Tahiti - Tuamotu Archipelago

Woke up at our standard 5:30am, breakfast at 7. Finished packing then took a boat to the airport at 10:30. Short 10 minute flight to the next island over, Rangiroa. Rangiroa is 2 or 3 times larger than Tikehau, it’s the second largest lagoon in the world. Checked in to the Kia Ora Resort, had an amazing villa with it’s own walled garden and plunge pool (and _great_ A/C!). Had lunch, then took our dive gear to the dive center and got things sorted with Sophi, the manager, for the next few days. Relaxed in the room, then headed to the bar at sunset. Had dinner in the dining room, it was really quiet, the hotel was only 20% or so full. Watched some South Park in the room then fell asleep.

After a 7am breakfast we met Daphne, our dive master, at 8. She gave us a dive briefing, then the dive skiff came and picked us up for the quick 5 minute ride to Tiputa pass. It was basically slack tide, so we got to swim from the lagoon side to the ocean side. Drifted through the pass, saw a number of fish, very fun dive. Hung out on shore during our surface interval, flew the drone from the dock and got video of the pass from the air. Second dive started outside the motu, saw lots of coral and big schools of fish. Swam down one side of the pass with lots more to see. Zipped back to the hotel, had lunch, a dip in our plunge pool, then a nap. Organized a trip to the Blue Lagoon for the following day. Looked over video in the bar, then had another quiet dinner in the main dining room before heading back to watch the stars for a while, then bed.

Lots of snuggling between 5:30am and 7am breakfast. Met Daphne at 8, had only 5 divers this morning. First dive was at Avatoru Pass, the other opening in the motu, about 20 minutes by boat from the hotel. Saw a big silver fin shark as soon as we dropped in, with lots of other fish during the dive. Second dive was back in Tiputa Pass, many more big schools of fish, some dolphins, tons of tiny fish everywhere. Very healthy reefs, the way they should be! After lunch we had a private boat trip to the Blue Lagoon, about an hour away. As we arrived we had dozens of sharks following us in to our mooring! Rick could not wait to jump right in with his snorkel, Randy flew the drone and got amazing video. There were two other boats and at one point they started feeding the sharks, creating a bit of a frenzy. What fun! We made a stop on the way back to do some more snorkeling at Bird Island. Back at the hotel we looked at the video and made a teaser to post online. Also made a video for the group of travel pros that had been at the shark feed with us. During dinner we watched a traditional Polynesian song and dance performance. Headed back to the room and went right to sleep. Busy day!

First ones to breakfast (as usual). Dove with Yanick on our first dive. Current was incoming so the water was much clearer. Lots of sharks as we dropped in. Saw a hammerhead and some dolphins along the way. Dove with Tetsuya for the second dive. Big school of barracuda as we dropped in. Spent the afternoon with a quick dip in our pool, a nap and then looking at photos and video in the hotel overwater bar. Hotel was still quite empty, pretty much had the place to ourselves.

Dove with Tetsuya again. Both dives with (lots of) incoming current. Another big school of barracuda at the entry. Hung out in the shallow coral at the end of the dive, saw a shark almost get squished by a wave. Had another lazy afternoon at the hotel, followed by dinner after talking with the staff in the bar at sunset.