Moorea
Moorea is approximately 20 miles from Tahiti and is simply spectacular. The scenery is on par with that found in the Marquesas.
We left the anchorage at Marina Taina in Tahiti around 8am and made our way to Papeete Passe. This time round we were not held up as we passed the airport runway, and we were lucky to once again spot a pod of dolphins in the pass. No matter how many times we see dolphins, they never fail to bring a smile to your face and brighten your day.
Our passage to Cooks Bay on Moorea took around 4 hours and the weather was fantastic.
On entering the bay we were left speechless. The vista was simply breathtaking. Three sides of the bay were akin to the scenery found in the Jurassic Park films, with near vertical emerald cliffs. After anchoring, we sat in the cockpit and stared in wonderment and awe. Our first impressions... Moorea does not disappoint!
Although the bay is called Cooks Bay, this is something of a misnoma as James Cook actually anchored in Opunohu Bay when he visited in 1769.
Whilst in Cooks Bay we took the rib to the gas station to get some jerry cans of duty free diesel, as it was too shallow to take Azzy alongside. Just as we were about to leave the dock, we spotted a fairly large shark swimming in the shallow water. We weren't sure at the time what type of shark it was but after discussing it with some friends who scuba dive, we think it was a Nurse shark.
On a walk around the bay we came across a building with an impressive mural of a bird with a fish in its mouth. We also found a cute Creperie called Cook Cafe.
After a few nights in Cooks Bay, we motored around to Opunohu Bay, which was a couple of miles away along the north coast. As we were motoring through the pass, we saw a humpback whale swimming past the port hand mark. Not wishing to disturb it, we gave it a wide berth. As is usually the case, we didn't have a camera to hand to get a photo!
Opunohu Bay is not only the bay where Cook landed but most of the Polynesian scenes from the 1984 film Bounty, starring Mel Gibson were filmed here.
On our way into the bay we passed Hemisphere, the world's largest catamaran. At 145 feet long by 53 feet wide, she is colossal, especially when you see her anchored close to other catamarans. To put it into perspective, Azzy is 45 feet long, so she is wider than Azzy is long! We also passed a hybrid superyacht called Ethereal. She is equipped with a 400kw battery store that can power a tiny village. She operates in stealth mode by using her silent hybrid propulsion system.
We met up with friends Jeff and Debby from catamaran Making Memories and decided to take a trip via rib to the popular Stingray City close to Motu Tiahura. The journey there and back was fairly challenging due to all the reefs along the way, but it was well worth it. We tied the rib to a mooring ball and along with around 50 other people from tour boats, jumped into the crystal clear water, which was only chest deep. All of a sudden we were surrounded by stingrays, black-tipped reef sharks and many colourful reef fish. The colour of the Blue Jack fish was very impressive. The rays were extremely friendly and would rub themselves up against you. If you are brave enough you can also stroke them on their underside.
Sadly, our time in Moorea was over all too soon. We had a perfect weather window to make the overnight passage to Huahine.
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