One of my favorite anchorages on Tahiti is Point Venus. It is a large bay with few boats and a beautiful black sand beach. Also, there is loads of history and historical markers around.
Captain James Cook set up his observatory at Point Venus, on a small corner of the northern part of Tahiti. It is here that he watched the transit of Venus which only occurs once a century. The beautiful and still functioning lighthouse was built nearly 100 years after Cook’s visit, in 1868.
Point Venus Lighthouse
There are several monuments celebrating Captain Cook and his men, including this large rock.
On the edge of the water you can find several pirogue’s also known as Va’as. These were used for daily transport in the 19th century. Today, they are still used to just “get around” and or to race with your fellow local Tahitian.
Unfortunately, we did not get any great photos on the black sand beach during our beach day. But here are a few that I grabbed from the boat. Just squint a little and trust me that it is black sand 🙂 Here are some black sand beach photos online.
Black sand beach, Point Venus
Another beautiful sunset
The Konis family settles in for movie night
Passage to Mo’orea
The next day we make the short 10-mile passage to Mo’orea. Despite it being a light wind day, we have enough to put up the sails. Everyone enjoys the sun, the soft breeze and the ocean lapping against Sugar Shack.
Sugar Shack Passage
The boys at the helm:
The Konis family under way….
Some more leisure time on Sugar Shack
In our next blog we visit to the beautiful island of Mo’orea. Did you miss our last adventure with the Konis family? If so, check out the world’s most challenging surf site: Teahupoo.
Events from this blog post occurred during the first week of August, 2021. Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind our adventures.