CONTRASTING THE MARQUESAS TO THE TUAMOTUS (Info)
Our first islands in the South Pacific were the Marquesas. Steep volcanic mountains with deep fertile valleys. The anchorages on these islands were deep inset bays and, although they offered protection from the prevailing winds, the ocean swell would often sneak in making the boat roll and landing on the beaches a little tricky.
The Tuamotus are a world away from this. The volcano(s) that formed these atolls has sunk below the ocean. All that remains is the outer ring of low lying reef creating a central lagoon. Some areas of the reef have accumulated enough sand to be called islands or ‘motu’. A few of these are large enough to support palm trees and bushes. None are more than a meter tall. These motu are oasis for bird life and every manner of the crab family. The falling coconuts provide food for the most famous delicacy from these islands, the tasty giant coconut crab.
The atolls here come in all shapes and sizes. The largest in this group, and second largest in the world, is Rangiroa. With a circumference of about 100 miles, the outer ring is made up of over 240 motus.
A few of the atolls in the Tuamotus have passes large enough to allow cruising boats to enter inside them. This gives boats the relatively safety of the protected waters inside the reef. The currents in these passages are effected by the wind, waves and tides so timing entry is important. Most are benign, but a few of the passes can have currents as high at 8 knots and others are famous for their whirl pools and standing waves at their worst.
THE ATOLLS (More info)
The reef and motus that ring these atolls blocks a majority of the pounding waves of the ocean. The waters of the lagoons are often calm and crystal clear. This waters are a perfect habitat for coral growth and sea life. The shallower waters are perfect nurseries for sharks. People travel from all over the world to dive here. The most popular dive spots are within the passes where large groups of sharks congregate in the current.
Some of the atolls in the northwest (closer to Tahiti), such as Fakarava and Rangiroa, have become popular tourist sites. With regular internal flights from Tahiti, these atolls have been developed with hotels, resorts and dive centres. The majority of the atolls have been left undeveloped with only isolated pearl farms and small villages. With 78 atolls spread over 1,000 miles there are a lot to discover.
RAROIA (Even more boring info)
Raroia is a medium size atoll on the eastern side of the Tuomotu chain. We sailed due south 420nm from the Marquesas to get here. We are now, pretty much, parallel with the island of Tahiti and the other Society Islands to the west. But we have a few other atolls we would like to visit between here and there.
The passage into the lagoon is know to have currents as high as 8 knots. But as long as you time your entrance outside the strongest flows, it is a wide and well marked entry. We have some video to share with you of it. Once inside you have to turn left or right, for a bit, to avoid the well marked shallows straight ahead. There is a small friendly village to the south of the passage or you can continue across the lagoon to the many pretty motus on the east side of the lagoon.
Good light is essential to traveling within the lagoon. If you have good light the mounds of coral rising out of the generally deep lagoon are easy to spot. There is big wide spacing between the ‘bommies’ so navigation is fairly easy. GPS and satellite imagery have made great improved over the years, but I would still suggest relying on your own eyes.
Anchoring is fairly simple in the clear sandy waters here. Pick a motu you like, slowly check out the depths around it, and find a big enough sandy spot to drop the pick. The clear waters here promotes coral growth even in the deepest depths, so you will likely never find a spot completely clear of any coral heads. To avoid getting your chain all snagged up ‘float it’. See svsoggypaws.com for information and diagrams of how to do this. This is our first atoll and we have already collected enough ‘lost’ pearl farm floats to replace our ‘once’ pretty white boat fenders.
The dominate winds here are easterly. The motus on the east sides of the lagoon offer the most protection from the winds and waves. Most of the villages and the passes you want to dive are on the north sides of the atolls. The anchorages here can be open with little protection from the fetch (waves that develop across the lagoon), so it is worth timing your visits here to coincide with more settled weather.
WHAT IS IT LIKE HERE? (Finally some ‘not so’ boring info)
Open. I think that is the best way to describe it. Especially after having the volcanic mountains of the Marquesas towering over us for so long. There is very little to block your view 360 degrees around. Little to block the sun. Little to block the wind. Great for energy production on the boat.
We are surrounded by turquoise waters who’s shades alter with their depths. Bright white spots dot the watery horizon marking ‘bommie’ awaiting snorkeling expeditions. Pink sandy beaches reach out from lee sides of the palm fringed motus. Small watery channels and micro lagoon run between the islands. Behind the islands is the great grey expanse of the protective reef. Ocean waves beat against it’s outer edges.
