At long last we arrived in Bora Bora our favorite place to snorkel in the world.  This was an overnight stay which allowed us two full days to enjoy this wonderful island.  It is also one of those perfect atolls with motus and barrier reefs around the whole island.  The lagoon within these reefs has many different areas to snorkel and dive to see a wide variety of different fish life and coral in the crystal-clear water.  Unfortunately, about 20 years ago a red tide invaded Bora Bora destroying the coral and fish life on the South Barrier Reef.  As the reef continued to improve another phenomenon impacted the southern reef again 3 years ago.  This reef damage was caused by a significant water temperature increase to 90 degrees Fahrenheit for 3 consecutive days. This again significantly damaged the reefs and killed off much of the fish life in the area.  Although we saw some of this impact most of our snorkeling trips were in different areas.
 
We first snorkeled in an area to search for Manta Rays which are much larger than sting rays and can have a wingspan of 15-20 feet.  After almost giving up we finally spotted a Manta Ray in some deeper water but was hard to see at that depth.  We later found one swimming at a much shallower depth and we swam with him for a while before he went deeper.  They are very impressive creatures and are extremely graceful in the way they swim.  As we were getting out of the boat our guide, Fabian, found a small octopus and tried scaring some of our lady snorkelers but they didn’t seem to be very squeamish.  A few of them even allowed the guide to put the octopus on their heads so they could get some pictures of themselves.  They did say they weren’t that fond of the suction on their necks from the tentacles. 
 
Fabian then took us to another popular snorkeling spot called, you guess it, the Aquarium.  Our 3rd different “aquarium” snorkeling area in the French Polynesian islands!  It was a very nice area though to swim around and see many fish and coral.  We even saw a moray eel that popped out of his hole to show us his teeth.  In the sand at a depth of around 30 feet, someone had written “I LOVE BORA BORA” in clam shells.  We saw this 10 years ago and they keep it in good shape for the snorkelers to see.  We stayed there over an hour enjoying all the fish and coral.  Just another world class snorkeling area in the French Polynesian Islands!
 
We were then dropped off at Bloody Mary’s which is probably the most famous restaurant on the island.  It has rustic tables and stools with a sand floor throughout the restaurant.  It is covered by a roof but some of the sides are open to the outside.  The moderate temperatures on the island allow this type of open-air restaurant.  They have several nice menu selections, but we always seem to get hamburgers there and they are excellent.  It is even better when accompanied either with one of their nice rum drinks or the local Hinano beer.  If we hadn’t already had reservations, we would not have been seated, because they were booked for lunch and only takeout was available for anyone else that walked up.  It is a very popular place that you must try if you go to Bora Bora.
 
We were scheduled to go on an ATV tour after lunch, but it started to rain.  It was heavy rain that was really making the roads and paths muddy.  After some discussion with the ATV people, we were able to move our tour to the next day when we were hoping it would be much dryer.
 
We headed back to the port but before taking a tender out to the ship we walked around the area looking at many of the shops in the port area.  All the women look at the black pearls here since the South Pacific is where they come from.  After stopping at several jewelry shops, Sharon finally found a necklace she really liked with 3 black pearls of different shades.
 
When we got back on the ship, we found out they were doing a Polynesian dance that evening in our ship’s theater.  We decided to go to it and were very glad we did.  It was an excellent show with many young dancers from Bora Bora.  They put on an excellent show that everyone in the crowd loved.  After the show we were able to take pictures with the dancers and everyone seemed to really enjoy it.  We actually felt that this was a better show than the one we paid for in Tahiti.
 
The following morning, we got up and went ashore again to meet our guide Fabien.  This time he took us to a shipwreck near the barrier reef.  There was a strong current swimming out to the reef but effort paid off because it allowed us to look at some very unique coral formations.  Some of these were bright red and different from what we had seen at other sites.  The shipwreck was interesting to look at also with the fish swimming all around the wreck.
 
From the wreck we headed to another snorkeling site that was between two motus (islets).  Once again you got to see an assortment of different fish and coral.  Even when you jump off the boat to go snorkeling, you never know what you are going to see.  Each site the guides take you to is a brand-new experience and a set of new memories you will never forget.  Even though Sharon’s underwater case allowed her to get some great photos of the fish and coral, the pictures really don’t do justice to what you see when you snorkel in places like this.
 
