Sea Day #2 and then.......Bora Bora

After our second day at sea, we were suppose to be in Raiatea, however the captain had flipped the itinerary to go to Bora Bora first due to high winds and choppy seas.  The announcement had come in the morning of our day at sea and needless to say the internet cafe was busy all day with everyone re-arranging their plans to move Bora Bora plans forward, and move Raiatea plans back a few days.  Luckily, most tour operators are used to these kinds of changes and we were able to change our plans.  Even better for all of us - we had DAVE!  Dave is a travel agent, and also a well versed traveler.  He has elite status with Princess, therefor some complimentary internet minutes.   Dave graciously called & emailed the Excursion Operators on both Islands and made all the changes.  Thanks a million Dave!

A quick word here about Internet at sea - be aware, it is expensive!  79 cents a minute on the ship- and it is not fast internet either.  If traveling in a group (without the above mentioned lucky charm Dave), it is a good idea to have an small pool to buy internet time. Everyone puts in $5, an you have it ready if needed.  One person takes charge of the 'bank' and if needed charges the time to their cabin.   Itineraries can change.  Make sure you have all your excursion paperwork with you, on your tablet or computer.  I do both.

I only got on the internet 3 times during our trip - all three were at places where you got free internet with purchase.  That was plenty for me.  When in Paradise why connect with the outside world? :-)

Day 6. Bora Bora

Toasting to Dave's skills as a TA!

our tender landing spot

Rhonda was our excursion planner for Bora Bora Day 1.  She booked an 7 hour tour with Maohi Nui Discover Bora Bora, Patrick is the owner, and is highly regarded on Trip Adviser & Cruise Critic.  Lucky for all of us, she booked him early as he is in high demand.  He has two boats, one takes 12 the other 14.  Patrick leads one boat out, and then he has two guides on the other boat.  Both boats meet up on his private Moto for lunch.  We went on the 12 passenger boat with our fabulous guides Luciano & Mahana...( Son in Tahitian)

               
Our wonderful crew!





           

our ship for the day

The Maohi Nui III

                                 Our first stop was snorkeling with black tipped reef sharks, amazing!

Michael & Cathy looking at the sharks up close

Black-tip reef shark 

 Both of our guides spotted a lemon shark and took turns free diving and riding the shark holding it's fin.  I know the black tipped reef sharks were not bothered by us and aren't inerested in having us for lunch, I can't say the same for the Lemon shark!  He was a big one!  But did not seem to mind giving our guides a ride.  I could not believe how long they stayed under water with no scuba gear!

Second stop was for feeding the Stingrays.  We were in water waist deep and they were all around us.  Our guides brought fish to feed them and they went crazy for it.

yes, the water is that clear

Andrea goes in for a kiss

Fish & Sting ray in crystal clear water

Susan & Andrea with a great looking guy 

Third stop was for seeing the beautiful fish of Tahiti.  The guides would throw bread and pretty every type of fish would surround us.  Of course we also saw plenty of clams.  The coral head were chock-full of fish & clams - I could have just floated there all day.  Seeing the clams with the iridescent lips was a highlight for me.  I remembered these so clearly from my trip to Tahiti 12 years ago, but could not get a picture like this!    When friends would ask me about Tahiti, I would always try and describe this clams, but until you see them like this that you realize that words can not describe natures wonders adequately!

Colorful clams - purple, blue, green, gold lips 

 Many thanks to Kelly for the beautiful underwater photos!

Moto

Patrick

Patrick explains the pit roast

Then it was off for lunch on Patricks private Moto.








They had a pit roast suckling pig, plantains, Tahitian poi that tasted like bananas & pineapple, taro root, spinach chicken, several types of grilled fish, grapefruit served on handmade trays made of woven palm-frons topped with banana leaves, all eaten with our fingers which made it taste all the better.

The boys grilling the fish

Our palm & leave plates 

The Pit

We ate this feast siting at a picnic table set in the clear shallow water around the Moto.  There were plenty of drinks, beer, Champagne, juice, wine, water & soda.

Can you picture a better spot for a picnic lunch? This is our group after enjoying a fabulous, fresh lunch

After lunch we learned how to weave palm-fron plates & the guides demonstrated how to crack open a coconut.  We tasted the fresh coconut water and they carved out a few slices of coconut for us to taste.  Then using an old Tahitian devise they shave half of the coconut and offered us a taste - it was sweet and delicious and I could not help having more!

swim up bar

Then it was off for a final swim before heading back to shore.  The guides sang beautiful Tahitian music while playing ukelele for us the ride back and frequently pointing out local information about Bora Bora and it's history.

Michael & the boys sing us back to Bora Bora

It did rain pretty hard on our way back, but it did not spoil a fantastic day of snorkeling with fun friends in paradise.  I'll go out on a limb here and say that Day 1 in Bora Bora was in my top 5 favorite things on this trip!

Bora Bora from the ship 

Patricks company is called Maohi Nui Discover Bora Bora.  I highly recommend his company's services if you are in Bora Bora.   Simply the best!


Information on Patricks Bora Bora trip can be found here:
http://www.maohinui.net/en/a-propos-de-maohinui

Good bye Bora Bora, I hope to return some day

Picture contributions for this blog: Kelly, Cathy, Andrea, Dave- many thanks to all


Until next time,
Safe Travels
Susan