My favorite stop. Check out the video clips at the bottom.
The best piece of luck we had was getting closed out of the Bora Bora two tank dive for that forced us to make our own arrangements. Hiroe Dive is a one woman operation with an immaculate small boat and first class bcd’s.
Talk about OCD — Ira got some sand on the bench of the boat and she had us stop everything while she meticulously swept up every grain with her hands, first one way then the other. There were pillows on the benches, indoor outdoor rug on the floor so no slipping. She spent some time with me noticing my jaw was tight and showed me how that impacted clearing my ears underwater.
The dive was very special We crouched on a sandy bottom as two majestic huge mantas circled overhead. They flew silently and smoothly — I could see the stalks clearly and watch the gill slits on the undersides of their bodies open and shut. I could see the eyes on the sides of their heads. I wondered if they kept coming back because they were interested in us. And then, on the way back to the boat, at a coral head just underneath, an octopus. Unusual to see one in the middle of the day. At first, when I peered into its hole, I thought it was an eel. But then it crawled out and flared its tentacles and I could see it clearly.
The second dive took us to a beautiful reef. The butterfly fish come in many varieties and one is such an intense pure yellow I wonder how it hides from pedators. We saw anemones as well —I thought they might be sick because there was a large pinkish-red balloonish form among the tentacles. But it seems that this is part of the anemone – I had just never seen it before.
A lovely day. No photos because no underwater camera.
The next day was the lagoon-cultural tour. I had been razzing Ira about it because it was 6 hours and I thought this might be a bit long. But it was spectacular.
Our guide Taaha (ta-a-ha a) was a riot – a small wiry fellow with a pareo tied on his middle and a crown of leaves around his head. He blew his large abalone shell and it sounded like a shofar. He welcomed us to his “office” spreading his arms to include the lagoon, the land, the sea, the skies. We went first out into the ocean to swim with his “sharkees”. We were in about 60 feet of water and surrounded by black reef tip sharks. They swam close, seemingly mindless of us. They are beautiful – the blacked tipped fins with an area of white beneath and also a white strip down the body.
Ta-a-ha-a was a performer. He showed us how he weaves palm fronds into crowns and made one for each of the women. He also made us each a purse. The second stop was a magnificent reef. Unfortunately, I got salt water in my eyes and the sun was so bright I could barely open my eyes. I was really in pain. Fortunately, Ira came to find me at the outer perimeter of the snorkelers and we swam along the reef together.
Large schools of french grunts and yellowtail snappers hanging in the current, catching their lunch. Clams buried in the reef, only visible from their violet or blue mantles, squiggles of brightness.. Dotted puffer fish, fairly large- the many varies of butterfly fish.
Onto a private moto for lunch, but on the way, Ta-a-ha-a stopped to point out the 10k a night over the water bungalow (very large) where Obama stayed one night so the paparazzi could have their fill of him. Then he showed us the structure he moved to on the beach in another part of the island, which was far more private.
The tables at the moto were sitting in shallow water, maybe a foot or so. It was an acquarium, the fish just swimming around our feet. I have included a video and if you are patient until the end there is an octopus surprise.
After lunch we gathered for the cultural talk which consisted of Ta-a-ha amusing us with his demonstration of how to open a coconut which involved a sharply honed piece of hardwood and a powerful knock at just the right part of the husk.
