Raiatea to Tahaa

Hi everyone,

After five days in Raiatea we motored the short distance across to Tahaa in light winds.  The two islands share a single lagoon.  We picked up a mooring at Pt Toamaro.  These moorings are free and provided by the nearby Pearl Farm.

Ray!

Raiatea astern

Raiatea to Tahaa track

Moored off Pt Toamaro, Tahaa

That afternoon we dinked around the bay exploring.  We had our underwater camera with us which showed some nice coral.  Throughout our stay we had remora fish living under the boat.  We regularly saw schools of mid-sized fish leaping from the water so there are some big fish here.

Nice Coral

Remora fish under Zen Again

On Tuesday morning we went ashore to visit the pearl farm.  They provide the free moorings and also a good dinghy dock jetty, so visiting the farm was the least we could do.  It was an interesting tour.  The products were very nice but out of our price range.

Dinghy dock jetty

Octopus at the jetty

Shells of varying ages

Out with the pearl, in with the new seed

Nice products

On Wednesday we went ashore again, this time with the crews of Apres Ski and Boaty McBoatface.  We visited the Vanilla Farm for a very interesting tour.

Vanilla plants growing on host trees

Vanilla processing demo

Tahaa's Pt Toamato is a great spot to take it easy with interesting places to visit ashore.  The marine life in the bay also kept us amused.

Our next stop will be Bora Bora.  We spent a few days resting in Tahaa since the moorings are free.  In Bora Bora they're centrally managed and US$40/night.  We expect to wait out a period of windy and rainy weather there.

Trust all's well where you are!