Island of Tahaa, French Polynesia -August 16, 1999

 

Position: Island of Tahaa, French Polynesia -August 16, 1999

This past week we cruised the Tahiti group of islands called the Society Group. The major islands are Moorea, Huahina, Raiatea, and Tahaa. All of these islands have fabulous over-the-water hotels with great beaches and many bays for us to anchor.

Moorea is the closest to Tahiti and very popular since it can be reached by a short air ride or ferry. Life is truly native, island style, and living on the beach. The local people are Polynesian and speak both their native and French language. They also know English and have no problem communicating. Again the islands mountainous and surrounded by protective reefs with both shallow and deep waters for anchorage. The shallow and deep water provide spectacular colors between the shallow sandy bottom and the deep channels inside the reef.

Our cruising has included a fabulous helicopter tour, rented auto, 4x4 safari tours, kayaking and walking. The waters are 76 to 80 degrees making it ideal for swimming and snorkeling from the boat. The water inside the reef is contained in the large lagoons which one must enter and exit through passages with tide change. This creates very large currents during full tide change. There are many cautions to be aware and careful of with these currents.

The hotels are small 50 to100 rooms and bungalows. Even though they have no vacancies there are never many people around during the day. We occasionally go out to dinner at one of the hotels or local fun restaurant and find reservations are necessary for the dinner hours. We seldom see more than 3 or 4 boats in the anchorages. Life is truly island style.

One famous restaurant called Bloody Mary's was great. It had a sand floor and was full of native ambience. The entrees of the night were all displayed as you entered and your selection was made. Everything was grilled to order and the fresh fish was wonderful.

Huahina, Raiatea, and Tahaa are all islands with around 1,000 residents diminishing as we got further from Tahiti. We cruised and stayed at each island, exploring their special life styles and how they make a living. They live off the land and lead a simple but happy life. Fish are in abundance and a major part of their diet. We could easily spend several months in these islands as many of the boaters do. Some here with families while out of school or have school on board. There are boats with only a couple on board, as small as 35' that sailed from the US as well as Europe. A real challenge.
We will remember Hurepiti Bay on Tahaa. On a calm Sunday morning the porpoises were taking a gentle swim with their families into the narrow bay. There must have been a 100 or more all sizes, including babies, breaching and performing in formation just for Seaquell. We took the dinghy out and they played next to us and loved the bow wake. They entertained us for an hour or more and we felt so privileged. The local people said they come into this bay regularly - especially on Sundays. We stayed an extra day in this peaceful stop and John kayaked around meeting the friendly natives at their docks and being treated with coconuts and limes. The road is only a path and not completed so people take their boats to go visiting, to church and the market.

We took a vanilla plantation and botanical tour in a 4x4 from the bottom to the top of the mountain. The views were unforgettable. We could see both sides of the ocean and it was brilliant blues and greens. The vanilla bean develops from an orchid plant. Each blossom must be pollinated by hand as they do not have the bees on this island to do the job. A very tedious procedure that must be done at the right time so each plant requires constant attention.

We also toured a small black pearl farm here owned and operated by a young charming local family. They suffered a hurricane last year that was devastating to their oyster supply. They went from 200,000 oysters to 50,000. The young man showed us in detail the handling of the oysters and how he was trying to recover his business. Each oyster is implanted with a nucleus from a small piece of a clam shell from our Mississippi River. There were also mudslides on the island which killed families and destroyed homes. They were all recovering and the ever green tropical island was beautiful, as were their people.

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