After our snorkeling trip was over, we were dropped back off at the dock to ride the ATVs.  We were picked up in vans and taken to the ATV shop where we received some minimal training and headed out to see the island.  The first half hour on the ATV was a trip around part of the island on its perimeter road.  There were some nice views of the beaches, boats and motus.  When we got to the other side of the island, we went off road to get to the top of one of the mountains in order to see some better views.  Once again, we had some great views a long the way but nothing like what we saw when we got to the top.  We were given some time at the top to take some pictures and get an explanation of where we were at and what was all around us.  After taking our photos we went straight down the rocky path to the road below – and we mean straight down at a 45-degree angle with the person in the back holding on to the front person to avoid going over the top of them when we hit the large rocks along the path.  It was exciting both up and down the mountain.  On the road we continued our journey around the island and eventually stopped at another viewing area where our guides gave us some fruit and snacks.  The place we stopped happened to be the house of the owner of the ATV company who had a nice house in a great location.  It was another great view of the island below.  From there we went back down to the road and completed our entire circle of the island on the perimeter road.  The ATV company took us back to the port after our tour.
 
Although all our excursions we had taken were independently arranged and all private for our group of 17, the pricing was extremely good.  We heard horror stories from people on the ship who took cruise line arranged tours and paid double what we paid for tours that were only half as long.  There were some people that had booked ship excursions that were not able to get them due to a late itinerary change made by the ship.  We were able to work with all our suppliers and do everything we had originally planned.  We always tell people it is better to find good third-party tour suppliers than to take the ship’s excursions but so many people just don’t want to take the time to do that.
 
We got back on the ship and saw one last French Polynesian sunset and our ship took sail to Tahiti where 10 of our group were getting off.


Sharon and Greg
​

​Our 1st day in Bora Bora - our favorite island! Swimming in an aquarium inside the Lagoon which is inside a ring shaped coral reef and small islands (called an Atoll). Followed by lunch at Bloody Mary’s!

​Day 2 in beautiful Bora Bora - Unbelievable views from Mount Popoti of Bora Bora on ATVs!

We arrived in Raiatea ready for our next French Polynesian adventure.  This was the first port other than Papeete where our ship docked at a pier versus having to take small tender boats to shore.  Once again, we had a pre-arranged an independent tour for our group of 17.  Two boats were ready for us when we got off the ship.  They took us on a nice boat ride along the coast of Raiatea over to one of the surrounding motus (small islands on the perimeter of the atoll).  From this area we had a great view of Bora Bora where you could see Mount Otemanu rising tall from the center of the island.  We were to visit Bora Bora the next day, one of our favorite places in the world to snorkel.
 
Our guides took us to a single snorkeling spot that they called the “aquarium”.  There seem to be a lot of aquariums in the French Polynesian islands, but it really is an apt description of these snorkeling areas.  It is absolutely like you are swimming in a fishbowl with fish swimming all around you in crystal clear water.  The boat drove up to the motu as close as it could get in the shallow water and then we waded to shore in knee deep water.  We walked a short way on land to the spot where our snorkeling trip was to begin.  This snorkeling area was unique because there was a narrow gap between two coral walls where you could snorkel between and watch all the sea life on the coral walls on each side of you.  There was a constant current helping to push you along as you observed all the colorful fish and coral.  It only took 45 minutes or so to snorkel down this narrow channel between the corals, but our group took their time in amazement at everything they were seeing.  We were supposed to take two passes down this channel, but we took an extra hour at the end of the channel just observing the schools of fish and pretty coral.
 
Sharon had bought a special underwater dive case for her iPhone before we came on this trip.  We had used plastic waterproof pouches in the past, but they tended not to allow you to actuate the buttons on your phone when you were underwater.  Sharon’s case was much more substantially built and had a membrane type surface over the phone display that allowed the key presses to work.  Although she had used it a few times on our previous port stops on this trip, this snorkeling trip was its first true test and it worked great.  She was able to get much better pictures of the fish and coral than anyone else in our group except maybe the people who had GoPros.  We had given our GoPro to our daughter-in-law Kat who was with us.  She has not sent us her pictures yet, but we are sure she got some great pictures also.  Several people in our group plan to buy this same underwater dive case when they get back home.
 
