Oh, a little tip as to naviagte while entering the passes thru the barrier reefs. If they have range marks, many do, which are very helpful to track in, as well as knowing your mag heading........one range mark , will be higher and further toward land.

Just FYI, When tracking in on the range marks, TURN TOWARD the LOWER mark, to keep them lined up. one over the top of the other. No need to be wildly S-turning, or snake waking , or WAG'ing. ( Wild A_ _ Guessing. Keep it simple-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------.

Tahiti tales :

When leaving the moorings base at Raiatea, we pay attention to the Grand Bank Central, between Raiatea and Taha'a. Avoid. We would overnight at Apu Bay , Taha'a before making the passage over to Bora Bora . Apu Bay, Beautiful, calm and peaceful mooring field. We moored off a very neat shore side restaurant and bar. I believe it may now be called FICUS. A few yards from the bar and restaurant, was a fantastic pearl farm. All of this is in one place.

We went ashore to explore,and walked down the road that ran along the shore line and coastal area of Taha'a. Just a nice after sailing stroll. A young man was working in his yard, and no matter where we are, we always greet people, He waved back and came over to visit with us. Turns out Jeremy and his family were presenting a special music and Tahitian Dance show at dinner time at the restaurant that evening. We stopped and made resevations for dinner and the show. Very few people, mostly crews off the moored vessels in the bay. Delightful evening. I did some digging on the computer last night, and found that FICUS puts on one heck of a show. Fire Dancing, singing, drums, etc. Might want to ask about that .

The pearl farm. Erica wanted to check it out, so the next day we walked out on the long wood dock to a small hut where the pearl divers talked story with us.

The actual sales place was in a very nice home, next to the restaurant, as well. We entered, and there was a long, long dining room table that was piled high and covered with pearls, and pearl jewelry . No glass presentation cases like the mainland U.S. The owner of the peal farm was there to help out, but you foraged thru all of the wonderful pearl presentations. They also advised Erica, if she found something that interested her, to go outside in the sunlight and check out the color, etc.

She did, but she was not able to find piece that was set, that interested her. We are about to leave, and I pointed out a stack of pearl settings...they were kind of tangled up in a pile. She starts separating the pieces and finds a three pearl pendant with a
gentle S curve, and three beautiful pearls. The color and luster were just what she was looking for. So, she picks it up and walks outside into the sunlight. That was many years ago, and to this day, when she wears that pendant, ladies make wonderful comments on how beautiful it is. Point being, if you get a chance, there are several different pearl farms, and you might stop by and check them out.

Others have mentioned the Coral River for snorkeling there at Taha'a. Do not miss.

For Bora Bora, snorkeling the barrier reef is amazing, sharks, sting rays, plus hundreds of milti colored reef fish and beautiful corals. on board ourr boat, We watched for the paid tourist snorkel boats to stop out on the reef at their favorite site. I figured that would be a great spot . We were anchored off Tapua Motu ( I think, all from memory ) , and took our dink out toward the reef. We anchored the dink in shallow water in sand, away from any coral. Back rolling off the gunnels of the dink, we calmly and slowly finned over to the area of the snorkel boat. Fins should NEVER break the water. No splashing, no torpedo , max speed swimming. We had our masks, snorkels and fins in place. Again, no flailing arms or legs. Great experience,
First , th e shark feeding and then after that, we spent quite a bit of time snorkeling the barrier reef. The snorkel boat left, and we were the only ones out there snorkeling the amazing reef.

Just a little more in depth , FYI ,

Denny and Erica