We spent about 3 weeks in the Tuamotu. We picked three atolls to visit from the 78. We first went to Raroia. Entering the pass was hair raising. The best time to enter is at slack tide or on an in-going tide. We, of course, went in on the out-going tide. We followed our progress through the narrow shallow pass on AIS only to observe we were actually moving backwards, not forwards. The current was stronger than our engine! Ok, more power!!!! After a lengthy trip, the short passage was conquered and we were inside our first atoll. It was beauty beyond measure. These atolls are the subject of those beautiful blue water and white sand beaches fringed with palm trees you see in holiday brochure photos. The atolls are large circular or oval reefs with shallow water inside. By shallow I mean 1-150 ft, something you can anchor in. Some of the fringing reef is covered with sand and palm trees, some of the reef is exposed to the ocean and you can see the powerful crashing sea beyond the calm blue water. The atolls can be very large so fetch (large waves) can and does build inside the atolls. The snorkeling is good in all the atolls. One of the highlights is to do pass dives. On incoming tides, you take your dingy to just outside the pass. Then you snorkel or dive with the current back into the atoll, attached to your dingy via a rope. The family did the pass dive on Raroria, except for Joel who had a bleeding cut on his ankle. We don’t go in the water with bleeding cuts because there are so many sharks. The reef sharks are pretty docile but they go crazy when they smell blood. Steve and Kyle also did the pass dive in Makemo. I declined as the pass dives can be pretty rough with 3 foot standing waves in some areas or much worse.
After conquering our first pass at Raroria, we travelled across the lagoon and anchored in a calm, wind and wave protected anchorage. We spent our days snorkeling. On Raroia, we were invited to tour a pearl farm. It was a great experience for everyone.
Scallops are seeded with a bead and then hung on stringers in the lagoon for a year. After a year, they are brought back to the pearl processing plant. The pearls are removed and graded. If the pearl is good, the scallop is re-seeded and brought back to the lagoon for another year to produce a pearl. If the pearl is bad, the scallop is eaten!