It was another great snorkeling trip and a nice boat ride back to the ship.  When back on shore we had time to do a little shopping at some of the local shops in the port area.  They were cute shops with thatched roofs.  We also went to the pharmacy and food store there to get a few supplies before getting back on ship to go to our next destination.

​Sharon and Greg

On April 12th after our 2nd sea day, our group arrived in Rangiora which is the 3rd largest atoll in the world and the largest in French Polynesia.  The atoll is a tear drop shape with a 560 square mile lagoon in its center.  The depth of the lagoon is only 100 feet.  The atoll is so big that you cannot see the Motus (islets that comprise the ring of the atoll) on the other side 50 miles away.  Motus around this ring are only 1000 to 1600 feet in width yet the circumference of the ring is 120 miles.  This is a very large atoll.
 
Sharon had arranged a tour for our group of 17 to take a boat to the Blue Lagoon on the other side of the atoll from where our cruise ship had set anchor.  It should be noted that tenders (small boats that shuttle passengers – the ship’s lifeboats are typically used) are required to get people ashore from the cruise ships on most all islands in French Polynesia because there are very few docks large enough to accommodate the large cruise ships.  We would have to meet every morning in the lounge to collect tender tickets for everyone in our group so we could all arrive at the same time.  The tour company, Arava Excursions, was at the pier to meet us when we got off the tender.  They had two boats for our 17 people and our guides were all family members who seemed to really love their job and showed us a great time throughout the day.  Sharon made a great choice with this tour operator, and we plan to use them in the future if possible.
 
We quickly left the dock, and they took us outside the atoll briefly to see the only large water way to get outside the lagoon where our cruise ship had entered.  The waters were a little rougher outside the lagoon, but we were able to see a few dolphins in the area.  We then went back into the lagoon where we picked up speed and started racing towards the other side.  There was one very small islet in the middle of the lagoon where we stopped briefly just to get a quick glimpse of some Manta rays in the shallow water. We then headed off and didn’t stop until just outside the Blue Lagoon where we were able to see many black tipped sharks in the clear water.  About half of our group did some snorkeling with the sharks but these sharks didn’t seem to want to get too close to the swimmers.
 
The guides then took us into the blue lagoon with our motor mainly up since this Blue Lagoon was only 2-4 foot in depth and you had to follow a very specific path through the deeper areas.  We stopped about 100 yards or so from one of the Motus and waded to it in water that was a foot to two feet deep but had some coral patches you had to avoid.  Once on the Motu people went out to explore other areas of the Blue Lagoon which was very large with a light green color due to the shallow depth.  It was like a little atoll within an atoll and this inner lagoon was extremely shallow.  In one area of this lagoon was a picnic table with a thatched roof where people sat and took their pictures.  You could see some fish swimming around and some patches of coral.  After exploring the area, a little we were led to another Motu, once again wading through the very shallow water.  While we had been exploring, our guides had been starting to cook lunch.  They had tuna and chicken roasting on the grill and there was something else being cooked that we weren’t sure what it was.  It turned out to be coconut bread and it was delicious.  Everyone there must have eaten at least one full loaf of this bread.  In addition to the fish and chicken, they had previously prepared a salad and a raw fish dish.  They served all of this up with the local Hinanu beer which is very good.  The meal was excellent, and everyone really enjoyed it.
 
Prior to sitting down to eat some people had noticed an area right off the beach where there were 30 to 40 black tip sharks just swarming around an area that only had water that was about 2 feet deep.  After taking many pictures, some of the group wandered into the water to get some more pictures with the sharks.  After dinner we even brought some of the raw fish salad that wasn’t eaten and fed it to the sharks to get even better close ups of us with the sharks.  Our group was obviously getting very used to these sharks, but it still probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do.  They still can bite if provoked or enticed.
 
