In March and early April we travelled to French Polynesia for a small-ship cruise to 8 islands in the South Pacific

We started out in Papeete on the island of Tahiti and did quite a bit of walking the first two days.  After confirming that they speak French there, we tried to get recalibrated to French.  First immediate affirmative reaction to a question was “si”.  Second was “hai”.  “Oui” came out third, so we had to work on that. We boarded the Sea Breeze in the afternoon of the second day and set sail at 6 PM as the sun was setting.

Day 3 was at sea all day.  It took about 30 hours of sailing to get to our first destination, the Fakarava atoll.  The sea was fairly rough, so walking was a little wobbly.  The planned 1 mile power walk around the top deck was cancelled because the deck kept moving.  Wanting to get at least some token exercise, we used the gym.

Starting to get the relaxed vibe of the islands, we stopped at Fakarava Atoll and Rangiroa Atoll.  Both are classic examples of an older atoll, where the formational volcano has completely collapsed back into the sea and all that remains is a ring of coral reef with a few palm trees, a few people and a big interior lagoon, often several hundred square miles in extent.  Both days we anchored inside the atoll, so the water was relatively calm and good for snorkeling.  John snorkeled three times, one a drift dive in the open ocean outside the entrance pass, and Paula two times in the lagoons.

We snorkeled almost every day and were amazed every time at what was under the surface of the water.

Lots of good experiences:

After 11 days we disembarked our yacht the Sea Breeze back in Papeete.  We stayed in Tahiti two more days waiting for a suitable plane connection home.  Paula found an Air BnB that is a cute little bungalow on the water, close to the airport but hidden behind a McDonalds and a Mobil Station.  Took us a while to figure out how to get in.  It had a covered dock that we sat on, using our devices and gazing out at sailboats and Moorea, the next island to the west that we had visited the day before. We found a nearby marina restaurant that had the same view.

We returned home after two weeks. A trip we would heartily recommend.