The Tuamotos: French Polynesia Imagined

Raroia: Everything We Pictured about the Remote South Pacific

If you ask anyone to think of an image of French Polynesia, it’s probably of the Tuamotos, a cluster of 76 atolls and islands. Flat-lying pockmarks, a fringe of coral around the island, surround a body of water which is protected from the open ocean. Imagine a witch’s hat with its brim comprised of the coral fringe and the tip of the hat upside down inside the depths of the dark blue sea. The ocean water inside one of these atolls is anywhere from 2 feet to 400 feet in depth (and more).

Prior to GPS and sailing technology which takes the guess work out of currents, tides, and wind, sailors would avoid these islands, which spread almost 1000 miles across the South Pacific Ocean. Now, with an abundance of caution and a whole lot of cahunas, it is possible to navigate the narrow entrances into these beautiful atolls.

Nervous but Prepared

Navigating from Nuka Hiva in the Marquesas to the Tuamotos took us 4 nights. It was not an easy passage, despite careful planning, but we waited patiently for our “window” to navigate through the narrow pass of Rarioa.

We waited for an outgoing current (from inside the atoll to outside of it), which meant slowing down and even hanging out outside the atoll until daylight. We were lucky to only have 4 knots of current against us, but once “inside,” I expected an ocean version of the Garden of Eden. Instead, we had 20 to 25 knots of wind against our bow, making it challenging to see coral bommies, isolated pinnacles of coral reef.

Stunning Motos, tiny Islands

While the Marquesas beckoned land exploration and featured soaring peaks, the Tuamotos invited ocean swimming, snorkeling, and diving on a level beyond our dreams.

The stunning water clarity allowed us to see vibrant purple and blue coral and witness a variety of fish, mollusks, and reef sharks.

Adventure Meets Real-life History

Our first walk in Raroia consisted of finding the site memorialized by one of our favorite sailing films.

Spend an evening watching the film Kon Tiki, which is based on a Norweigan explorer’s mission to prove that Polynesian people could have crossed the ocean from South America. After sailing from Peru for 101 days on a makeshift raft, they landed in Raroia in 1947 (the most epic “landing” you will ever witness).

The pictures below show the memorial for the crew and expedition.

Pearl Farms, Underwater Magic, and Beach Bonfires

When we were not snorkeling and diving, we explored an abandoned pearl farm with our buddy boat friends, Pierre and Marie. Here was another instance of our gratitude in being able to travel with folks who spoke perfect French. We learned about why the farm had been abandoned and collected discarded pearl shells.

Unlike the Marquesas, the atolls invite one to simply hang out on the beautiful white or pink sand beaches. We enjoyed collecting intricate, delicate seashells and having bonfires on the beach to witness incredible sunsets.

Onward to Makemo, a More Populated Atoll

The third largest of the Tuamotos, Makemo has not one but two navigable passes and approximately 1000 people living on the island.

If Raroia was an initial discovery of the atolls’ natural beauty, Makemo introduced us to the culture and people.

Every single person who passed us on the island waved and smiled. And we were invited to an end-of-the year celebration at the local school, complete with dinner in a box and live music and dancing.

Snorkeling and Diving the Passes

The currents running both in and out of the atolls offer an incredible ride through the ocean, unlike anything I have ever experienced.

We had to time our boat entrance based on an incoming tide, with the current flowing into the atoll rather than out. But the currents are strong enough that Maria and Pierre, using only an electric outboard on their dinghy, had to be rescued by us at one point near the pass. They simply did not have enough power with the electric motor to keep from getting swept out to sea.

However, being in the water while experiencing the passes was a whole other level! All the sharks, big fish, and other sea creatures hang out at the mouth, so we jumped in.

Here’s how the process works: we take the dinghy to the mouth of the pass, grab the dinghy line/painter, jump in, and simply float above the kaleidoscope of sea life below us.

I was scared enough initially that I held onto our dinghy, with my face snorkle in the water, while the dinghy flew along the pass. We watched the hypnotic dance of a fully extended octopus and carefully kept our eye on the shiny gray reef shark who kept twitching toward us.

By like the thrill of an amusement park ride, once we flew through the pass the first time, we couldn’t wait to do the whole process again.