After lunch our guides did some demonstrations of making straw hats and straw purses.  Also, some of our group were enticed to try some Polynesian dancing but we must admit that no one in our group was really too good at it.  While we were eating, some of the guides played the ukuleles and sang.  They were excellent performers and really seemed to love entertaining us.  We certainly enjoyed watching and listening to them.
 
It was then time to go, and we went back out to the boats, wading again through the Blue Lagoon.  On our way back to the ship we made one other snorkeling stop at place they called the “Aquarium”.  The more we cruise in French Polynesia the more we find snorkel spots that are called the “Aquarium”.  This particular spot did not have a lot of colorful color, but it had fish – a lot of fish!  There were hundreds and perhaps thousands of different types of fish there.  You didn’t even need to get off the boat to see them.  You could see hundreds of fish swimming around and under the boats.  This was a popular place to go and there were at least 10 boats in the area.  The tender dock was only a 5-minute boat ride away and there were boats shuttling cruise passengers to and from the dock and snorkel area frequently.  This was one of the few tour options that ship had at this island.  The ship had no tours to the Blue Lagoon which was a shame since it was a nice area to visit.  That is why we arrange our own independent tours.  Our tour probably cost less than the ships tour that spent an hour snorkeling at the “Aquarium” while we spent the entire day on a great tour.  It is a shame what cruise lines charge for there tours and what you get for it.
 
We had a great time and would certainly do it again if we have the opportunity.  Seven of us will be coming back to this island on the second half of the cruise and we are supposed to tour with this group again to a different area.
 
Regards,
Sharon and Greg

​After a relaxing day at sea, we arrived in Nuku Hiva on April 10th.  Nuku Hiva is spectacularly scenic island that rivals any South Pacific Island.  It’s uniquely shaped mountain peaks all around the island give it a unique character.  The island is lush with greenery from the rain it gets throughout the year.  Discovered by the Spanish in 1595 and then frequented by whaling ships back in the 1700’s, it has been home to several famous authors such has Herman Melville back in the early 1800’s.  After French Missionaries came in the 1800’s they outlawed the speaking of any language other than French and practicing any native religions.  This almost caused the loss of a tribal culture that had survived for 1500 years.  Due to disease brought by the Europeans the tribal population dwindled from more than 100,000 people down to only 2,000.
 
Originally, we had nothing planned for this stop but one of the other passengers on the ship had found a local tour and they offered us to join them with a few other members of our group.  We arrived at the island at 8AM and took the first tender to the island where we were greeted by many pretty Polynesian girls doing their local dance.  They were all very excited to perform for us and it looked like many of them were probably in high school.  After our enthusiastic introduction to the island, we went out looking for our boat taxi that was to take us to this tour.  We eventually found our boat captain and there was some confusion in that the captain only expected two people and we were a group of 7.  We eventually found out the place we were going to has no phone or internet connection.  They only get messages when they come to the main city where we were docked.  The captain, who spoke almost no English, eventually agree to take us.  When someone in our group stepped into the boat he twisted his ankle badly and decided not to go on this hike.  This left our group at 6 and we headed out to meet our guides.  As we headed out of the bay in our 16-foot skiff (without life vests) the clouds started darkening and a light drizzle started to come down.  When we were totally out of the bay and heading along the coastline, the rain came down harder and the seas were extremely rough.  Suddenly it did not seem like such a great idea to go on this excursion.  We eventually made it to our destination after a half hour of bouncing up and down in the 7-foot waves and we were extremely happy to get ashore.  The captain really did a great job, but we probably should not have been out on those seas in a boat that size with that many people.  We had to jump out of the boat into the water to get to shore.  Unfortunately, Greg tripped going out of the boat and fell into the water and on beach.  Regardless of how we got there, it just felt good to be on steady ground!
 
