Most Beautiful Island, Water Excursion So-So

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Geo: -17.5327, -149.838

Yes, another water activity. These last few islands are said to be the best for underwater outings so we are concentrating on those activities as we wrap up our adventure. Today we are booked with Hiro's Tours. It's been cut from an all day trip to just four hours because weather conditions are restricting boats to the lagoon, staying within the protection of the reef. First, however, we must get off the ship to the shore.

The usual drill: 6:30am wake up as usual, pick up #13 tender ticket and have a light breakfast. When they call #13, we report to A deck to board the tender. The ride is smooth across the lagoon from where our ship is anchored to the dock in Oponuhu, Moorea. While the sky is cloudy, the wind is calm and it makes our tender trip a quick one. We meet Laurie, our tour leader, pay for our tour and board the boat. It's 60 person capacity makes it larger than the others vessels we've used before but Mom likes the stairway at the bow, providing easy entry and egress.

Today, even while shrouded in clouds and mist, Moorea is beautiful, perhaps more so than Bora Bora. Dozens of mountain spires pierce the sky above this incredible tropical island, located just 11 miles from Tahiti. A scenic drive around the island passes through pineapple fields and coconut palms to a lookout that reveals magnificent views of Cook's Bay and Papetoai Bay. Unfortunately, we won't see these things on this visit. However, the island is a popular diving destination because of the frequent shark sightings during dives and that is something that we might enjoy today. Believed to have inspired the mythical Bali Hai from James Michener's Tales of the South Pacific, Moorea is one of the most scenically striking islands in French Polynesia. The island is roughly shaped like a heart from overhead; and in the theme of love and romance, Moorea is one of the top honeymoon destinations in Tahiti—second only to Bora Bora.

Today we're here for the snorkeling. We depart for a shark and ray encounter and, with the flat water and larger boat, we make good time and cover the short distance in about 20 minutes. We moor with a few other boats. Karen has already decided to sit this one out and, while I'm contemplating whether or not to jump in as more boats and jet skis arrive. Soon it's like Disneyland with all the crowds of people in the water, jumping and screaming. I can't take it so I stay out. Besides, there are only a few ocean creatures in the area and the screaming morons are yelling and kicking at them. These are the people you hear about in the news. I record all this nonsense on my movie camera to enjoy later. It needs sound to capture the mood. The 45 minutes pass slowly but finally the pain stops with all aboard and we travel to the motu where we will be having lunch. It's a free hour of snorkeling while our lunch is being prepared so Mom and I float around in the water, checking out the small fish. One type of fish bites me in the leg and soon others are bitten. I take a movie of this 8" fish, swimming directly at me then abruptly turning back, then repeating this. I bark and growl at him with my snorkel and the people in the area like the craziness. They ask Karen, "What's he doing? Is he all right?" Boomer and Min know the noises first hand from Thailand. I kick at him but he's too fast. Finally, the fish and I both agree to call a truce and I leave the area, never to return again. Don't worry. The battle is all recorded on the GoPro.

For lunch, they serve chicken, fish, beef, rice, noodles, French bread and fruit along with punch and beer. It was good but some of our other beachside lunches were better. They ran out of cooked chicken and the cook grabs some more raw poultry from the ice and says, "No problem. This will be ready in 10 minutes." I don't thinks so, pal. I'll pass on the second batch of chicken and eat fruit. After lunch, we spend 1 1/2 hours out in the shallow water off the beach. Mom feeds fish and some stingrays that come right up to her in the one foot deep water. After, it's a pleasant ride back to the pier. The sun has been out most of the afternoon, the first we've seen in many days and makes the turquoise lagoon stand out from its surrounding blue border of deeper water.

At the pier, vendors are set up selling the usual stuff: jewelry, wood carvings, pearls, shells, T-shirts and dresses. Mom finds a single pearl necklace she likes but she's short $60 in cash and has no credit card. We leave on the tender for the ship but she decides while on our return that she really wants it so we arrive at the ship, get some money and take the tender back to shore for her purchase. We finish with a half hour to spare before the "all aboard" time of 4:30pm. We shower, go to the fancy dinner and immediately return to our room. I will work on the blog and she watches some stupid movie, "Insurgents". No show tonight. Our last water excursion is tomorrow in Rangiroa.

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