The sun came out to play today, the clouds having emptied themselves yesterday. The scenery was beautiful both towards Bora Bora and over the coral reef. We tend to forget how rough the sea can be compared to the calm waters inside the reef.
I was assigned to the Deluxe Lagoon Cruise so caught a tender to the small harbour pier nearby. From there the excursion group was split up between 2 boats ⛵, 6 guests per boat = “The Love Boat” and “Pera’hana”. From the pier our boats sped out into the bay in a southerly direction towards the coral reef and then to the west coast of the island a bit so that we had a nice photographic view of one of the hotels. From there we headed to the south east coast past a few smaller bays and eventually dropped anchor for a bit of swimming and snorkeling time.
The water was just the right temperature and very clear. My first goggles 👀 were ‘shot’ and ready for retirement – they let in water on the left side, my left eyeball drowning in the process. Despite tightening the darn thing, they still leaked so I gave up and handed them back. I was given an alternative contraption – a full face mask that fitted around the forehead and down to the chin. It was so tight on the chin that my teeth were left clamped shut! It was strange being able to breathe through my nose and mouth without a snorkel mouthpiece between my teeth. The snorkel pipework was built into the mask and had a valve at the top that let air in and out and stopped water from coming in – except when I attempted, in error, to breathe when I dived down under the water. Water started to pour into my mask near my temple and I had to shoot to the surface to empty the mask and get some air. We were given some bread to feed the fish 🐠. It was lovely seeing them up close and personal. They saw the bread and hovered around it as I held it in my hand but when I didn’t break it up for them, then dashed in for a quick bite then fled with a mouthful before coming back for more. Sometimes they touched my fingers which felt like small vibrations in their attempt to get the bread. We saw red, blue and purple-lipped clams in the reef as we swam. Sometimes they would close quickly if they felt our presence via the motion of the water around them.
A bit later on we climbed back into the boats and we were taken to another bay where the water was much shallower – about chest height for me, waist height for others. Whilst in the water our guides got out rum and mango juice 🍹 and served it to us whist we were in the water (heaven!). Later on they brought out pieces of fruit and coconut and once again served us in the water (keeping the trays out of the water though! Second heaven!!). Whilst we were enjoying the beautiful surroundings a stingray swam past us, its movements very fluid as if on wings. I decided to join it 🏊 and kept a respectful distance beside it. It was lovely. During our time in the shallower waters the ray came past us a few times. It passed us once more as we were heading back into the boat and then headed into deeper waters. Maybe it sensed we were going so decided to have one last swim past us to say goodbye.
Throughout the excursion the guests in my boat were a lively bunch with a great sense of humour. They were still laughing when we got back to the pier. Perhaps the rum added to the joie de vivre! (Or was it actually fermented mango juice? 😶 )
I was tired when I got back to the Maasdam and also rather sun-kissed 💋 despite having used sunblock.
Time for an early night, methinks. 😫
You can see my photographs on facebook via this link: Excursion: Deluxe Lagoon Cruise
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| Next destination: Pape'ete, Tahiti |
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