Day 47 - Fri 10/26/18 Raiatea, French Polynesia

I'll say it up front: today was the absolute best snorkeling of the trip and possibly anywhere for us.

We arrived early at the port and didn't have to tender! Today was a first visit of the Maasdam to this port, but what a nice stop it was. They have a nice terminal and shops and a grocery store across the street.  

We found our L'Excursion Bleue excursion boat behind the nearby Shell service station. One couple didn't show, so another couple, Peter and Kathy took their place. Our outrigger canoe type boat held 12 guests plus Bruno, the owner, and Carlos, his deckhand. Raiatea is the second largest island in French Polynesia and adjoining it is Tahaa Island, noted for Vanilla and Pearl farms. We journeyed over to Tahaa Island and first snorkeled with the sharks and rays and other smaller fish. There were dozens and dozens of black tipped reef sharks

We visited a vanilla farm and learned about how vanilla is grown and processed. They had a nice fruit snack there and an assortment of vanilla products to purchase. Back on the boat, We then did some wonderful drift snorkeling over coral formations before enjoying a nice lunch on Tahaa Island. After lunch there was a brief stop at a pearl farm where we saw how the pearls are cultured. A short boat ride across the lagoon brought us to the next drift snorkeling location. We waded or snorkeled to shore and then walked across the motu (Island) and re-entered the water following Bruno through the coral canyons on another drift snorkel where we saw all sorts of colorful fish including Nemo (a clownfish) and a giant moray eel. 

We then rode the boat back to the pier which meant that we had circumnavigated Tahaa Island. At the port we said our goodbyes and did a little shopping before reboarding the Maasdam. Refreshing showers cleaned off the salt residue and we enjoyed a leisurely dinner with Peter and Kathy chatting extensively about their experiences being foster parents.

Annie Gong was our entertainment tonight and was her cute little self. The theme was classical music. Later on Rose & Tani performed a set in the Ocean Bar. Afterwards we chatted with Erik & Marilyn before enjoying a brief chat with Annie Gong and then returning to our room.  

Tomorrow is unfortunately the last day of our cruise. We will be in Moorea, but we don't have anything planned. But stay tuned to see what we do.