Tag Archives: diving

Sunken Treasures

Leave a reply

I am ashamed to admit this but I have never snorkeled the sunken treasures site located less than 5 minutes from our Tahiti anchorage.  You are probably thinking, WTF?  Yes, we have anchored in the same spot in Tahiti for 3 years at least 2 dozen times!  Yet, I have never been to this super cool spot!

We gather our friends Thomas and Marika (from “Scooter”) and we make the short trek to the snorkel spot.  Directly under the dinghy is the first of two sunken ships.   I jump in to see the shell of a rather large ship.  The smaller of the two ships is located 30 meters away near the airplane.

Strategically placed together are the Cessna 172 airplane and the smaller ship.  The two ships did not prove to be very interesting as they had no coral growth or wildlife on or around them.

Matt decides he wants to fly the plane so he snorkels down 10m (30’+) while Thomas goes down with my GoPro. 

Matt has to wiggle into the cockpit, but manages to give us a thumbs up.

The plane proves to be far more interesting to shoot from all different angles.  If you look closely, you will see that the tires are still on the plane!

Rumor has it that on April 16, 1995, following an emergency landing, this plane sank near the runway of the Tahiti airport.  Now it remains at the site of the Aquarium with two other boats and a work station in 10 meters of water.

Working Remote?

Next to the plane is the strangest thing….a small desk with a lamp, adding machine, pencil cup and an apple computer (complete with keyboard).  We’ve been saying that internet is hard to find in French Polynesia – but this shows we exhausted all possibilities!

Just because it is such a cool shot, here is a single photo of Matt at the desk after he pounded it when he realized he had no connectivity.

We also had lots of super curious fish coming to check us out.

And we found a beautiful heart made of coral because we love Tahiti.

We say farewell to Fakarava after some fabulous shark dives.  Events from this blog post occurred toward the end of March 2022.  Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual events.

Farewell Fakarava

Leave a reply

O’ Fakarava!  We return to the South Pass anchorage for internet and sharks!  I know, I know, you are probably thinking I’ve lost my mind.  Probably true, but not in this instance.  The Fakarava South Pass is known all over the world for its amazing Shark Wall and its incredibly diving.

The Fakarava South Pass dive is considered a drift dive which means you drop in at one point and slowly drift to another point.  So, we partnered with a few other cruisers who dropped us off at the outer edge of the pass and picked us up on the inside edge of the pass. 

We dropped down to 70’ and meandered to the famous Fakarava shark wall!  It did not disappoint!

These black tip, white tip, gray, and nurse sharks just swim back and forth and back and forth.  The little fish seem to not care one bit that man-eating sharks are in their way!

Sometimes the sharks are curious and come close….

And sometimes they just don’t give you the time of day.

A small octopus was playing hide and seek…

Snorkel Adventures

Matt and I snorkel the pass several times.  Each time is a new episode in a fascinating series of the underwater world. We still see lots of sharks, but now we focus on all the beautiful fish.

A few sharks who came close enough to check us out.  We gave each other the “eye.”

We came across a lot of napoleon fish.  They have a large bump feature on their head.  These guys are the beasts of the sea.  In the top photo you can see how large they are compared to a normal fish.  I’d say the largest one we saw was at least 1.5meters long!  We also came across a large grouper and trigger (center left), another large trigger (right) and a smaller napoleon (bottom)

I liked to swim close to and under the docks.  Matt captured this above and below water photo while I was near one dock.

A school of rays swam by.  We were not sure if they were spotted or eagle, but they were gorgeous. 

And it appeared to be school day as all the other fish were in schools.

South Pass Beauty

We enjoyed many happy hours at the local dive shop which offered lunch and dinner buffets.  We did not eat with them as they were pricey at $30/$35 respectively for buffet of pizza and raw fish.  But their happy hours were amazing with a beautiful view of the sunset and sharks. 

For the most part, we had absolutely calm conditions to enjoy paddle boarding, swimming, and snorkeling the south pass.

We had many beautiful sunsets and sunrises

We had absolutely lovely weather at the South Pass in Fakarava.  No wind, literally no wind, flat seas and sunny skies.  We just hung out as there was not enough wind to go anywhere else.  Not a hard ship at all.

North Pass – Rotoava (the main village)

Our friends on Agape (Josh and Rachel) were arriving to Rotoava (the main village) soon so we decided to make the downwind sail to town.  It was a lovely 35nm sail with our parasail.  It surprised us by how fast we made it to the new anchorage.  Averaged 7-7.5kts and made the passage in 4 hours.

It had been awhile since we hung out and enjoyed Josh and Rachel!  We had a lovely lunch at a pension (hotel) on the water.

The many happy faces of my husband…

Josh and Rachel had a friend visiting, Kelsey.  We walked the beaches combing for sea shells and picking up trash.  Top photo: Kelsey, Matt, me, Rachel, Josh.

Dinner on Agape with their cat, Gilly.

Rachel and Gilly

Rachel and Gilly

A local “takes care” of a few nurse sharks.  They come around to his house around sunset for some lovin.

We had an opportunity to pet some beautiful nurse sharks.  They felt like sand paper and just enjoyed the soft caress.

It was a lovely visit to Fakarava.  But it is time to move on to Tahiti.

Ta Ta to Tahanea was our last blog post (see passage post).   Events from this blog occurred in March 2022.  Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind our adventures.

Resting turtle

Turtle Diving in Mo’orea

Leave a reply

Diving in Mo’orea brings us up close and personal with over a dozen turtles and many curious fish.   It had been a long time since I dove.  Like almost 3.5 years, since Galapagos.  I was more than a bit anxious, but I was diving with Matt and two of our friends who each have hundreds of dives and safety certifications.  Our goal was to find Rachel’s friend “Sonny” who is a racoon butterfly fish and a turtle or 12.

We load all the dive gear in Sweetie and head to the pass.  There are a few floats to tie our dinghies.  We jump in and my stomach is full of butterflies.  We descend slowly and I can see the coral bottom clearly.  It is not far, maybe 20 meters (60’).  Once I remember to stop exhaling through my nose, I get a little more comfortable.  The air exhaled through my nose caused my mask to separate from my face which leaked water down my cheeks.  It was a back and forth I played with my mask before I figured it out.  Yep, a little out of practice.

Sonny immediately comes out to join us.  He is a raccoon butterfly fish that Rachel met 2 years ago.  Every time she dives this spot, she has an interaction with him.  It is really quite amazing to see their relationship in person as I’ve watched it blossom on her Instagram account (moore_rachel).  He is a curious little guy and thoroughly checked out Matt before returning to Rachel.

Turtles, Turtles, Turtles everywhere

We don’t have to swim far to spot our first turtle as they are everywhere!  They are perched on top of the coral…see the yellow fish hiding under his back flipper?

Just hanging out, resting

Resting their little heads on top of the coral as if it were a comfy pillow


This just doesn’t look comfortable to me…but he is clearly in the “zone.”

Resting turtle

Resting turtle

Some blend in with the coral

And others sandwich themselves under the coral. I wonder how he will get out of this predicament?

We caught a few as they were heading up to get a sip of air.

We also come across a beautiful porcupine puffer who seemed to be challenging Matt.

Rachel and Josh from Agape (Voyages of Agape).

Rachel and Josh, Agape

Rachel and Josh, Agape

You might remember my blog about the very special Turtle Sanctuary, Te Mana O Te Moana.  They rescue turtles from all over French Polynesia.  I wonder if any of these beauties are around as a result of their rescue mission.

We jam Cruiser style in our last blog.  Events from this blog post occurred the end of September.  Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind our adventures.