Fakarava: A Scuba Diver's Paradise

Sometimes, I still have to pinch myself when I realize that we are actually doing this.  We are sailing to all these exotic places in the world.  It just seems so "off the grid" and foreign to me and yet I am a part of all this!

People REALLY are doing this... and WE are THOSE people!

I say this because we have met some wonderful people that are now "thick as thieves" with our family.  Everywhere we go, we meet other cruiser families that are just as wonderful and interesting as the next.  It really is mind boggling to me.

So many of these people have found early success in their careers.  Some have just retired and others have just taken a sabbatical from work to take a year or so off to travel the world by boat… a lot of them with their families.  We have even met a few couples that decided to do this as their honeymoon.  Young couples that have socked away enough cash to make this dream happen for them.

An evening with fellow cruisers.

This night, everyone was required to come in costume.  (Except we didn't.  I wasn't feeling all that creative this evening.)

It's interesting, because none of us have the same routes, some of us stay longer in some anchorages than others.  However, we all manage to stay in contact and promise to meet up later in some exotic location.   We all know that we will meet up again somewhere down the line.

I am  especially grateful for the connections that I have made with so many of the women in the cruising community.  They really are wonderful women.  Some are mothers, grandmothers, and some are just starting out their families.  All of them are so inspiring.  While the men talk "boats", we talk about our lives, our children, our careers before leaving for the cruising life, and all the amazing life experiences that have led us up to the moment that we have met on some remote island.  I really look forward to these evenings because I know that I'll make a lot of connections and friendships by evenings end.

All our dinghies at sunset while we get together on the beach.

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Life on a boat. 
For Martin and me, life on the boat is getting to be very normal.

We've had to resort to my skills (which are none).  This was my first haircut, ever.

Martin is still an expert babysitter.  He loves reading any book out loud to Lily (even if it's a book that he is reading for himself).  She honestly seems entertained by anything that he reads to her.

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Scuba Diving in Fakarava.

When we left Takaroa, we set sail for Fakarava in the Tuamotus.  Fakarava is known to have some of the best diving in the world and it did not disappoint.   Every morning we would go for a dive and see hundreds of fish, sharks and other sea life.  It was like having an aquarium in our backyard.







I have to admit, swimming with sharks really gets the blood pumping and is so fun.  One dive that we went on had over 200 sharks just sitting in "rank and file"  while we watched from the sidelines 80 feet down below the seas surface.  It was so fascinating.

I came up from this dive and said, "I'm not quite sure if I was freezing or truly petrified after having done that!  I'm going to go with the latter…"  It really was scary, but after about my 3rd dive, it became more and more normal to just be out swimming with sharks.  I still can't believe that I did it.

A Napoleon fish.  

Napolean's are HUGE and just swim right by you as if they own the ocean.  They are also so colorful. I wish I could have taken a photo to give it justice.

We could jump off the boat in any direction and just swim with the fishes.

The water was so clear, that I was able to stick my waterproof camera in the water and snap a photo of David and Sue scuba diving 80-feet below. 

Even closer of David and Sue down below.

The only low moment that we have had so far, was when Martin lost our GoPro.  He had just gotten back from a spectacular dive where all the grouper from the atoll (1,000's) were spawning and the sharks were feeding off the eggs that were being spawned.

The dive was a spectacular sight to watch underwater and I don't think that we will ever have an opportunity to see something like this in the wild ever again.  We were elbowing the grouper to get out of our path so that we could swim past them.  There were THAT many fish!  It was amazing.  Anyway, Martin got some "one of a kind" movies of this spawning happening all around us and we were so excited to share the footage with our readers.  However, in all the excitement, our GoPro camera got lost amongst all the flippers, wetsuits and masks and we think that it went over the side of the boat.

We were determined to find it.  First, we mapped out a grid and Martin, David and I jumped in with our snorkels to see if we could see the GoPro on the ocean floor.  However, the current was so strong that after drifting a good 500 feet, we decided to get back in the dinghy and figure out a second plan of attack.  Hence the pictures below of Martin being pulled by the dinghy while he checks out the sea's floor below.


We never found the camera, but it did make for some funny pictures of Martin being pulled behind the dinghy.

Also, before we lost the camera, I was able to download some amazing footage of our encounters with the sharks.  As soon as I get a chance, I'll load it and post it.  We love looking at all the sharks close up and in HD.  You will too!

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Besides the diving, Fakarava is just plain beautiful.  The waters were inexplicably calm the first few days we were there and we could see clear down to the oceans floor.


