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Published: September 26th 2023
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The following morning we took the ferry to the island of Moorea, a short 45 minute ride across the channel. By all accounts Moorea is just as beautiful, if not moreso than Bora Bora, but for a fraction of the cost and only an inexpensive ferry away. We thought the mountains plunged straight into the sea on Tahiti, well the landscape was even more extreme here. Sheer jagged peaks and spires leap vertically from the lagoons here in a postcard perfect landscape.
We stayed at Residence Vainau ($83), one of the last beds on the island despite my booking months in advance. Not necessarily out of popularity but just because there is not much tourism here at all either. In the 1960s there was less than a dozen hotel rooms on the entire island, and by the looks of it, there hasn't been a whole lot of growth since then. French Polynesia is not one of those places you can just show up with a backpack and try to find a room on the spot.
We spent our first day diving with Scubapiti. The diving was incredible, with the densest amount of turtles we have ever seen anywhere. We
lost count at 25 turtles in one dive, a few of which were so tame they came straight up to us as if they were dogs begging for some treats. We also saw a lemon shark and a black tip reef shark amongst the dense and healthy mountains of coral.
The following day we went whale watching with Pacifik Attitude. French Polynesia is one of the few places in the world you can snorkel with whales. These humpbacks migrate from Antartica during the winter here to birth their calves and mate in the warm protected waters. The swimming here is a highly regulated small group activity thats not for the faint of heart or weak swimmers. We spent a few hours looking for whales, which we found quite quickly, but they did not accept us. Whale swimming etiquette is to observe the whales from a distance and see if they swim off, or accept the boats presence and stay. A nearby boat decided to jump in the water and swim over prematurely and chased off the whales. This attracted the attention of the marine police , who scolded them and sent them on their way. At the end of
the day we eventually found a mother, her calf, and an escort whale nearby and we made our long swim, because the boat cannot approach within 300 feet of the whales. We sprinted through deep dark blue waters in rough 3 foot swells, immediately losing one of our group who couldn't keep up. In the world of whale snorkeling it's keep up or be left behind. We couldn't find the whales in the waves and had to make the sad swim back to the boat. As we started back to dock we found the pod again, this time we vowed we wouldn't lose them, it was our last and only shot. Another one of our group stayed back, realizing he isn't a strong enough swimmer to brave the rough seas again. We sprinted out into the open sea, scanning the endless blue beneath us. Then out of the deep we saw them emerge into visibility. First the mother and calf, and then her escort beside them, swimming almost directly beneath us. I was hyperventilating and brought to tears in my snorkle, having this opportunity to share the same space as these beautiful and magnificent creatures.
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