We left Raroia around 6:00 am heading for Makemo. It’s about 75 nm and will take us about 10 hours. The weather for now is calm, good trawler like seas and wind…..maybe 5-10 kt NE and seas 1-2’…we shall see if this holds up 🙂 )))) We left a day earlier than planned as per the grib something is coming in tomorrow so today was the better weather. Of course, lot’s of squalls all around us now….some rain but so far not much wind!!
OMG…..as I am writing this we hooked on a huge blue marlin…..beautiful, it spooled half the line, took about 5-6 amazing jumps them spit out the lure….whoa that was amazing……
Ok, back to the story….we enjoyed Raroia a lot…..like the San Blas islands in Panama but on super steroids….we explored many of the beaches…..lot’s of hard coral on the beach…..some sand…..hardly any trash…..not much treasure findings….but a whole lot of different shells….especially the white heart urchins…..PK was in heaven…..the coral reefs we snorkeled had beautiful coral but also some dead coral….maybe from bleaching????…AND, great fish life….saw many fish we are seeing for the 1st time and so colorful…..lot’s of groupers of pretty good size…..and sharks…black and white tip…..seem aggressive…..ugh….2–3 just hanging around each motus…..I did hunt for lobbies/crab but didn’t see any and not sure I would have hunted w/the sharks around!!
We did not scuba dive any which was a bit disappointing as the water clarity was so so and we had such a good time just snorkeling. We were not sure what we would find at 40-60′ as the reef is not continuous but more individual bommies.
We visited our first pearl farm….got quite a tour albeit all in French. They were not selling anything….we had heard the government had clamped down so we shall see if we can buy from some of the other farms along the way. Evidently Raroia has been discovered the last few years and is gaining an excellent reputation for growing pearls….a good flow of water bringing in lot’s of nutrients….already there are 4 large farms and more to come…..this is not your remote atoll anymore.
We visited the village…now at 250 people and growing. Regis and Tatiana are there to greet all cruisers….they speak excellent English from working on Moorea in the tourism business. They are trying to promote more tourism on Raroia. They are in the process of starting their own pearl farm and are a wealth of information, kind and very friendly people!!
Safe trip!
I can imagine that when PK gets her pearls they will become a major part of her persona. With shorts, bathing suits, Jammie’s, jeans……. and with nothing at all. So choose carefully.