The sharks would keep vigil out the back of our boat hoping for any scraps that might come their way.  We were careful not to feed them since it would impede our swimming.  They were happy to share the water with us and we were fine sharing it with them.  (As long as I didn't see any while I was about to jump into the water.)


I know, I look like a terrible mom after just writing about swimming with sharks and I still put my daughter out into the water.  Just know that the sharks are very scared of us folks and keep their distance.

Plus, Lily loves the water.

So does Sue.  While on board, we celebrated Sue's birthday.  Here she is celebrating it "Island Style."

I didn't have wrapping paper for her present, so I improvised.  

The great thing about sailing is that there is time for picnics and campfires.  One night, we decided to do dinner on shore and have a campfire.

Our spread.

Why use the fire when you have a state-of-the-art BBQ?

Another great thing about sailing, is that there is plenty of time for exploration of some "deserted" island or lagoon.


Off Martin and Lily go to start their exploring.


I always bring her floating tube just in case Martin gets tired of carrying Lily.  (He never tires of it.) He loves just holding her and explaining to her everything that he sees.  He's a gem.

While exploring, we found a coconut tree.  Martin was determined to take the coconuts back to the boat.


Success!  Now to figure out how to carry them along with Lily and all the other treasures that I had been picking up along the trail.

Bingo!  I knew this would come in handy!

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Last but not least, this is what I have grown to love the most while on this adventure.  The ocean and it's sunsets.

AMARA enjoying the sunset as well.  There is beauty everywhere.

Part 3: Takaroa—Church and Goodbyes

Getting to church is no easy feat when you live on the other side of an atoll—like the Palmer family does.  The Mormon church is a good 5 miles across the lagoon, and in rough weather, it can get a little wet.

First, you have to cross the lagoon by dinghy.

Then a walk down a long dusty road.  Mind you, Robert was ahead of us all.  Even at 80-years-old he still had a young spring in his step.

The gang on our way to church.

Once at church, I couldn't resist the cuteness of all the little kids.  What you don't see is that Robert brought a package of beef jerky to give to all the children.  I told him that there was one like him in every ward and as a kid, I knew who had the candy and would directly go up to him.  This tactic still seems to be working as all the kids were loving on Robert like he was their grandfather.  Such a precious scene.

A Mormon missionary from France playing with the children.  Again, I couldn't take my eyes off how beautiful the children were.

Our photo in front of the church in Teavaroa.

Sue and David joined us for church.  We are trying to make our way back to the dinghy and the road is a little less than ideal. It's never easy with a stroller, but we always manage.

Soon it was time for us to leave.  We waited for the Palmer's to return after church since they had meetings and visits with members.

Finally, after a few hours we couldn't wait any longer because we had to catch the right tide out of the lagoon.  So, Martin and David took our "thank you" package and placed it on their dining room table and then we pulled up anchor and started to navigate through the minefield of buoys ourselves.  I'll tell you, I never said so many prayers in my life, because on top of having to navigate around the buoy's, we had to also avoid the coral reefs.  It was a good 20 minutes of white knuckles all around.

Three miles out into the ocean, low and behold we see the Palmer's heading straight for us to say their goodbyes.

They even had the missionaries with them because the Palmer's were taking them to their house to feed them and had to speed out of the lagoon to come say goodbye to us.  See, they are just amazing people.

I love that they are in their shorts.  It get's so wet on the boat that they change into their slacks when they get to church.

Thank you, Palmer family for such a fun and wonderful experience.  We will never forget our time in Takaroa and are so grateful to Joey for introducing us to such an amazing family.  They exemplify what Martin and I are always striving for, i.e., to be better people, to always be more caring and always able to extend love towards others.  They have mastered it, and we will continue to work on it.  Thank you for being such wonderful examples in showing Christ's love to others.

I am terrible at goodbyes and I was especially tearful with this one.  I pray that they continue to prosper and are always blessed.

Now we are off to Fakarava!  It's a 120 mile trip which will take us about a day.  I hope it's as memorable as Takaroa was for us.

Part 2: Takaroa—Paradise and Friends Found

The Palmer's were such amazing hosts.  This was the first night that we arrived.  Myna made up an amazing spread of typical Tahitian food.  We were all super excited to dip in and try out all the food.

Robert's wife, Myna, is a beautiful, elegant and refined woman who instantly takes you in and shows you a kindness that you could only wish to possess.  She was the ward's (church congregation) Relief Society president up until a few months ago.

