Tahiti to Moorea – Off to spend the New Year in Moorea, Society Islands, French Polynesia

HOLIDAY SEASON

Papeete, the capitol of Tahiti, is a big city. Like most big cities little closes down for the holidays….except ‘of course’ all the government agencies we need to work with to get my pet clearance and the dentist. So, as we can get little done here, the humans decided to go off on a little mini adventure to Tahiti’s closest neighbouring island, Moorea, to see in the New Year.

ABOUT MOOREA

We do not know a lot about Moorea. It is toted as naturally beautiful with lots of hikes, beaches and reefs to explore. It is a much smaller island than Tahiti, but a similar geology of towering lush volcanic peaks and a barrier reef surrounding it. There are a few 5 star hotels and holiday homes on the island, but it is much less developed than Tahiti with public parks and beaches. A large harbour on the east side of the island is a popular stop for cruisers. This is also the harbour all the ferries use to criss cross between the islands. There are also two large bays on the north coast offering a variety of anchorages.

My humans heard that Opunohu Bay was the most scenic with a big public beach in the anchorage. The beach part perked by interest!

OFF TO MOOREA

Moorea is only a short day sail away from Tahiti. But the channel between the two islands should not be taken lightly as wind and waves can funneled down this narrow passage. My humans thought a weather forecast of 11-15 knots of wind, from the northeast and wave heights of only half a metre would be perfect for the trip. But you know they always cop things up!

The first mistake they made was raising the sail on anchor. The anchorage south of the airport was perfectly calm, without a breath of wind. But as they motored behind the barrier reef towards the main harbour they rounded a small headland to be blasted by 20 knots of wind on the nose. They quickly dropped the flogging sail as the channel was too narrow to tack in. It is not uncommon for wind to be accelerated around islands, especially when they are as tall as Tahiti. Silly humans not to have thought of that.

As the wind had a northly component they thought it would be best to head for the northly channel out from behind the reef to give them the best wind angle for sailing. But that meant using the main harbour channel and that includes passing by the airport runways set up on the coast. The humans had to call up Papeete Port Control on VHF radio channel 12 to get permission at each step. Remember, they still have not learned French yet, but thankfully the Port Control in Tahiti speak very good English.

Once we cleared Papeete harbour entrance and headed out into the channel we were immediately aware of how much the stronger the winds and waves were compared to the forecast. But at least it was going to be a fast passage. I will add some pictures and video for you as soon as we get some internet. With most of the wind and waves behind us, it was not a bad passage. But this is when the humans realized what getting back was going to be like! Yes, we were going to have a rough sail back with all this wind and waves in our face. The humans should of thought about that before we left. Oh well, deal with that later. It will be worth it for a beach.

THE ANCHORAGE

The seas settled down along the north coast and we tucked through the big well marked channel into Opunhu Bay. You could see all the boats anchored on the sandy shallows, opposite the beach, just behind the barrier reef of the bay. It was a Sunday, official day of rest in Polynesia, and the beach was packed with families enjoying the cool water and the shade of the palm and almond trees. Despite the anchorages popularity, there was lots of room on the sandy shallows for even my humans to find a big spot to drop the hook.

The view from the anchorage is stunning. The valley here is surrounded by tall lush mountains. The waters are clear and we could see Eagle rays swimming in the current that passes below the keel. The beach, in typical French Polynesian fashion, is clean with all the amenities including fresh water showers. There is a shallow reef right off the beach, with anemones and clown fish, but most of the hard coral is dead. You still get to see lots of different fish including the friendly parrot fish that Tahitian reefs have been cleaned out of.

NEW YEARS

One of the advantages of being near a 5 star hotel is you get to enjoy the show they put on for guests from the water. This year the Hilton put on a great fire works display the humans could watch from their very own boat. Cheap skates! They abandon me for a few ‘pre’ New Years beers with mates earlier in the evening. I hate loud noises, so I was thankful they were back for the fireworks display.

Stingray City

For once, the humans did not ‘over indulge’ for New Year Eve and took advantage of a hang over free morning to head over to an area beside the 5 star Intercontinental Hotel know as Moorea’s Stingray City. It is here that rays have gotten used to being fed by tour operators. There are some mooring buoys set up for tenders to tie up to. As soon as the rays hear the outboard engines approaching they congregated in onto the shallow sands here behind the reef.

But the humans brought the wrong food. Their fellow cruising friends brought canned sardines, but my humans brought an out of date can of smoked oysters. These rays were obviously not connoisseurs, as they paid little attention to the offerings. But it was fun to see friends being mailed for theirs and I will add a few shots to the blog when I get internet.

Definitely a fun giggle and a cool thing to do to see in the New Year.

SO WHAT NOW?

There are lots of things to do and see before we have to head back to Tahiti. In this bay alone there is two great view point hikes, a shop that sells freshly caught prawns (shrimp) each Wednesday, a botanical garden and a reef research centre that is open to the public. That does not include the multitude of surfing and snorkeling spots to investigate. Not sure if we will get around the island to visit the other villages.

The humans are also out here on a little reconnaissance mission. Talking to cruisers that have entertained guests here before and getting prices on transport and accommodations. You can rent a ‘over the water’ bungalow here for $1500/night at the Hilton, or our guests can stay on a slightly less luxurious ‘over the water’ boat for free. I would give up my dogs bed to have them come and stay.

One of my ‘flat footed’ humans has a birthday coming up and then we have to make a bumpy run back to Tahiti to sort out dentist appointments and paperwork. Fill you in on what we get up to.

For now we want to wish all our family and friends a HAPPY NEW YEAR!
MAY THE NEXT YEAR BE FILLED WITH LOVE, HAPPINESS, PROSPERITY AND THE GOOD HEALTH YOU NEED TO ENJOY IT ALL.

Special thanks go to Deb on s/v Bella Nave for making the great video!

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