This is a view that you see almost anywhere you look
Wow – we’ve found our favourite place so far in the South Pacific. The tiny island of Maupiti is a well kept secret. There are only three sailboats in the entire lagoon. There is no major tourism here, only the odd small pension, and the locals want to keep it this way. They have successfully resisted all attempts to become the next Bora Bora.
The tricky entrance with breaking waves
The island combines the best of both the atolls of the Tuomotos with the high cliffs of the Marquessa Islands. What keeps it “off the beaten track” is the very tricky pass to get in. With any kind of southern swell, it becomes impassable. We planned accordingly with the weather and arrived at noon last Friday. It was quite hairy coming in, but of course, Peter loved the excitement.
A motu on the left-hand side as you come in to the pass.
We had planned on only staying about four days, but due to high wind and heavy swells, we aren’t leaving until Saturday – although we love it here, so that is no hardship. I’d arranged via email in Bora Bora to go for a dive on Saturday, so the Dive Master Lionel came out to our boat to meet up with make the arrangements.. My main diving goal has been to swim with the Manta Rays, and we accomplished that on Saturday. Yahoo!
It was absolutely incredible. We dove in only about 30 feet of water and we positioned ourselves by the “cleaning” rock. The current was quite strong so we had to hang on, but that is the reason the Manta Ray’s come there. They literally float over the large coral head and open their gills and the many fish come out and “clean” them. Once done, they danced over top of us, making direct eye contact and coming within touching distance. We saw five of them, up close and personal, and it was amazing. A definite diving highlight! We didn’t get any photos as our camera doesn’t work for diving.
All family members are buried in front yards. This is a common burial plot.
That afternoon we walked around the 11 kilometre island. There is hardly any traffic as the locals ride bicycles or scooters. They are very friendly and welcoming to the few tourists that they get here.
The front of the church
On Sunday, we went to church – the first Protestant service that we’ve been to, as most of French Polynesia is pre-dominantly Catholic. Usually when we drop in at church we sit at the back so that we don’t take the spot of regulars. We tried to do the same here; however, a member of the church service moved us to the front row and presented both of us with a live floral lei. The service was all in Tahitian, but one of the speakers spoke directly to us in French and welcomed us to their church. We’re not sure what all she said, but we just kept smiling and nodding. After the service, they shook our hands and thanked us for coming. We felt like honoured guests.
A picture of our beautiful lei’s with the church in the background
The main island is surrounded by a coral reef with three motu's just inside the reef. They are all public, with miles of white, sandy beaches and we have gone for long, leisurely walks around the motu's. We’ve also wandered around and explored the “mari’s”, which are ancient sacred sites.
The most famous sacred site
We had two little girls who were our unofficial tour guides. They talked passionately about the mari and pointed out all the special features – all in French. Again, we just smiled and nodded. I sure wish we could speak French so that we could communicate better with these friendly people.
Our adorable tour guides
We also went for a strenuous hike, attempting to get to the top of the mountain. The trail was very rugged, under and over trees, and we ended up running out of daylight and having to turn back without making it to the top. The views were inspiring though and we got lots of exercise.
View from one of the lookouts to the two false passes
We celebrated Canada Day, by being goofy and wearing our Canada paraphernalia. We were thinking of everyone back home and hope you are all enjoying a nice long weekend.
Wishing everyone a Happy Canada Day
I am updating this blog at the home of one of the locals here. We will go for a last dive this afternoon and then if all goes accordingly to plan we will leave at noon tomorrow for an overnight sail to Mopelia. This island also has a tricky pass, so we may not make it in if the conditions are too rough and then we will just keep on going to the Cook Islands.
At low tide you can walk from the mainland beach out to the Motu
Assuming we make it in, we will stay for a few days and go snorkeling on the sunken World War I German schooner called “Sea Adler” which was used for raiding. Our friends that have gone ahead of us say it is really interesting. The island itself is all but deserted, with only 12 residents remaining on it. There are no services.
Once we leave for the Cook Islands, which will be sometime next week, I’ll update the blog on a daily basis for the four day crossing. This will be the longest stretch that Peter and I have done alone. Wish us luck!
Until next time….celebrate the long weekend.
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