March 20, 2018 – Rangiroa, French Polynesia

This is a very pretty place – almost totally undeveloped, and a slice of the real South Pacific. It helped that the weather was so sunny and gorgeous today. This secluded atoll is 220 miles from Papeete, and there are no soaring, jagged mountain peaks like we saw on Moorea or Tahiti. Here, everything is flat, sandy soil with a covering of palms and pine trees.

Rangiroa is the largest atoll in the Tuamotu Archipelago, and one of the largest in the world, with a lagoon so large (618 square miles) that it could fit the entire island of Tahiti inside of it. Circumference of the reef surrounding the lagoon is 110 miles. There are only two navigable openings (passes) in the reef to pass through from the ocean into the lagoon. It was interesting watching the crew steer Symphony slowly through one of those narrow passes this morning to an anchoring spot in the calm waters of the lagoon, close to one of the larger islands (motu) circling the atoll.

Only two islands, of the over 250 total islands, islets, and sandbars surrounding the lagoon, are permanently inhabited, and there’s a total population of less than 2,500 people living here. Rangiroa’s lagoon and prolific marine life have contributed to its reputation as a diving mecca. Many of our fellow passengers chose to go snorkeling today, while others decided to go on a glass-bottom boat ride. There were ten shore excursions offered for just those two activities. 

We decided to take the tender boat across the tranquil waters of the lagoon to a pier on one of the islands. It was relatively deserted here, as it’s about 7 miles to the nearest small town of about 250 residents. There were a few temporary stands set up at the tender dock, with people selling black pearl necklaces and other souvenirs. Our goal was to find the free Gauguin Pearls shuttle bus that Ginny had read about on the Internet before leaving home.

We found the free shuttle bus to the Gauguin Pearls “pearl farm” right away. This farm is where they process and sell cultured black pearls.

On the ride to the farm, we drove around the extremely flat island. There were many coconut palms and a few scattered houses and stores – one of the busiest was the dive shop The water is very clear here and it looked like the snorkeling and diving would be outstanding.

At the farm, we watched workers prepare and harvest pearls from oyster shells. The shells are originally allowed to grow for three years. They are then taken out of the lagoon and operated on. A tiny section of tissue (called the mantle) is removed and replaced with a piece of mantle from another pearl oyster that will produce a pearl of a particularly pleasing gray-green color. Then a tiny piece of shell from a Mississippi River shell fish is inserted in a pocket in the mantle. This forms the base of the pearl. It seemed to be a very delicate operation. The technician doing this can work on 350 shells a day. 

The oyster is placed in a pond to recover from the surgery and then, after a day, a hole is drilled in the shell and it is attached to a rope. The ropes are placed in the lagoon to grow for 18 months before the black pearl is harvested. The whole process takes 3 – 4 years. This can be done three times with each shell. Each pearl harvested is bigger than the one before it.

This particular Gauguin Pearls operation is quite large, with 200,00 acres of designated lagoon space and 400,000 oysters being cultivated. Luckily, we left the pearl farm without buying any jewelry. Ginny already has a very pretty black pearl necklace from Bora Bora that Jim bought for her a few years ago. We took the bus back to the tender base, and Ginny bought Jim a Rangiroa t-shirt for his birthday.

There’s a fascinating phenomenon here that we’d never heard of before. The string of thin motu (islands, islets, etc.) – generally less than ¼-mile wide – on the long coral reef are bordered by two different kinds of salt-water ocean: Moana-tea (Peaceful Ocean), mostly calm water which defines the lagoon (enclosed inside the reef), and Moana-uri (Wild Ocean) which pounds in waves on shore outside the reef. The difference was clearly noticeable as we rode on our shuttle bus to the pearl farm.

Additionally, because of the existence of only two passes through the reef, each high tide creates a strong incoming current while each low tide creates a strong outgoing current through those two passes. When the current is flowing outward through the pass, many sharks gather at the pass, remaining motionless waiting for their lunch or dinner to be delivered to them. The incoming tide brings many natural habitats into the lagoon but apparently not the sharks.

As Crystal Symphony departed the Rangiroa lagoon late this afternoon, we encountered many fishing and diving boats in our path, and as we cruised through the pass out into the Pacific, there were other boats waving goodbye to us.

It was a good visit to Rangiroa. Tomorrow, we travel to Fakarava, a similar atoll also in the Tuamotu Archipelago of French Polynesia.

Jim & Ginny