Today’s port was the beautiful Raiatea, where we arrived and cleared customs around 8 a.m. It is lush like Papeete was, but smaller and not as visually dramatic from a distance when compared to all Papeete’s heights and peaks. We had a quick breakfast and then met up with ship staff for our snorkeling excursion, the “Coral Garden Drift Snorkel.” For this excursion, we tendered ashore to the small town of Uturoa on the island of Raiatea, and they then took small groups of 12 of us by boat from the ship dock to a bay on the nearby island of Taha’a. Taha’a is Raiatea’s “sister island”, which is part of the Leeward Islands and surrounded by a barrier reef.

Views of Raiatea and our ship from the tender:

We had a very bumpy, wet, and wild ride to and from Taha’a.

When we got to the reef, they beached the boat on a little island and led us into the bay, where strong currents over the beautiful reef made perfect conditions for a drift snorkel. We started at one end of the island and just floated down to the other, past beautiful coral, fish, sea cucumbers, and – my favorite- giant pacific clams! I have always wanted to see them in person and in the wild, and boy did this snorkel trip deliver!!! The ones we saw on the reef were not the full grown size yet, but they had the most amazing colors!! This snorkeling was magical!

Once we had drifted to the end of the island, we put our shoes back on (which the guides carried in a sack for everyone) and hiked back thru the small island to reach the starting point of the drift, then we got to repeat it. 10/10 would recommend this snorkel!

Uturoa has a small downtown with some shops and restaurants, with a section dedicated to making money off of cruise ship passengers, as we often see on our cruises. After the tour, we stoped here and enjoyed a Tahitian Hinano beer before returning to the ship for a late lunch.

When we got back to the so, we showered and changed, and headed up to the aptly-named Sunset Bar at the back of our shop to take advantage of the view in the hopes that most passengers would still be ashore. We got a seat and a beverage in time for the big event, and enjoyed a perfect Polynesian sunset. Life is good!

Interestingly, there is a little tiny island with a house on it in the bay where the cruise ship is docked, and tonight at sunset someone came out on their deck and started twirling fire batons or sticks. It was too far away to see much, so we have no idea of the details on this, but I am filing that under “Something you don’t see every day!”

The end of this fun day included a drink at the martini bar, dinner in the dining room, and the Full Moon dance party on the deck. A great end to a great day! Thanks for adventuring with us!