Rangiroa

​The next morning we left Bora Bora and headed to a different atoll Rangiora (the largest atoll in French Polynesia, although much of it isn’t developed).  The flight was a little over an hour---flying is the only way to island hop except if you choose to only visit the islands of Tahiti and Moorea and in that case you can fly or take a ferry. 

​Rangiora is less glitz and more real life French Polynesia. What I mean is the tourist infrastructure is less here than on Bora Bora.  Bora Bora is gorgeous and has many luxurious places to see, but you rarely get a glimpse of how locals live.  On Rangiora there are comfortable places to stay, but nothing really at the luxury level.  However, you can see a bit how locals live.  I rented a bicycle and rode from one section of the atoll to the other (about 12 miles round trip from the resort). I went from one pass to another….anywhere I could cycle.  I shopped at the local market (unfortunately part of my shopping was for dog food as many of the island’s dogs are not well cared for and appear to be in need of food).   I visited the local black pearl farm and learned how they cultivate pearls.  It is a long and complicated process and that is why black pearls can be quite expensive. ​

We also took a boat excursion here----we headed out of the lagoon on about a 45 minute boat journey to a place called the Blue Lagoon.  Up until this point, I thought Rangiroa was beautiful, but in the areas near land, the shades of blue were not as dramatic and stunning as Bora Bora.  Well, the Blue Lagoon gave Bora Bora a run for its money :)  The boat journey showed empty ocean until all of a sudden a few little motus (islands) popped up out of nowhere.  These motus are used by tour companies to make and serve lunch while guests explore the area.  The water is crystal clear and you walk in from the boat.  On the short walk in, we saw reef shark and several kinds of reef fish welcoming us.  When we journeyed to the next atoll, we almost stepped on a sting ray as it was hiding under some sand, but the water was so clear you could make out a blurry outline of something.  Once we stopped and really looked, you could easily see the 2 to 3 feet long tail…certainly not what you would want to step on .  Every few feet there was something to see…..and this was standing in the water….no need to snorkel here as the water was so clear from above. After lunch, the sharks get the leftovers and they seem to be able to tell time.  From about an hour before lunch until just after being fed, a large group (maybe 30-40+) reef sharks wait patiently for the leftovers.  They were circling and sort of bobbing and weaving around one another…..all crystal clear watching from the shore.  It was truly an amazing sight. 

After several hours at the Blue Lagoon we headed back and went to one of the passes where there is a group of wild dolphins that love to play around sunset.  We tried to see them from land one night, but it was quite windy (30+ mph) and the tide schedule wasn’t great for their antics, so we didn’t see any.  From the boat this day, we saw about 10 dolphins as they jumped and swam around the boat.  Our captain said they like cheerful music…..so they played upbeat songs and the dolphins seemed to like it. 

​My husband had gone scuba diving in this same pass the 2 days before and the divemaster told him many of the dolphins like to hug divers.  He asked what to do if you didn’t want a hug from the dolphin (who wouldn’t want a dolphin hug if they initiated it??) and the divemaster said the dolphin Is in charge and you basically can’t refuse a hug.  I want to stress that these are not Sea World graduates or anything----they are used to people and I think people probably taught them some of their behaviors, but these dolphins are wild.  It was amazing to see in person.

​​For the next destination, my husband went to Fakarava to scuba dive (one of the best places to scuba dive in French Polynesia and according to some people, one of the best places in the world).  I went to Moorea.  More on that in my next blog post.