Rangiroa in Tahitian means "immense sky". What it should mean is immense coral atoll with an equally impressive lagoon. The atoll is 174 miles in circumference, with a lagoon measuring 48 miles by 16 miles wide. The interior lagoon is so massive that you cannot see the land of the atoll on the opposite side. It is the largest atoll in the Tuamotu Archipelago, and the second largest in the world.
Rangiroa consists of 250 islets separated by shallow channels between the ocean and the lagoon. The biggest passes are located at the Tiputa and Avatoru villages. And these two places are where most of the 2500 inhabitants live. They are mostly employed by the airport, wharves, and hotel facilities. We do think that Rangiroa is the seat of the government for the Tuamotu Archipelago too.
The Dutch navigators found this coral-ringed island in 1616, but it was not until the Catholic missionaries arrived in 1860, that their economy was boosted by the introduction of the coconut trees. Today the industries are tourism, copra harvesting, and fishing. Pearl farms are also a big business here. This area is also renowned for the flourishing marine life, which attracts divers worldwide.
Tiputa is the only pass deep enough to accommodate cruise ships, as well as local freighters from Tahiti. Early in the morning and later in the afternoon, you can see the spectacle of dolphins playing in the rapids of the pass. Later in the day, we were witness to this activity.
Dreamy beaches and coral reefs are ranked among the best in the world. Glass bottom boats, snorkeling in coral gardens, swimming with dolphins and deep sea fishing are among the most sought after things to see and do here. There are reportedly over 700 species of fish in this area, among them are huge concentrations of gray sharks, tame dolphins, and sometimes the hammerhead sharks. Avatora pass has the white tip sharks and manta rays.
What is there to buy here? Pearls, honey, and wine. Yes, they grow and produce their own wine on this atoll. Can you imagine growing vines on a coral island with no soil with temperatures in the mid 80's? For the last 10 or more years, these vineyards have been successfully planted under the shade of coconut palms. The grapes of red and white vines are then processed in a winery in Avatoru. So if you see a Wine of Tahiti, this is where it originates.
There are many types of lodgings here, and most are hard to find, as they are buried in the coconut trees and lush vegetation. They are referred to as harmonious with the environment.
The modest airport has a 984 foot wide land tongue where we saw an Air Tahiti plane take off. They have regular flights from Tahiti, and this airport terminal only opens for a short duration. No flights? They lock it up and go home.
One attraction here is the Pearl Farm, where they offer a free tour if you are vacationing here. They will even send a free shuttle to get you there. However, when a cruise ship is in port, the ship offers a tour for 1 ½ hours for $30 per person. We found it to be a very interesting tour where we learned the process of grafting to harvesting, as well as grading and sorting. Naturally, there is a showroom where you can purchase some of their stunning but expensive creations. By the way, on our first visit to Rangiroa, we happened to walk here, and were invited inside for a "free" tour. Not intending to stop here, we had some time to spare since the restaurant we wanted to lunch at was not opened yet.
We left the ship around 11am, and saw that two small freighters were unloading supplies to the islanders. These ships come from Tahiti we read. Many of the tours started here with the glass bottom boat ride ($80 for 1 hour) and the snorkeling tour ($90 for 1 hour) leaving right from the same pier. Van after van passed us along the main road on their way to the Pearl Farm. Lots of folks arranged independent dive expeditions today a well.
Taking our time, we eventually walked over 4 miles to reach our lunch destination – the Mai Tai Resort. Beginning our hike, right near the tender landing spot, were rows of souvenir tents with rather pricey items that we have seen in most all of the Polynesian ports so far. Right where the road took a left turn at the end of the Tiputa Pass, was an area well known for dolphin-watching. We would stop here on the way back. Thats about where we ran into Denise and Howie, who were in awe of the amount of coral piled everywhere here. It really is pretty with streaks of pink within the bleached white rocks.
It was also around here that the partly sunny skies turned cloudy and with it came some rain. Since it was so warm and muggy, it actually felt good. One thing we did remember was how things can turn on a dime, and sun goes to sudden downpours within minutes. For that reason, we did pack the umbrellas today and did use them periodically.
One of the nicest and nearest resorts is the Kia Ora Resort and Spa. If you follow the signs off of the road, and go down a sandy driveway, you will find this resort facing the lagoon. And this is where the majority of guests end up for beers and wifi, of course. Crossing over a few more small passages, we were mesmerized by the action of the lagoon with the ocean. The tide was up, so the ocean water was rushing into the lagoon. This is the way the lagoon is flushed with fresh water. When the tide goes out, so does some of the lagoon water, sort of like a filter system. Cement bridges cross over these passes, so you can watch the fish coming in and out with the flow of rushing water.
Passing the school area, we finally came upon the airport runway. At the terminal, they were opened because a plane was due to land. On the roadside, there are several spots to sit, so we did for a few minutes, enjoying the breeze here. About another mile up the road, we arrived to the Mai Tai, which also is built right on the lagoon. The nice thing about going here is the fact that no one from the ship comes here. We had the entire bar restaurant to ourselves with the best service from the friendly staff. One thing we can say about Polynesia, is that we have never been rushed for any meal. Everything here is done on a much slower and relaxed pace, which is nice. However, once we savored our shared ham and cheese panini with skinny fries, downed a few Hinano beers, followed by a shared dessert of profiteroles, we had to leave in order to make it back to the pier on time. All was aboard was 4:30pm, and we figured it would take over an hour to get back. We did have one question for our waitress. The menu had a fruit name we were not familiar with. The word was "ananas", and we were surprised when she translated that into pineapple. Come to think of it, pineapples do not come from a pine tree or an apple tree. So ananas is probably a better name for the much loved fruit. See, we can learn something new almost every day.
There was one last stop we wanted to make, and that was at the dolphin-watching corner. Not expecting to see anything there, we were quite pleased to see the big dolphins swimming and jumping in the turbulent passage. We stayed as long as we could, but had to move on to make one of the last tender boats.
Making it back to the ship by 4:15pm, we made our way to deck six forward to watch our exit. This should be the best place to watch for dolphins. Denise and Howie had the same idea, and we joined them to watch the show of dolphins as we left. A handful of guests had made their way to the bow, leaning over the railing and even standing where it is normally not allowed. It surprised us that not one security officer was out there telling them to stay away from the edges. This would not fly on the world cruise, as the security officers really adhere to the rules. After all, it is for our safety. Once the ship gained some speed and the winds picked up, all of the decks cleared quickly. We could watch the rest from our veranda and be out of the wind.
Darkness came swiftly with a fairly decent sunset. Dinner had yet another fish entrée called papeo, which turned out to be a white fish sautéed in a frying pan perhaps. And delicious again. The veal cordon bleu was equally as good tonight. Thinking we may stump our waiter Tama with the "ananas" question, he answered…..pineapples. Guess this word is also used in Indonesia as well, but spelled nana. Who knew? Tama was most pleased he knew the correct answer.
Philip stopped by with two possible candidates for our world cruise dinner waiters. We left the decision up to him, and we are certain none of us will be disappointed. Our only request was that we have two waiters that will be on for the entire 128 days. Sometimes their contracts end halfway through the trip, and we have to start all over again.
It had been one long day with a lot of exercise, so we missed the show of Naki Ataman tonight. He will be back one more time, so we should be able to catch his act then.
We will sleep really good tonight for sure…….
Bill & Mary Ann
