As the Zuiderdam glided along the western side of Taha’a after first light, we could hear dozens of roosters welcoming the new day.

The ship turned into the channel between Taha’a and Raiatea, before smoothly spinning and slowly moving alongside the wharf in Uturoa.

Uturoa is not a very big town. Most of the commercial area is in this photo taken from the ship before we moored

Judy and I were with a group of 10 that arranged to charter the entire 12-passenger L’excursion Bleue boat for our day on the water.  You can also book seats on public tours with L’excursion Bleue and not worry about coordinating a group.  This tour is also known as “Bruno’s Tour” as Bruno will be your main contact, and he will be on the pier to coordinate the dispatch of all his boats.

One significant advantage of booking the entire boat is you can control the schedule and avoid the three shopping stops that are part of the public tour.   We took the public tour in March 2022, and you can read about that experience HERE with more detail on the shopping stops which include the following:

• Vanilla Farm
• Rum Factory
• Pearl Farm

The Zuiderdam had two gangways this morning – one forward, which was used for departing HAL tours, and one Midships for everyone else.  The welcome ceremony and ship’s officers will be at the forward gangway – so if you want to see that activity – leave a little early to allow time to observe as you walk by.

Bruno will send you a picture that shows a meeting spot near the “Shell gasoline station”.  But his boats may be tied up at any point in the small harbor – so as you come up to the first boat – look for L’excursion Bleue markings and inquire if this is your boat.  The boat drivers will not have a passenger manifest, but you may have been given a boat number and the drivers will know their number.  Look for Bruno, an older gentleman with a clipboard, as he will have the list of everyone by name and the location of your boat.

Your snorkel tour boat may be anywhere along the wharf in this small harbor

Our boat Captain was Rugi with his assistant Vai.

Masks and fins were available on the boat if you didn’t bring your own.  The fins provided were the large scuba fins which may be too large to maneuver in shallower water and close to coral.  We brought our shorter fins, better suited for snorkeling in shallower water.  Fins are useful as you occasionally swim against a current or want to tread water.

Once everyone on your boat is present, you will shove off and head toward your first snorkeling stop:  Blacktip Reef Sharks in deeper water.  It’s about 2.5 miles from Raiatea to Taha’a and your tour will circle Taha’a either clockwise or counterclockwise.  We are going counterclockwise today.

Our Captain, Rugi, as we sped away from Uturoa with the Zuiderdam in the background

Enroute to our first stop, Vai was feeding the seabirds who were trailing our boat

SNORKELING WITH THE SHARKS

Rugi slowed after about 20 minutes and dropped our anchor.  We were soon in the water, enjoying the view of the many Blacktip Reef Sharks in the area.   After about twenty minutes, I noticed the water was choppy and gray clouds replaced the once-blue skies.  The wind was picking up, and Rugi and Vai waved to us to return the boat.

This shark was following the school of fish for as long as they were in sight – over 1 minute.

The water here was about 10 feet deep

SNORKELING AND SINGING IN THE RAIN

As we headed north to our next stop – it started to rain, and the wind increased.  Everything in the boat was getting soaked.  I did bring a gallon ziplock to protect my camera and phone, but some of our money and other papers got wet as the water soaked thru the water-repellent bag.  We learned later that there is a dry storage area up forward in the boat, but next time I would bring a large 2.5-gallon zip lock bag that would hold my entire bag.  Normally the boat is dry inside, with only an occasional splash.  Be ready for a soaking – I think it is rare to encounter the driving rain we experienced,  but a large plastic bag is a cheap insurance.

John C enjoying the day

Rugi was smiling and “singing in the rain,” blasting his waterproof boom box as the ten of us huddled in the bottom of the boat and faced away from the wind.  The rain and high winds lasted for about twenty minutes, and we were cold and uncomfortable.

Many people hunkered down to stay out of the driving rain and wind. The rest of us kept our backs to the wind.

We slowed at our next snorkeling stop and debated whether or not to skip this stop and go straight to lunch.  Rugi said it was warmer in the water than in the boat, but we were skeptical.  Ellen led the way from our group and jumped into the water, and confirmed that the water was warm, and we all soon followed.  We would spend over an hour here, snorkeling some, but mainly just staying warm in the water close to the boat.

Staying in the water was warmer than being in the boat until the sun returned.

Rugi donned a makeshift shawl to keep warm in the wind and rain

MOTU LUNCH

We reluctantly crawled back into the boat, but we quickly warmed up as we dried, and Rugi headed the boat over to the Motu for lunch.  This Motu had a small pier, and we could walk ashore without getting wet.  On my previous trip, we were at a different Motu that required us to wade ashore.  Be ready for either possibility.

Our boat moored at this small pier where we could walk ashore without getting wet. This may not always be the case.

Our lunch was served under an open shelter with a thatched roof.  The woman who made the roof was helping with the food, and she said it took a couple of weeks to create and would last about five years.  Our lunch was fried chicken, grilled fish, and ceviche, along with rice and a chicken egg roll.  The sun was starting to come out and only sprinkled a few times.  After an hour, we were back on the boat heading to our final snorkeling spot.

This is the shelter where we enjoyed our lunch

chicken egg rolls, fried chicken, and fish

Our group enjoying lunch

Judy took this photo of a Plumeria on the Motu

DRIFT SNORKELING

This spot, another coral garden, named because of the shallow water among a lot of coral, required us to wade ashore to a small island, then hike over rocky terrain “up current,” where we would reenter the water and drift back toward the boat.  Navigating thru the coral was a little tricky, so the group stayed together and followed Rugi and Vai.  Judy and I waded ashore, thinking we might be able to walk back in the water, but that was not possible, so we walked and waded back to the boat.  Later I swam “up current” for a hundred yards and met some of our group as they drifted back toward the boat.

One of the fish I spotted as I was snorkeling up current

Everyone in the group did this twice, and we spent almost 2 hours there.  The amount of fish here was amazing, and with no rain and light breezes, the afternoon was quite pleasant.  Finally we all got back on our boat headed back to Uturoa, about 40 minutes away.

Bruno greeted us as we returned, and we said our goodbyes to Rugi and Vai.  Despite a little “snorkeling in the rain,” we had a wonderful excursion on the water.

We had a great time with Rugi and Vai

TIM TAM COUNTRY

We stopped by the nearby Champion grocery and picked up our first of many Tim Tams – an Australian Cookie prevalent throughout Oceania.  The movie “Love Affair” was shown on the Mainstage this evening.