well deserved showers and relaxed on the balcony for a while before dinner.
On our final day in Bora Bora we decided to take our scooters out for a ride and test the limits of them. There is a road that circumnavigates the island that is 20 miles long. Our owners manuals said we can get speeds of up to 25 MPH and a maximum distance of 25 miles. 20 miles should be a walk in the park. We also made a contingency plan of stopping at a hotel at around 15 miles to check our batteries and decide whether we would make it back or if we should get a cab.
The google god told us to ride clockwise around the island and there was good reason for it. The sights were amazing. We got some wonderful photos of that central mountain as we went. At one point we came to three diggers removing soil from the hillside. They were very precariously balanced.
One of the blacktop roads we went down was so rough that my hands ached from holding the handle bars and all the shaking. We decided to sit for a spell at a roadside bench and relax a bit before carrying on. I got a kick out of the dog we saw swimming.
And then! We went up a small hill only to crest on a stunning sight. The mountain in the background and a fantastic lagoon shot in the foreground. We looked in awe at the spectacular view, took our photos, and went on our way.
The taxi arrived and took us back to the ship. Here I want to say this was not a proper taxi. The lady behind the desk called a fellow with a van because she just couldn’t understand that the scooters fold up even when we showed her. This ride cost us $25. I can’t complain though, it would have been more expensive had we missed the boat and we really didn’t relish kick scooting for another 2 hours that our map said it would take.
Once we got back to the pier, we went inside to buy me a sarong and I was given the local currency in change. Disaster! I had to spend it so I wouldn’t bring any back with me. I ended up adding another $40 to it and purchased a rather unique necklace. I was happy. Back to the ship we went then.
We had lunch followed by a restful afternoon. The rest as they say is history.
A few thoughts on the islands we visited. The first is I would not want to live there. I’m not really a small town girl, and even Papeete was not big enough for my tastes. One of our fellow passengers told me you could tell the wealth of the island by its dogs. That hadn’t occurred to me before she said it, but it is true. Some of the islands looked very poor and the animals were in terrible shape.
There seems to be a great disparity between those who have and those who don’t. Some of the homes we saw were little more than a corrugated shack. There seemed to be dumping grounds all over. Have trash? Just toss it here. I’m sure that isn’t the case everywhere, but I did see a lot of it.
Fruit is abundant as are chickens. I wonder if the people eat the chickens, I mean, you can’t get any more free range than these. Everywhere we went we saw tables with mangos or coconuts on them. I am sure they were for sale, but one has to wonder who (besides us) would buy them. There really are fruit trees wherever you turn.
When asked by a fellow passenger would I go back, I’d have to say it’s a definite maybe. The price would have to be right. I can take it or leave it. The diving was good, the weather was lovely, but it’s just not me and there are so many places in the world that I haven’t been to yet.
Until next time, I hope as always you enjoyed my take on these two islands. Please don’t forget to go take a look at what Rod and Merry have thought.
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