In lay terms, the Relief Society was set up by the Mormon church to help provide love, aid, support and fellowship to the women in the church.  There are over 300 members in Myna's ward; which meant she was responsible for all the woman in that area.  This is no easy task in that Myna's home is about a 30 minute boat ride to the other side of the island where Teavona (the main town) is located.  She said that many nights she would have to have Robert or Louis drive her (by boat) over to a member's home to help take care of a fellow sister in the ward.

In fact, the first day in Teavaroa we were roaming the streets and saw Robert at the dock and sitting in his boat (he was reading his Sunday School manual and preparing his lesson for Sunday.)  We asked him where Myna was and he said she was visiting and teaching one of the sister's in their ward and he was just waiting for her until she was done.  I feel very humbled thinking of all the good work that these two are bringing to the members of their ward.

As a side note:  Louis is a counselor to the Bishop (equal to an aid to a minister).  Louis' family lives in Papeete, Tahiti because the school on the island is only for children up to age ten.  So, he comes to Takaroa and works for a few weeks and then goes home for just a few days to see his family in Papeete.  In the meantime, he is taking care of the ward's needs while living in Takaroa.  This is one good family.


Here, Louis is cracking open a coconut to squeeze out the coconut milk for a dish that Sue prepared for dinner called, Poisson Cru (Raw Fish with lettuce, carrots, cucumbers and a mixture of different dressings along with coconut milk).  Sue says that it is their equivalent to our potato salad.  Every recipe differs.

Just a little tap on the top and the coconut water comes pouring out.

Here, Louis is putting the coconut up to a grinder that gently grades the coconut into small shavings.

A better view of the knob that the coconut is placed on to create the shavings for the milk.

That's about four coconuts' shavings here.

Next, Louis takes the shavings and puts them into a cheese cloth and then rolls it into a ball and starts squeezing out the coconut milk.

Now, let's see if I can remember all the dishes that Myna made for us.  Above is Poisson Cru.

Oyster salad.

Smoked/BBQ Fish.

This was a mixture of sweet bread and coconut called, Ipu.  It was so good that Lily and I went back for seconds and thirds.  Yummy!

I wish that this picture didn't come out so blurry, but I had to post it anyway. Sue coming face-to-face with dinner.  That Sue is a funny one.

Meredith trying the raw fish stew.  Basically raw fish in a dish dipped in a fermented coconut.  The minute I saw fish heads and heard the word "fermented" I was "out."   Although, now I regret it because everyone said it was worth a try.  Instead, I made Meredith try it.  She'll try anything.  Me?  I stuck with the sweet bread and rice.  A little too adventurous for me.

Verdict in!  She loves it!  Of course.

The next night was our turn to entertain.  We had the whole gang over and Sue fixed us all a meal fit for a king.  Once again, Robert entertained us with his stories from his childhood laced with the most perfectly pitched laugh in between stories.  It was such a delight to have them all on board AMARA and just letting the time pass with great stories and amazing food.

Note:  Our dessert was "Sticky Toffee Bread" (which was heavenly).  I haven't had that much sugar in a long time and I think I went into sugar overload and had to go lie down for a bit.  It was so worth it though.  (Note to self: Get that recipe!)
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Takaroa Airport

Sadly, the day came where we had to drop Meredith and Joey off at the airport by pulling up to the terminal in a boat.  It was so much fun having Meredith join us across the Pacific and she really was a big help to me in watching Lily.  We were really sad to see her go.  Likewise, we loved visiting with Joey and seeing him.  He is a great friend to our family and it was such an adventure seeing him in Takaroa and seeing how loved he is by so many of the people there.

Louis was a full-service baggage handler.

Takaroa Airport.

I stuffed Meredith's bags with all sorts of things that I realized early on weren't ideal for the trip.  So, I sent a good 50-lbs home with her.  Problem was, that her bags were a little too packed and we worried that she wasn't going to make the weight limit.  She made it by the skin of teeth and one of Joey's extra bags...

Here is the terminal desk and what flights are flying in and leaving the airport back to Papeete.

But before we let Meredith go, we quickly took her to a little market where we bought all sorts of homemade goods.

Meredith getting hugs all around from the Palmer's.

Myna and Robert came to the airport to send off Meredith and Joey.

Joey and Meredith taking off to Papeete where they will catch their connecting flight back to the US.   We were so sad to see them both go.

However, not to worry.  We will see them in two weeks since we are going home for a visit.  I can't help but say that I am a little excited.  When we return to Tahiti, my sister, Courtney, and her family will be joining us for two weeks.  This trip just keeps getting better!
More on Takaroa in the next post!