Sunshine on iridescent blue water.
Even for a day in paradise, it was better than most. In fact; it was perfection.
It didn't, however, start out that way. It started out, as so many recent days have, with rain showers and grey skies. By the time we had breakfast and made our way on one of the first tenders to the pier, the rain had stopped but the wind had picked up. A lot. People were zipping up waterproof jackets and tying on the hoods. G put his wetsuit on just standing on the pier. This was not how I imagined today would be. And I had been imagining today for a good long time.
When I first posted on my blog that we were going to be cruising in French Polynesia, at least four people immediately emailed me to say, "You HAVE to do Bora Bora Patrick's snorkel and motu picnic excursion!!" I was proud to tell them that we were already scheduled. Bora Bora Patrick is a bit of a legend on the Internet on Cruise Critic and Trip Advisor, and an excursion with him was one of the first things I booked. Unfortunately, I procrastinated planning any excursions as much as I did studying the history of the area, but, fortunately, I was able to email Maeva, Patrick's assistant and tell her the dates we'd be in Bora Bora and ask on which, if any, he had availability. I had been looking forward to it ever since, and today was the day. Which is why I was soooo disappointed at the weather.
Maeva asked us, huddled and shivering, if we still wanted to go. Of course we did; we're made of heartier stuff than that. And so we had two boats of 12 passengers each leave the tender pier. Our pilot was Maretto, and he explained that we would be going outside the lagoon to swim with sharks, both black-tipped and the more dangerous lemon sharks. Then we go to another site within the lagoon where we'd swim with stingrays, then a third site to snorkel in the coral gardens. Finally we'd head to a private motu on the opposite side of Bora Bora for lunch.
The final leg of the Hawaiki Nui race was taking place this morning, between Tahaa and Bora Bora, and I had asked Patrick if he thought we'd see any part of it. He wasn't sure; it depended on what time the outriggers had left Tahaa but he said there was a chance, if they arrived around 11:30am to noon. I was hopeful.
How fortunate we were that, before we had even cruised outside the lagoon, the sun was starting to appear. Sometime while we were swimming with the sharks, the wind started to die down. In fact, from that time on, the weather could not have been better.
When I jumped in the oh-so-blue water, two black-tipped reef sharks immediately swam within a few feet of me. I put on my mask and peeked below the surface. OMG. They were everywhere! The water was clear as air, and we were at a depth of about 35 feet. I could not get enough, and stayed in the water until we left for our next stop, to swim with the stingrays.
The sun was out in force by then, and, as we cruised back into the lagoon, those famous Bora Bora blue waters began to sparkle. Maretto pointed out in the distance a series of boats and helicopters outside the lagoon. He said those were the racers making their way toward Bora Bora. We had time, though, for a good long swim with the stingrays in about chest deep water. We were feeding the rays and there were plenty of fish and black tipped sharks that wanted to get in on the action, too. These rays were larger than the ones in Moorea; Patrick told us they were about 30 years old. They were very friendly and were climbing all over us. Once again, I was one of the last ones back in the boat.
We were passing by the Bora Bora Hilton when the Hawaiki Nui racers finally reached the lagoon. Did we see them? OMG, we saw them, we cheered for them, we were part of the flotilla welcoming them to the finish line at Matira Beach. Boats and sailboats and jet skies- hundreds of watercraft- and helicopters flying over, and everyone screaming, "Stroke, stroke, stroke" as each outrigger canoe passed by. This race is a VERY big deal, like the Super Bowl of French Polynesia, and it was incredible to be a part of it, in however small a way. G looked at me and said, "Key West and Barcelona" and I knew exactly what he meant. It reminded us so much of being in Key West in November 2013 for the World Power Boat Championships, and in Barcelona in May 2000 for the Formula One Grand Prix, watching as Michaell Shumacher won, and both times were just by chance while on a cruise. We love it when it works out that way!!
Finally, though, the activity moved to Matira Beach as the race officially ended, and we continued on our circumnavigation of Bora Bora. Out next stop was the Coral Gardens for a final snorkel, and there were beautiful coral heads to explore.
Loved all the clam shell corals! They reminded me of multicolor woven rope used in belaying.
Finally, we headed to Patrick's private motu next to the Four Seasons Resort. He said his father had been a chief, and the motu had been in his family for five generations. It was the most beautiful motu I'd ever seen, which gorgeous views of Mount Otemanu across that incredible blue lagoon. Patrick uncovered a pit in the ground in which a whole suckling pig and breadfruit and taro had been roasting for 3.5 hours. There was also tuna and mahi mahi, and poisson cru (raw fish in coconut milk, a local specialty) and real tapioca and plantains and we ate everything off of woven palm leaf plates and drank bottle after bottle of really good, sweet champagne or Hinano beers or juices or water and the whole thing- every bit of it- was as perfect as everyone who had emailed me had said it would be.
We could eat in the water, but G and I chose to sit at a picnic table on a little peninsula with THAT view in front of us. Patrick really is the consummate host, and came over and talked to us about his kids living in France, Canada and Los Angeles and what he wants the next chapter of his life to look like (he's 50). All the time, he and the other guys were dressed in pareos covering what was essentially loincloths with the long flowing hair and heavily tattooed bodies and...have I told you how gorgeous these Polynesian guys are? Yes, I know I have, but have I told you lately??
Patrick entertained us with fire baton twirling accompanied by live music played on a ukulele and, by that time, we were all ready move onto his motu with the Four Seasons Resort Bora Bora as our neighbor and cook suckling pigs and weave plates from palm fronds and twirl fire batons and do whatever we needed to do to just stay there forever.
Unfortunately, we started to sober up a bit and reboarded the two boats to continue around the island. Patrick pointed out a WW II cannon site built by the Americans and tucked high on a hillside (there are four of them in all on Bora Bora) and G and the other guys in our group were thrilled to see that. Too soon we saw the Pacific Princess at anchor in the lagoon; and knew our wonderful day was coming to an end.
Maretto our pilot and Patrick, the consummate host!!
I can only echo what everyone else has already said about Bora Bora Patrick's tour. At $125pp, it may seem like a bit of a splurge, but it is worth every bit of that. We've done three motu picnics in the past, two on Bora Bora and one on Moorea and this was far and away the best.
The tender pier was crowded with teams from the Hawaiki Nui race, and we could see some of the outrigger canoes loaded on a large ferry boat also at the pier. I got a great photo of G with several guys from one team (Un, Deux, Trois!) before we boarded a Pacific Princess tender and returned to the ship.
We were exhausted and still a bit tipsy, but had to rinse all our equipment and wash our swimwear and by the time that was done, we had just enough time to get cleaned up ourselves, dress for dinner and head to an open deck for sailaway. Once again, it was only the fact that we'd be returning in a week that kept me from tears. What a great day!
Dinner was a quick blur; we made it to the 7pm production show Motor City which woke me up just enough to get this post typed. I'll try to publish it tonight, and then will try to add back a few of the 250 photos I took today when we're in Papeete tomorrow or the next day. They will be worth the wait!