After 5 to 10 minutes, one of our guides arrived and was surprised to see us.  She had thought that the rain was so bad we would have probably cancelled on this trip.  She was even more surprised to see there were 6 of us as she had only expected 2 people and maybe 4.  She was happy to see we had made it and it made no difference on the size of our group.  She took us to her home to get settled before heading out on the hike to see the tallest waterfall in French Polynesia.  We met her husband Tangi who was the great grandson of the last chief of their tribe before the missionaries arrived and disrupted their culture.  Tangi had half of his body tattooed including his face.  He was extremely nice, but he would have been very intimidating with his appearance if he had not been constantly smiling.  Anna, his soon to be wife, was a Croatian that had taken 5 years to hitchhike to the French Polynesian Islands where she fell in love with the islands, culture, and Tangi.  She wrote a book on the French Polynesian Islands which is available on Amazon.  Two of our group bought the book directly from her after our tour.  Hearing their story was extremely interesting along with understanding their challenges in a cross-cultural marriage.  Tangi’s tribal family has not fully accepted Anna yet although things have greatly improved since they first met.  Anna’s family and close friends have accepted Tangi but she and he feel uncomfortable when traveling to Croatia with the stares he gets from his tattooed appearance.  All that doesn’t seem to make any difference as they are in love and plan to marry next year. It was extremely interesting though in talking to them during this tour.
 
As we were getting ready to head out on our hike, Tangi told Anna to come in the house because it was about to rain.  Since we were all pretty wet, we really weren’t too concerned about the rain anymore.  After his second warning to come inside the house we started to feel a few raindrops and then it started raining cats and dogs as we all hurried back into the house.  Anna told us that Tangi always could feel when it was about to rain.  After 15 minutes of torrential rainfall, we were ready to venture outside again.  When we had first arrived at their house, Anna had mentioned that they sometimes had a waterfall on the mountains just beyond their house.  It wasn’t there when we arrived but sure enough, when we walked outside after this rainfall, you could see this 300-foot waterfall coming off the mountain behind their house.  What a great view to have!
 
The hike itself was rather interesting.  There was not too much elevation in the hike through the valley but there were many loose rocks to walk over and water streaming down the path to avoid.   After we came to the first river that was rushing across our path with a very strong current, we were told we were wading through it.  It was not difficult to wade through the river with a little caution since it mainly had a sandy bottom but it certainly put a little water and sand in your hiking shoes.  After wading through the river, it didn’t seem as important to avoid rushing water running down the path in areas.  It was a very scenic hike going through the rain forest.  Sometimes we walked in a pathway of Banyan tree roots that hovered above us like an archway.  Along the trail there were rock alters where people paid homage to the gods or were placed in front of their homes to mark their property.  We saw a few rock walls built hundreds of years ago and we even came across a chopping block used to make human sacrifices.  These tribal people were cannibals but not in the sense that we think of cannibals today.  In the old days they would capture warriors from other tribes and sacrifice them at these alters were the chief and medicine men would eat their eyes and entrails to gain their “mana” (their life force).  They didn’t eat or cook their flesh like we think of cannibals today.  We also came across a pit that was once used for making some of their delicacies that required the food to ferment.  Today these pits are used to trap wild pigs.  They throw fresh coconuts into the pit sliced open so the meat can be easily smelled.  The pigs fall into the pits and are there when the hunters come around to check.  Another interesting fact about Anna and Tangi that we were told, is that Anna is a vegetarian while Tangi is a hunter.  Tangi hunts wild pigs and wild goats, and Anna won’t eat meat.  Sometimes opposites attract!
 
Our whole purpose of the hike was to see Vaipo, the largest (1148 foot) waterfall in all French Polynesia.  After we saw the Hidden Valley, we came around the corner and saw the waterfall.  Although it was amazing to see, we were a long way away from the falls and could not get to the foot of the falls due to falling rocks.  Throughout the day we had heard occasional crashes and bangs in the distance.  During rain storms they have many rockslides down the cliffs and people are warned to not get to close to these cliffs during these days.  As it turned out the last river, we would have had to cross was flowing so strongly we probably could not have gotten to the foot of the falls anyway.  The Hidden Valley that we had seen was extremely important to the local tribe.  When warring tribes came to the island and they needed to hide, they would go inside this hidden valley which had an extremely small entrance and could not be easily found.  Inside the valley were plenty of fruit trees that the tribe could survive on until the warring tribe left.  It was a worthwhile hike to see the waterfall and learn about the tribal history of the island.
 
