Tag Archives: huahine

Aquarium Snorkeling

Our Own Personal Aquarium

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Our 5-hour passage from Raiatea to Huahine was spectacular.  It is not often that we are able to raise the full main and jib as we tend to sail conservatively. However, we had fairly light winds at 15-17 kts so we through caution to the wind.  Heading to course had the wind hitting on our nose.  So, we sailed a zig zag course to catch the wind and fill the sails.  Everyone enjoyed being at sail but were anxious to see a bit of the aquarium.

Rocco and Linda enjoying time aboard Sugar Shack

Rocco and Linda enjoying time aboard Sugar Shack

We anchored off of Huahine Iti (the smaller of the two islands) at Pointe Teapara.  There is a beautiful, but popular beach just off Port Bourayne.  It was crowded full of locals and the passengers from a large 40-meter yacht called Imagine D.  They had a few Polynesian musicians, full food/beverage spread, floats and a javelin spearing contest (who could spear a coconut).  Pretty fun to watch.

Huahine always provides some amazing sunrises and sunsets

Sunsets abound!

Sunsets abound!

Matt made his super tasty chicken roti for dinner, brownies for desert and topped the night off with a little rum tasting.  A sampling of rum from Antigua (English Harbor), Bonaire (Ron Rincon), Diplomatico (Venezuela), and St. Croix (Captain Morgan Private Reserve)

Our Personal Aquarium Pool

We snorkeled three spots off of Huahine.  The reef, the Avapehi Pass, and the “nursery.”  The reef had a large selection of fish and colorful coral.  The pass had much larger fish as the waters were a lot deeper.  The pass also had several different species that we had not seen before.  But the best snorkel was the “nursery” at it felt like we were swimming inside an aquarium.  There were tons of fish, perfect clarity, and a bountiful underwater life.  Here are few pictures.

There are lots and lots of clams and they all have different colored lipstick on.  The top left shows one with green outline, yellow lips and spots whereas the center one has bright blue lipstick.  The top right is a Christmas tree worm that retracts when you come close to it.  They come in yellow, blue, purple, green and red and are no bigger than an inch.

Coral and Clams at our Aquarium

Coral and Clams at our Aquarium

Tons of fish species all around.  However, my favorite fish is the center one. His top and bottom dorsal fins are transparent.    I think the bottom right is a puffer

Super pretty fish at the nursery

Super pretty fish at the nursery

We swam with lots of schools of fish as well.  The sea life was spectacular.

A variety of fish schools

A variety of fish schools

Rocco found a shell and as we were swimming back to the dinghy a school of butterfly fish hovered about.  They were eating out of the shell.  No fear and tons of curiosity.

Rocco becoming one with the fish

Rocco becoming one with the fish

I think Rocco is part fish or was a fish in another life.  He thrives in the water and is genuinely excited to see everything.  It is such a pleasure to share this experience with he and Linda.  Swimming in our very own aquarium.

Snorkeling in the Aquarium

Snorkeling in the Aquarium

On Shore at Huahine

We did make it to shore and stopped by Izzy’s for her fabulous burgers.  We also found Marae Tahu’ea on the way to the Pearl Treehouse.  Marae Tahu’ea was dedicated to the sea-god Ruahatu.  The marae’s platform (called an “ahu”) was made up of upright coral and basalt slabs with an interior fill.   This marae dates between 16th and 18th century.  The top photo is Roco, Izzy and I, the center is Linda watching over Sugar Shack and the bottom is Marae Tahu’ea.

Huahine Adventures

Huahine Adventures

Blue Eyed Sacred Eels

Huahine: Sacred Eels and Distillery

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Is it wrong to visit a distillery after feeding sacred eels?  Hmmm…I guess its better than visiting the distillery first?  We continued our exploration of Huahine by car and stopped at “Anguilles Sacrees” which means “Sacred Eels.”

I am sure you are wondering who would deem eels sacred? Legend has it that a charming prince courted and wanted to marry the King’s daughter.  However, the Kind did not approve of the union and transformed the prince into an eel.  The locals don’t want to kill or eat the eels for fear of eating the prince.

They have beautiful shells, benches, and lovely gardens around the fresh water run off where the eels linger.