KON TIKI MOTU ANCHORAGE ( 16 03.848S 142 21.673W ) *see note at bottom
The landfall of Thor Heyerdahl’s ‘Kon Tiki’ expedition. Great fun to make our first landfall in the Tuamotus at the same place. We were truly over whelmed by the amount of bird life on great coral formations on the ‘bommies’ close by. It was our first encounter with the giant clams of the Pacific. Their colourful frilly lips in blues, purples, greens, browns and black stand out like neon signs on the reef.
ANCHORAGE JUST NORTH OF A PEARL FARM ( 16 04.765S 142 22.354W ) *
We moved south to a much bigger motu with lots of neighbors to explore. It is here we started to find our first washed up pearl farm buoys. We had been using our nice ‘once white’ boat fenders to ‘float’ our anchor chain. Replacing the fenders with pearl farm buoys would save us the inevitable job of cleaning all the growth off them.
We also got to visit our very first pearl farm. If you are like us, and never been to a pearl farm before, let me tell you that you smell the place well off first. They suspend most of the operation on ‘wharfs’ over the water to help wash away the mess and keep the smell down. We were surprised how big the operation was. We had wrongly assumed only a few men or a small family would work a farm. Instead it was farm had extensive outbuildings to house the owners family and all the workers there, men and women.
When we arrived they welcomed us in and directed us to a smaller dingy dock. They led us around to the different work areas. They had a couple of grafters working away. A Japanese male and female pair working with such speed and grace to implant a plastic ‘seed’ into the gonads of the oyster so that a pearl will form. Our guides made us ‘oyster’ treats. Cutting away most of the oyster you are left with the firmer attachment muscle up against the shell. We ate these raw and the light taste and texture was similar to scallops.
They took us around to the different work areas and we were introduced to many of the other men and women working there. With our limited French skills we learned everyone originated from islands all over French Polynesia. Although the main focus here was the maintenance of the oyster beds and pearl production they also processed the shells for sale as mother of pearl.
They were very appreciative of the big mango and the pamplemouse we had brought. They quickly devoured it and we felt bad we did not know how many people worked there. They were very sorry they could not give us any pearls to remember our visit with them. The owner had left just the day before to Tahiti with their entire stock. They did insist we go home with a good hand full of the best mother of pearl shells. All in all a fun and educational visit.
SHARK CITY ANCHORAGE( 15 57.231S 142 19.116W ) *
We decided to sail to some larger and more wooded motus in the northeast. We found the waters here to be shallower and full of lots and lots and lots of sharks. There had been sharks at the other anchorages, but nothing like the concentration here!
Our first encounter was when we snorkeled down to check the anchor was set before floating out the rest of the chain. A BIG black tip came moseying by for a little peak. Biggest shark we have seen yet in French Polynesia, but nothing to worry about. This was just a prelude to what we encounter later.
Lovely soft sandy beaches off the islands here. So much softer on puppy dog feet than the more corally ones to the south. And littered in tiny cowry shells. But the swallow waters off the beaches are filled will baby black tip and tawny nurse sharks. I had never seen such a concentration. Walking in the water attracts them in droves and we would be surrounded by 5 or 6 curious ones in a mater of seconds. I was not worried about the humans, but I did have to chase them off a couple of times when I thought they were getting a little to interested in my ‘spindly little legs’.
If the babies line the shores it is not surprising that you will find the parents off shore. I was not the least bit surprised to hear the reports of lots and lots more sharks when the humans headed off for a snorkel on one of the bommies. Seems like everyone likes to party here at Shark City. And no one wants miss out on the fun of ‘freaking out’ the humans. And that about sums up the humans snorkel here. They jumped in the water off a bommie not far from the boat and quickly found themselves being circled by a pair of black tips. At first they kept their distance, but then the temptation to see ‘what was so interesting’ over came them and they started sweeping in closer and closer for a look. Just when the humans thought they were getting comfortable with their companions they turned around and realized they were now being circled by ‘all their mates’. Sharks 3 to 4 thick now circled them. Not to be left out of the fun, the more confident ones started sweeping in between and around the humans. Unfortunately the winds have been brisk and the surface choppy, so the video is a bit bumpy, at least that is what the human claimed made her hands shake, and the focus variable. But I will add the video for you when I can.
SO WHAT NEXT?
We still have the village and the pass to visit on the other side of the atoll. It is much more pleasant to stay anchored on the east side until the winds die down a bit. When they do we will pop over there and fill you in on what we found.
We will attach pictures and video to the blog when we next get internet. For now we will rely on the ‘power of radio waves’ to keep you informed of what we get up to.
* way points for anchorages can be copy and pasted into Google Earth END
We have a fun video coming of Us all playing with the sharks.