After the hike we went back to Anna and Tangi’s house, where Tangi had prepared a vegetarian lunch for us.  The lunch was excellent with a delicious salad seasoned with coconut milk and mangos along with a main dish of curry over rice.  He had made enough found for 15 people, and we were told the food would not even be good by dinner since they didn’t have a refrigerator to keep the food after lunch.  Everyone had second and third helpings but still we didn’t get through half the food.  For dessert he had made caramelized bananas that were good.  Once again, we tried our best eat as much as possible but fell far short of what have been made.  Fresh lemonade was provided from the many lemon trees throughout their yard.  Almost all of the food they grow but Tangi also hunts and fishes for some meat for him.  Since their house has no electricity, they only make enough food to eat each meal.  It is a different style of life that certainly most Americans could not handle (including us!).  They have no air conditioning or fans either.  They do have some solar power for lighting that doesn’t work too well, and they have a generator for emergencies and special occasions.  Their bed had a large mosquito net around because the bugs on the island are bad.  It is hard to imagine that Anna has gotten used to this life and seems to love it.
 
On our trip back to the cruise ship the boat stopped by the neighboring beach where the 2002 Survivor: Marquesas was filmed.  You could just imagine the contestants on the beach battling it out and you could see the lodge on the hilltop where the votes were taken to see who would be kicked off each week.  Our son had a friend who competed in this Survivor series and had wanted to see where it had taken place.  Unfortunately, he wasn’t feeling well this day and we took pictures for him to see where it had been held.  The show had hired Tangi and some of his relatives to act as guards to keep the contestants from coming over to their small village which was only a couple of miles away.  It was just another interesting part of this very fun tour.
 
When we got back to the cruise port we looked around and took a few pictures of a recent sculpture built on a small hilltop depicting a warrior gaining his strength from one of the gods.  There wasn’t too much else open and we went back to the ship.  We will be coming back to this port in a little over a week as part of the second segment of this cruise.  Not sure what are plans will be here the second time, but we didn’t know what our plans would be this time and we really enjoyed our visit on Nuku Hiva!
 
Regards,
Sharon and Greg

Our second cruise stop after Moorea was Fakarava which is a coral atoll in the Tuamotu Island group in French Polynesia.  For those who do not know what an atoll is, it is a ring-shaped island that surrounds a lagoon. The atoll is created by underwater volcanos that erupt and grow until they poke above the water level.  The lagoon of the atoll is the crater of the volcano.  Most all atolls in the world are in the Pacific Ocean and many of the French Polynesian islands are atolls.  Fakarava is somewhat unique since the atoll is shaped more like a rectangle than a round circle.  It is about 37 miles long and 13 miles wide.  As with most atolls you cannot go all the way around the lagoon on land and much of the “ring” dips into the water creating many small islets which are called Motus.  That is the end of our lecture on French Polynesian Island Structure 101.
 
On Fakarava we had rented some beach bikes to go around the island.  This island did not have a lot of available tours for cruise passengers.  Some of our group elected not to take the bikes and just walked around the port area that had some local shops.  The rest of the group went down the main road.  There were only two roads running parallel on the island, each running along the coasts, and they were only separated by less than a ¼ mile.  We went down the road on the port side until it stopped at a resort.  We walked down the pier at this resort which had an old pearl farm at the end with a display of how the pearls were farmed.  We saw two sharks out in the shallow water along with a couple of snorkelers.  These weren’t black tipped sharks and we thought they were probably lemon sharks.  They seemed to stay away from the snorkelers but there was one instance where the snorkelers came around a coral reef and was surprised to see the shark coming around the other side of the reef.  There heads popped out of the water when they saw the shark, but they didn’t look too scared, just a little surprised.
 
We walked down the beach a little looking for a snorkel area but after not finding one we went back to the resort and had drink outside near the beach.  After our short break we got back on our bikes and went to the other side of the island and went down the road on that side.  There were a few cars on the island but not many and it was a nice place to ride bikes.  We walked along the coastline occasionally stopping and collecting a few pieces of coral and some shells as keep sakes.  We eventually crossed back over to the other road and went down a rock path to an old lighthouse that was shaped like a pyramid.  It was called the Topaka Lighthouse and was 45 feet tall with a ladder running up along one side.  We then took a leisurely bike ride back to the port taking a few pictures along the way.
 
