I had two separate but similar excursions planned for our second day in Bora Bora. Both were short, two hours or so, and both were glass-bottom boat excursions. The difference was in what we were looking for: sharks and stingrays on the first, tropical reef inhabitants on the second.
The first excursion was scheduled for 9:00 am. I took the tender to Vaitape and was directed to where the boat was docked. There were probably eight or ten passengers on the boat, along with the captain and a mate. We left the dock and slowly made our way across the lagoon. It’s pretty amazing how clearly you can see through a thick glass panel straight to the bottom of the water. Of course, the water itself probably had a lot to do with it! Might not work on a lake in Virginia. We slowly cruised over the coral heads, which seemed just inches away from the bottom of the boat but were actually much deeper than they appeared. After a short time, we stopped and the mate began chumming the water. Almost
immediately, black-tipped reef sharks started swimming up to the boat, probably a half-dozen or more. They would grab the food, go under the water, then circle back for more. They were supposed to be harmless but swimming wasn’t allowed. No problem at all! Nobody seemed particularly interested in getting into the water with them. But they were fun to watch. I had never been this close to sharks in the wild, and probably never will be again, so I was enjoying the show. After fifteen or twenty minutes, we went looking for stingrays.
We didn’t have to look long. I guess that there is a resident population of rays here so they always know where to find them. Unlike the shark encounter, swimming with the stingrays is strongly encouraged. I had actually done this once before on a cruise to Grand Cayman Island. As I’ve mentioned several times, I almost never go in the water but this is one of the rare exceptions. The experience is just too cool to pass up. Stingrays are very gentle, non-aggressive creatures who are simply interested in being fed. What happened to Steve Irwin was a fluke, possibly caused in part by his own over-confidence. But I guess I’m getting out of my area of expertise. Since I had
done this before, I lagged behind to take some pictures while the others were playing with the rays. Then I hopped in for a few minutes. The water was no more than three feet deep, around waist-high, and there must have been at least a dozen or more stingrays. After I got back on the boat, I could see an occasional shark swimming around the outside of the group. I was glad I hadn’t seen that earlier. But they’re harmless, right? After swimming with the stingrays for maybe thirty minutes, we re-boarded the boat for the cruise back to the dock. It had been a short tour but a lot of fun.
After returning to the ship for some lunch and relaxation, I was ready for my afternoon excursion on the same glass-bottom boat. We again tendered to shore, boarded the boat and slowly crossed the lagoon, this time in a different direction. I guess we were heading for a different section of the reef. Before long we were seeing a bunch of tropical fish, starfish, urchins, sea cucumbers, etc. It seemed that most of the fish were butterflies or parrot fish but there were many others that I recognized from my days of having marine aquariums. Somehow they look different here than they did in my living room!
We floated over the reef, with the mate occasionally diving down to retrieve a starfish or an urchin for us to
examine. Then he put on snorkel gear, grabbed a bag of food and jumped into the water. It was as if someone had rung the dinner bell. Actually, I guess someone did! Fish were everywhere at once. He backed away and they followed. He went under the boat and they followed. It was just a big massive ball of fish. As soon as he stopped feeding, they all went back to business as usual. The tourists loved it!
After the feeding, we cruised back to the dock. The tender was pulling out just as we arrived so I wandered back over to the craft hut. This time I bought a few souvenirs for the folks back home, those poor people who couldn’t be in Bora Bora with me. By the time I was finished, the tender was just about ready to leave again. I hopped aboard and went back to the ship for the second and last time today.
We sail for Taha’a this afternoon…..
The first excursion was scheduled for 9:00 am. I took the tender to Vaitape and was directed to where the boat was docked. There were probably eight or ten passengers on the boat, along with the captain and a mate. We left the dock and slowly made our way across the lagoon. It’s pretty amazing how clearly you can see through a thick glass panel straight to the bottom of the water. Of course, the water itself probably had a lot to do with it! Might not work on a lake in Virginia. We slowly cruised over the coral heads, which seemed just inches away from the bottom of the boat but were actually much deeper than they appeared. After a short time, we stopped and the mate began chumming the water. Almost
immediately, black-tipped reef sharks started swimming up to the boat, probably a half-dozen or more. They would grab the food, go under the water, then circle back for more. They were supposed to be harmless but swimming wasn’t allowed. No problem at all! Nobody seemed particularly interested in getting into the water with them. But they were fun to watch. I had never been this close to sharks in the wild, and probably never will be again, so I was enjoying the show. After fifteen or twenty minutes, we went looking for stingrays.
We didn’t have to look long. I guess that there is a resident population of rays here so they always know where to find them. Unlike the shark encounter, swimming with the stingrays is strongly encouraged. I had actually done this once before on a cruise to Grand Cayman Island. As I’ve mentioned several times, I almost never go in the water but this is one of the rare exceptions. The experience is just too cool to pass up. Stingrays are very gentle, non-aggressive creatures who are simply interested in being fed. What happened to Steve Irwin was a fluke, possibly caused in part by his own over-confidence. But I guess I’m getting out of my area of expertise. Since I had
done this before, I lagged behind to take some pictures while the others were playing with the rays. Then I hopped in for a few minutes. The water was no more than three feet deep, around waist-high, and there must have been at least a dozen or more stingrays. After I got back on the boat, I could see an occasional shark swimming around the outside of the group. I was glad I hadn’t seen that earlier. But they’re harmless, right? After swimming with the stingrays for maybe thirty minutes, we re-boarded the boat for the cruise back to the dock. It had been a short tour but a lot of fun.
After returning to the ship for some lunch and relaxation, I was ready for my afternoon excursion on the same glass-bottom boat. We again tendered to shore, boarded the boat and slowly crossed the lagoon, this time in a different direction. I guess we were heading for a different section of the reef. Before long we were seeing a bunch of tropical fish, starfish, urchins, sea cucumbers, etc. It seemed that most of the fish were butterflies or parrot fish but there were many others that I recognized from my days of having marine aquariums. Somehow they look different here than they did in my living room!We floated over the reef, with the mate occasionally diving down to retrieve a starfish or an urchin for us to
examine. Then he put on snorkel gear, grabbed a bag of food and jumped into the water. It was as if someone had rung the dinner bell. Actually, I guess someone did! Fish were everywhere at once. He backed away and they followed. He went under the boat and they followed. It was just a big massive ball of fish. As soon as he stopped feeding, they all went back to business as usual. The tourists loved it!After the feeding, we cruised back to the dock. The tender was pulling out just as we arrived so I wandered back over to the craft hut. This time I bought a few souvenirs for the folks back home, those poor people who couldn’t be in Bora Bora with me. By the time I was finished, the tender was just about ready to leave again. I hopped aboard and went back to the ship for the second and last time today.
We sail for Taha’a this afternoon…..
No comments:
Post a Comment