Fakarava and the Tuamotus

We made it to Paradise!! NOW we remember why we’re doing this!

The Tuamotus are stunning. We arrived at the Fakarava atoll during slack tide at 10:30 and cleared the pass without incident. Being our first entrance into an atoll on our own, we were apprehensive. The guide portrayed the pass as something quite long and treacherous. Bill was at the helm while I was on the bow with binoculars and keeping an eye out for coral heads.  Then… almost as soon as we entered the pass - it was all over! It only took about 3 minutes and was surprisingly simple. All that worrying for nothing! There were a few picturesque thatched huts in the entrance luring us in and we passed a fizz boat filled with tourists. I’m afraid we’ll be in a lot of unknown people’s trip photos!

Approaching Fakarava's south pass

Looking out

Hotel bungalows in the southern pass of Fakarava

Inside the atoll

Once inside the atoll, we had to clear a fish farm and choose where to go. The guide book explained the eastern half of the atoll was charted, but not the west. The prevailing winds here are from the south east, however on arrival they were from the south west. On the western corner of the atoll, there was an inviting area of particularly beautiful crystal clear water and a cluster of sailing boats and catamarans just to the west… so what do we do… we went west. It was like chocolate, we just couldn’t resist the temptation! We thought, “heck, if they can get there, why can’t we?”. Well, they must have had some local knowledge that we didn’t have. It was probably the craziest bit of maneuvering we’ve ever done, and I hope we never have to do it again! Bill was at the bow looking out for coral heads while I helmed the boat. We zigged and zagged our way through a garden of flowering coral. Bill was giving some crazy arm signals as though he was an overzealous referee giving penalties at a foosball table game! Left arm UP, right arm UP, left… right… right,right,right… straight, LEFT, etc. I stole an opportunity to look at one of the passing heads and man, they were barely under the surface. Yikes. Then I couldn’t look anymore since I had to keep such a close eye on Bill’s arm signals! Fortunately, the conditions were perfect with no wind and the sun high in the sky which is optimal for reef navigation. Once we made it to the other boats, we realized there wasn’t a lot of room to anchor amongst the coral and decided it was too tricky for us and wanted to get the hell out of there. A French couple approached us in their dinghy and explained that we way we came was “too dangerous”. We got that information a little too late. Because we couldn’t reach the safer route out, we had to go back the way we came! Aargh! They were really nice about it and wished us luck. So, off we went – zig zagging our way back. What a bunch of dopes! Although it was dangerous, it really was quite comical.  

Once we were back at the entrance to the atoll, we sighed in relief and vowed not to do something so incredibly stupid again! Knowing us, we probably will though J. So, now we were heading east – where we were supposed to. We tried anchoring near the entrance at the southern end of the atoll, but had trouble finding a clear area of sand to lay the anchor without fouling on a clump of coral. We made an attempt, but sure enough it caught. We managed to hoist the anchor with some difficulty – the bow was being pulled down instead the anchor going up – it’s supposed to be the other way around! It finally freed and off we went again to the far eastern corner of the atoll where we found a beautiful sandy anchorage. We finally paid attention to what the guide book said. En route, we did discover uncharted coral reefs so had to really pay attention during the hour long crossing. Now here we are anchored in crystal clear turquoise water with a white sandy beach covered in coconut palms. Heaven.

After securing the anchor, we stripped off our clothes and immediately jumped in the water (sorry to put that image in your heads!). There are loads of little fish, and the water is a warm  28 C. This anchorage makes it all worth it. And we finally opened the bottle of champagne! We were supposed to have it when we crossed the equator - but it was too rough. Then we thought we’d have it when we arrived at the Marquesas - but it was too rolley. But now… it’s JUST RIGHT!

Navigating in the atoll

The beach from a distance

After a swim and a bit of champagne

Cruising is pretty great!

 Note: We ended up leaving this bay before we could take photos as bad weather approached and we had to get outta there!