About half the people stopped at this point to go back on the ship but a few of the girls went back to the resort and did a little snorkeling there.  It was a nice island but not much to see or do there.  A great place to get away and just relax on the beach.
 
Regards,
Sharon and Greg

​On April 1st our group of 17 left Atlanta bound for Tahiti where we would cruise the French Polynesian Islands and spend 4 days in Papeete, Tahiti prior to the cruise.  We arrived in Papeete at 5:30 in the morning on April 2nd after two long flights.  A pre-arranged bus awaited us to take us and our luggage to the Tahiti Hilton.  This was a beautiful hotel not far from the airport that had been built 20 years ago but had just reopened after a renovation that had taken 2 years.  The hotel lobby was spectacular and the view outside the hotel gave a great view of Moorea, another French Polynesian Island that is extremely close to Tahiti.  It was even more beautiful in the evening since the sun set over the island.  Since we were unable to check into our rooms that early in the morning, we rented a cabana for the day to put our items as we enjoyed the beautiful pool at this hotel.  Later in the morning some of us took a long walk into town to check out the area where the cruise ships come in and the ferries arrive/depart.  We stopped over by the Market Place, but it was closed on Sunday although a few of the flower sellers were outside of the market selling some items.  We decided we would come back the day our cruise ship departed to buy a flower arrangement to take on the cruise with us.  For less than $20 you could get a beautiful flower arrangement that would cost your over $100 in the States.  We checked into our room when we got back and was pleased with the large size and beautiful balcony overlooking the pool.  In the evening we took taxies to the cruise port area where food trucks gathered most nights to serve their local specialties.  We had a noodle dish that was very tasty.
 
The next morning, we got up early and went to the ferry to take it over to Moorea where we had a full day excursion planned.  It only takes the ferry about 30 minutes to travel across the small channel and it is a very scenic trip.  When we arrived, we were picked up in a bus to take half of us to the jet skies and the other half to the ATV’s.  We started out on the jet skies and had a fun trip around part of the island going into many of the bays and seeing the mountain peaks the majestically rose right out of the water.  We drove fast and had very smooth waters to skim across.  After touring the island for a while, we stopped in a shallow, sandy area where we swam with the black finned shark and sting rays.  You could wade around and watch the silhouettes of the sharks coming at you with eerie wonder.  We were able to get some good pictures of these sharks as they darted in packs all around us.  The sting rays were in harmony with the sharks and just floated on the bottom of the sand until the guide would get a little food to entice them up a few feet to the surface so that we could touch them and have some good closeup pictures with them.  We have done this previously but no one else in the group had done it and everyone really enjoyed the experience.  After our jet ski trip, we traded off with the ATV group and we took their ATV’s on a tour of the island.  We went through the pineapple fields, through the valleys and up on top of some of the mountains where we got some great views of the island and bays below us.  After the ATV tour we raced back to the ferry to catch the last ferry back to Papeete.
 
The following morning was another ferry ride over to Moorea to do some bike riding.  Our entire group had signed up to rent some e-bikes to take a tour around the island.  After getting on the bikes and taking a short test ride, almost half of our group elected not to bike and just spend a little time exploring the island by foot before taking the ferry back to Papeete.  For those of us who did take the bikes, we were able to see some other areas of the island that we had not seen on the ATV’s or jet skis.  For most of us, it took a little practice to get used to the gears on the bikes on the electrical assist feature, but we all managed to make it.  The bikes were brand new and a few of them had some issues during the day, where we needed to have a few replaced during the trip. Part of the trip was on rocky roads that were challenging to many of us.  The area is very hilly causing us to work hard in some places to make it up but the electrical assist feature (when it was working) really made it easy.  By the time the day came to an end we had biked 28 miles and most people were tired.  That evening we took taxies to the Blue Banana, a local restaurant recommended by two different people on the island.  It turned out to be a great choice for fresh seafood or a steak if you preferred a less traditional island dish.  Everyone enjoyed their meal.
 
