April 13, 2012

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We arrive near Moorea an hour or so early. From several miles out, we smell the sweet fragrance of frangipani. It’s dangerous to go through the pass into the lagoon in anything less than good daylight, so we hang offshore for an hour before motoring into Cook’s Bay. The mountains are very jagged and lush. We anchor in 50’ of water. This location is the essence of the South Sea paradise. Pictures and movies of Tahiti are, in fact, pictures of Moorea.

We rent a car and drive around the island which is only about 25 miles. There is a reef around the entire island which makes for a calm lagoon with shallow, coral filled water next to the palm lined beaches. There is a steep, winding road that goes up the inland mountain for a spectacular view of the bays below. There is no rain currently, so no waterfalls, but we can see where they run when water is flowing.

The evening is an early one since we spent the previous night on watches.

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