Tahiti: Moorea: Moana snorkel tour

We are now enjoying the beautiful island of Moorea. After a slight flight delay in Bora Bora, occupied by drinking cafe au lait at the Pora Pora coffee shop while looking out at turquoise lagoon, we flew Air Tahiti to the island of Moorea to explore one more island. Moorea (Tahitian for "yellow lizard") has 18,000 inhabitants, versus 10,000 for Bora Board. It is also just a 30 minute ferry ride away from the big island of Tahiti. Like Bora Bora, it has a range of volcanic mountains with dramatic craggy peaks. It too has an atoll that rings the island, though not as dramatically as Bora Bora. But every island in the chain has it's own special attributes, and Moorea is known for its visits by about a thousand humpback whales every winter (our summer). After fattening up in Antarctica, they swim over 3,000 miles to Moorea, to give birth, mate and rest. They don't eat at all while visiting French Polynesia (unlike the human tourists), losing about a third of their weight before returning to Antarctica. They come singly (juveniles not ready to breed), as mother and calf, and sometimes, as "hit and runs" - one female pursued by many males. While never guaranteed, we hoped to see one or more humpback whales on a snorkel boat tour. And bonne chance, after two tries of patiently scanning the water outside the atoll (the whales can stay submerged up to 20 minutes at a time), our tour guides found a juvenile humpback whale, out playing with dolphins. She (or he) circled near our boat, and gave us a nice tale flip. I've included some stock footage here, as you blink and you will often miss their above water antics. While we had hoped to actually swim with the whales, the Tahitian government has decided it's in the whales' best interest to limit human contact, which is now permitted only starting in August. In July, boats must stay 300 meters away.

That was tour excitement number one. Tour excitement numbers two, three and four, was swimming with green sea turtles, black tipped reef sharks, and finally, and most incredibly, petting friendly stingrays.

While being surrounded by sharks that are 3-5 feet long gives you a few tingles, they do not compare to having a stingray come up to you for a rub. The stingrays have become so habituated to humans, they gather as soon as they hear a boat engine, expecting food. (However, "chumming" is no longer practiced.) We stopped in turquoise water about four feet deep and stepped down into a colony of stingrays, with reef sharks circling at a polite distance. You are allowed to touch the sides of the stingrays, which are smooth and rubbery. Our tour guide held one up, to show us the ray's mouth. And while they do have a long tail that can also sting, you are perfectly safe. (Steve Irwin's death by a stingray was a very rare aberration. But ironically, our son Samuel was stung by a stingray in San Diego while we were frolicing with our own stingrays. He recovered, but it was painful.) Our tour operator was Moorea Moana Tours. Highly recommend.