After the last post that featured mullets I thought I'd do one that featured sharks. One of our stops on our South Pacific cruise last year was at Moorea in Tahiti, we had wanted to go to Tahiti for a long time but had always baulked at the expense, the cruise seemed like a good compromise.
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| The view at brekky. |
Waking up in our cabin we looked out the window to see that we were already anchored in Opunoho Bay, it was like being in a fiord with mountains towering around us dwarfing the ship. Breakfast was taken on deck taking in the view. The island looked like the type of tropical island you see in a movie, towering jungle clad mountains reaching into the cloud, beautiful white sand beaches and turquoise lagoons. I could see that the camera would get a fair workout today.
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| The beautiful turquoise water around Moorea. |
After getting a tender to shore we jumped onto another boat that would take us snorkelling. First stop was a area that was in the open water but protected by a reef, the water was around five feet deep, but the real interest was under the water. The sea was teeming with reef sharks and stingrays, this was amazing, the stingrays would rub up against your legs, whilst the sharks kept a little more distance, staying just out of arms reach. I spent a long time following the reef sharks around enjoying being in the ocean with these wild creatures. At the same time Sam was with the guide feeding the stingrays much to the squeals of delight from most of the ladies, and more worryingly some of the men on the trip.
We could have stayed here all day, but eventually we had to move to our next spot a nearby coral motu. Life's hard when you get moved from one spectacular place to another, this time our snorkeling site was teeming with tropical fish. We spent another couple of hours checking out the coral, the tropical fish, and relaxing on the beach. Jumping back on the boat for our trip back we feasted on the sweetest pineapple as we cruised over the turquoise sea, occasionally getting close enough to one of the flash resorts to check out the over water bungalows.
Back at the pier in Opunohu Bay we checked out the small market the locals had put on, grabbing some lunch from one of the stalls we watched a Polynesian dance being performed by a local lady and her enthusiastic little boy. By now it was mid afternoon so after one final walk around the small village we headed back to get on the tender. The view of the mountains towering over the Sea Princess adding perspective.
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Eating fresh pineapple on our way back to Opunohu Bay.
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| A local boy practising his dancing for the tourists. |
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Back on board, it was the usual routine after snorkeling, wash all the gear in the shower and then lay it out to dry on the balcony. After that was done we would each grab a book and our towels and head up on deck to watch the island slip away into the distance, whilst we sipped a cold drink on the sun lounge. Generally watching the sun set before heading back to our room and contemplating the evening activities, by this stage of the cruise I was wondering how I could ever face going back to work and the real world.
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The market at the pier on Opunohu Bay.
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| The mountains of Moorea, towering over the Sea Princess. |
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The Dirt
We visited Moorea on the Sea Princess as part of a 35 day South Pacific Cruise. They're are many companies running similar diving trips, we booked ours on board but you could organize one on the pier, ours cost us $85.
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| Sam on deck as Moorea recedes into the distance. |
Beautiful pictures
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