Iles de le Societe

We’ve been enjoying the Society Islands for the past three weeks. We have visited Tahiti, Raiatea, Taha’a, and Bora Bora. These islands are yet another type of Pacific island: the volcanic island with a fringing or barrier reef. We saw the “young” volcanic islands of the Marquesas, the very old atolls of the Tuamotus, and now we’re in the interim stage between those here in the Societies where a fringing or barrier reef has formed and the volcanic island has started to wear away resulting in a lagoon surrounding the island. These are by far the most populated islands we’ve visited in French Polynesia, hence the name Society. (Though by some accounts, Captain Cook named these islands in honor of his sponsor of the voyage, the Royal Society.) In the capitol of French Polynesia, Papeete on Tahiti, it was a bit of a shock to walk into the large and fully stocked grocery stores. There were just so many options for food and everything else you could want to buy. We ate out multiple times in Tahiti enjoying Chinese, Thai, and Hawaiian cuisine. We went to two breweries while in Papeete – the only two we have seen since leaving Mexico. We took the city bus to get around and saw multistoried buildings and traffic! We also came across a tattoo festival one weekend complete with vendors selling pearls and kava, and drumming going late into the evening, onshore near our mooring ball. A short walk down the road took us to the tomb of King Pomare V. He was the last king of Tahiti before he was forced to abdicate and the treaty was signed with France granting it ownership over Tahiti and its islands. There were no signs near the tomb and its tucked into a parking lot between a church and a small beach. It did not appear to be a place that many people visit for the tomb itself. A highlight for us in Tahiti was seeing the Hokule’a anchored in downtown Papeete. The Hokule’a is a traditional Polynesian voyaging canoe built in 1975. To celebrate 50 years of voyaging, the Hokule’a is currently in the middle of a multiyear Pacific circumnavigation. In 2024, the Hokule’a sailed through Puget Sound and we were able to attend a talk by Nainoa Thompson, the navigator, while Kris’ dad was visiting us in Seattle. We feel lucky to have caught up to the Hokule’a again here in French Polynesia and hope to see her again as we continue on our way through the Pacific. We actually have a similar voyage plan through 2025 and 2026! For more information about this fascinating vessel and project, check out the Polynesian Voyaging Society website: https://hokulea.com/

As we sailed off to Raiatea, our first priority was to visit Taputapuatea at the southern end of the island. It is the historic center of Polynesian religion, culture, and politics (and a UNESCO World Heritage Site). The site contains numerous marae and is very well-preserved with lots of information available about the historic ruins. From the visitor information: “Marae are sacred, ceremonial and political places of worship.” “Taputapuatea was the center of expansion and convergence of networks of lineage and sovereignty extending on a considerable scale, for centuries.” After walking through the site and learning about its history we took a hike up the hill for amazing views of Taputapuatea and Raiatea’s surrounding lagoon. As we have travelled we have seen other marae and learned about the historic connections between the different island groups and the center. In total we anticipate spending at least a full year in Polynesia (French Polynesia, Samoa, Niue, Tonga, and New Zealand). It was really moving to visit the historic center of Polynesia, our home for a year.

We’ve spent the majority of our time in Raiatea and Taha’a in the water. We’ve been snorkeling, diving, and swimming regularly. Sadly, the impacts of a larger human population are noticeable underwater here. We’ve seen much more algae impacting the coral and only saw glimpses of 3 sharks our entire time in the Societies. That being said, it has been wonderful to be back in the water after our tattoos healed. Some highlights have been finding tiny pipefish, diving a schooner wreck and swimming through a large portion of its hull, spotting giant morays in caves and crevices on dives in the passes, seeing a number of beautiful lionfish, catching glimpses of tiny nudibranches, diving down to 100 feet in a pass, and coming across our first group of anemonefish swimming in and out of their stinging anemone home.

We have done some other land exploring too, taking our dinghy up a river in Raiatea to visit a botanical garden, walking up into a lush forest in a valley in Taha’a, and spending a Sunday afternoon on a public beach on a motu with lots of local families. Being in lagoons is a great place to pull out the kayak since the waters are some of the calmest we’ve encountered. We’ve also been “raced” by young guys in outrigger canoes a few times as we’ve transited around the lagoons. Ultimately our engine won, but those young guys gave us a run for our money! Taha’a is also home to two rum distilleries where they make their rum directly from pressed sugar cane grown on the islands instead of molasses which most rum is made from. We had a tour of one and visited the floating bar of the other.

Bora Bora is much more touristy than Raiatea and Taha’a with little shops and restaurants lining the dusty street in Vaitape. It still has a relaxed feel though, and is nowhere near as busy as Papeete. Our first evening here we met with cruising friends for sundowners, and our first morning we went snorkeling with cruising friends to a manta cleaning station. It’s a known spot in the Bora Bora lagoon that mantas visit almost daily where cleaner wrasse eat parasites and dead tissues off of them. The mantas slow down and circle around the cleaning station, allowing the cleaner wrasse to do their work. Then the mantas disappear again into the blue. It was a great way to start our visit to Bora Bora.

Now we’re preparing to depart French Polynesia since our 3-month visitor visas are expiring. We’re not actually sure where we’re going next. There is some rough weather brewing and it’s changing daily, so we’ll likely make our destination decision while at sea. Meanwhile, we’re getting laundry done, buying provisions, preparing food in advance as we expect this to be a rough bumpy ride, prepping the boat for 10+ days at sea, topping up on fuel, going through the official check-out process for the country, and continuously checking weather forecasts. It’s hard to believe our 3 months in French Polynesia has come to an end.

Next Stops: Samoa or Niue or maybe straight to Tonga – where ever the wind blows