Sacred Eels Sanctuary

Sacred Eels Sanctuary

We planned ahead and brought sardines with us to feed and honor them.  I will admit that there were not the prettiest thing to gaze upon, but there was something fascinating about them.  They were huge and seemed to use their sense of smell more than their sense of sight.  Which is odd being that they have electric blue eyes.  Unfortunately, their eyes did not come through in the photo.

Sacred Eels of Huahine

Sacred Eels of Huahine

MARAMU LEAVES A TRACE

We drove all around Huahine Nui and Huahine Iti.  For the most part the road was in really good shape as it wound around the mountains and edged up to the water.  However, the maramu left its mark in several places making it challenging to forge ahead.  At one point we passed a dump truck clearing the road way.

Maramu leaves a trail of destruction

Maramu leaves a trail of destruction

ANINI

We came across another set of Marae along the water’s edge that formed an immense wall.

Anini Marae Stone Temples

Anini Marae Stone Temples

I am sure these would be gorgeous photos had it been a sunny day.

Vista Views on Huahine

Vista Views on Huahine

DISTILLERIE HUAHINE PASSION

The small island has a distillery.  They make dozens of flavored liquors and sell them to the tourists.  They don’t have an online business or export to any other island. All of their business is by word of mouth.  The Distillery was an impressive little operation and remained crowded the entire time we were there.  It was better than any happy hour we’ve been too – they were heavy handed on the pours and wanted us to try every flavor.  Not possible considering their “lite” stuff was 22 proof and their heavy stuff was 55 proof.  Some tasted like fire!  But, we walked away with a Huahine rum and a Dried Banana Liqueur (over ice or ice cream).

Distillery Huahine

Distillery Huahine

The photo collage below shows a giant stone welcoming visitor to Huahine.  Below it are stones from its neighboring islands.  The top right photo is the bay where Sugar Shack is anchored (she is the catamaran on the left) and the bottom is a sweet horse grazing on the shores of the bay where we anchored.

Fare Bay in Huahine where Sugar Shack is anchored

Fare Bay in Huahine where Sugar Shack is anchored

Huahine - Fare Bay

Huahine Hide Out

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We saw a weather window that would allow us to travel the short distance from Moorea to Huahine.  Unfortunately, it had to be a night sail so that we could ensure a daylight arrival to clear the pass.  There are a few well-protected bays on this island that will allow us to hide from the maramu (A “maramu” is strong southerly winds in the south Pacific that occur in the winter).

So, after our wonderful SafarI Mario tour, we prepared the boat for an overnight sail.  We had considered fueling up in Moorea, but the dock was small, the weather was not perfect, and frankly we didn’t “need” to fuel.  Skip that for now and wait until we get to Raitea.

It was not a particularly bad sail, but it was not a good one either.  We anticipated bad weather and high winds with the Maramu, but in actuality we saw on average low to moderate winds.  There was a period of 3-4 hours with high winds at 25 knots, but for the most part we saw 10-15 knots which kept our boat average down to 5.1 knots.

We had following seas which pushed us along but made for a weird rocking of the boat.  It was if Mother Nature was taunting “you can run, but you can’t hide.”  I was not feeling great and was happy to let Matt take the brunt of the shift.  We arrived with plenty of day light and with two boats on our tail.  Kata and Krabta followed us from Moorea but were about 4-5 miles behind us the entire time.

Passage Details

  • Departed Moorea to Huahine on Sunday 30 June at 1600
  • Arrived Huahine Monday, 1 July at 0930
  • Miles Traveled 85.3nm
  • Max speed 12.8kt
  • Average speed 5.1kt
  • Leaving in the lull of the maramu had us over prepared.  We only flew the jib and kept one engine on at idle.  At one point in the night we saw 25kts of wind and with the following seas it gave us a max speed at 12.8.

It was blowing stink as we pulled into one of the many passes.  Once inside, we had a choice of turning right and anchoring in a relatively empty bay with just a few other boats or anchoring in front of Fare, the main village.  We decided to anchor near the main village for a few days, then move to a quieter more remote location.

Once we were comfortable with our anchorage we went to shore to explore.   We were all surprised by how geared the island was toward tourists.  There were several areas outfitted with small vendor booths selling touristy items (shirts, shells, jams, pearls, etc…).  We decided to grab a bite to eat at the Huahine Yacht Club.  We didn’t linger as we wanted to return to the boat and hide from the storm.

Vendor area on Huahine

Vendor area on Huahine