The next day we stayed in Tahiti and had arranged for some boats to pick us up off the pier of the Hilton.  They took us to another hotel down the coast where we split our group of 17 into 3 smaller groups.  Our small group started off on jet skis where we toured the island of Tahiti.  We were given time to just race fast and bounce across waves which was fun.  We spent a lot of time on the jet skis roaming around spinner dolphins who we were told were sleeping.  There must have been hundred of these dolphins in the area and as our jet skis got close to them, they would dive a little deeper or change directions.  Some of the small ones weren’t sleeping and would occasionally jump into the air.  At times you could see spinner dolphin all around your jet ski swimming under and around them.  They were really fascinating to watch.  Our Jet Ski guide also told us about whale season in Tahiti and the possibility of swimming with the young whale calves with their mothers.  This is something Sharon had hoped to do on a trip canceled due to Covid in 2021.  Now she is starting to plan a return to Tahiti in September 2025 to swim with the baby whales – anyone else want to come???  After a couple of hours on the jet skis we swapped out with another group and we were taken to a snorkel area where we snorkeled with the turtles.  Most of the time the turtles were 30 to 40 feet down on the bottom but at other times they swam up to the surface giving you some good views of them.  One turtle even swam side by side with us for a while before it did a deep dive down to the bottom.  Although there were some fish around and coral, the snorkeling was really to see the turtles.  We hope to have much better snorkeling opportunities in Bora Bora.  After we were dropped back off at the Hilton pier we showered and dressed up for a trip to the intercontinental Hotel to see the Polynesian Dance that night.  Upon our arrival at the hotel, a tour was arranged some our group could see an over the water bungalow.  These are very popular on many of the Tahitian Islands and cost a minimum of $1000 a night with some going at high as $10,000 a night!  Although these bungalows are very nice, it is hard to justify this high cost to stay there.  Even though, many people want to stay there at least a few nights when they come to the Tahitian Islands.  Prior to the Polynesian Dance we were given a buffet dinner with many local delicacies along with your beef and chicken alternatives.  The food was very good, and no one left hungry.  The Polynesian Dance is always interesting to watch because it is very authentic here.  We had seen it once before almost 10 years ago.  The Polynesian men were as we remembered them – muscular warriors with tattoos all over their bodies.  The women this time around, were not dressed as traditionally as the first show we had seen and were not as young or as enthusiastic as we remembered from 10 years ago.  The show was still enjoyable, and you are allowed to take pictures with the dancers after their performance.  It is just another must thing to do when you go to Tahiti!
 
The following day was hotel check out day and cruise check in day.  For 10 of our group this was to be a 10-day cruise around the Polynesian Islands.  For the other 7 it was to be the same 10-day cruise plus an additional 17-day cruise going to more Polynesian Islands and Hawaii, before ending up in Los Angeles.  After our pre-arranged transportation took us to the cruise port, we found check in onto the ship to be extremely easy.  Rooms were not immediately available, and we had a little lunch while we waited.  After we checked in to our stateroom, we walked off the ship to go over to the Central Market that had been closed on our first day.  We spent most of our time picking out the flower arrangement we would bring with us on the cruise.  As mentioned earlier these are beautiful arrangements of exotic flowers and are sold for extremely reasonable prices.  After picking out our flowers, we walked the Market looking at the various local crafts, clothing, and jewelry.  Certainly, black pearl jewelry is the most famous for the area and we had bought some 14 years ago on our first visit.  Besides the flowers we didn’t buy too much else and headed back to the ship.  That night we had made special arrangements for our entire group to eat at one of the Specialty Restaurants (Toscana) to celebrate one of our group member’s birthdays – Lisa Gardner.  It was nice to get everyone together to kick off our cruise together and sing Happy Birthday to Lisa!  It was also great to experience our first taste of Oceania who is known for the culinary expertise.  This restaurant did not disappoint!
 
Stay tuned!  Our next blogs will share our experiences as we cruise the French Polynesian and Hawaiian Islands!
 
Regards,
Sharon and Greg

​A few pics of Moorea swimming with the black fin sharks and our next day adventure - biking! Next day in Tahiti - jet skis and snorkeling! Awesome trip!

​Enjoying our last night in Tahiti for a dinner and Tahitian Show at the InterContinental Tahiti Hotel.