South Fakarava - Something For Everyone

Fakarava atoll is the second largest atoll in The Tuamotu Archipelago (after Rangiroa). It is roughly rectangular in shape and measures 37 mi. long by 13 mi. wide. The town of Rotoava (where we rented our bicycles in the last post) is in the NE corner. Generally speaking, since the prevailing strong winds come from the east to the south, boats usually anchor in the protected southern portions of the atolls. Occasionally the winds clock north and become quite mild, making the northern anchorages bearable and even pleasant. Such was the case when we were in Rotoava, however we knew the winds were predicted to become much stronger and would be from the SE, so we left north Fakarava and headed back to the very protected anchorage of Hirifa.


HIRIFA is in the SE corner of the atoll and offers a well-protected anchorage, good beach walks on both the leeward and windward sides (finding cowry shells became almost boring after a while!), a restaurant on shore, and the opportunity for windsurfing and kiting which became our primary focus. There are other things to do when the winds are down...

...such as dining at Liza and Tori's restaurant...

...and gathering on the beach for a sunset BBQ...
L to R: Dave (MALUHIA), Linda (JACARANDA), Andrew (EYE CANDY), Tom, Claire (EYE CANDY), Kim (MALUHIA)

...but when the wind becomes strong enough to kite all the boats that enjoy this sport pack their dinghies with gear and head for the launch spots. As in Tahanea, we were very grateful to have our friends on NAOMA in the anchorage with us to help us select the best launching sites, etc.

Ryan from NAOMA entertains the dinghy watchers. Nicole (NAOMA) and Jan (L'AVENIR) enjoy the show.

The first couple of times Tom was able to launch from the nearby beach which was pretty easy. But when the wind shifted more easterly we had to dinghy out to a sand spit in the middle of the hoa (shallow channel where water goes in and out of the atoll) and launch while standing in ankle-deep water, quite a new experience! I'm not sure we would have thought to do that, except the local kiting hotshot Adrien was out there giving lessons, so we figured if he could do it so could we. 

We inflated the kites on this sliver of a sand spit out in the middle of nowhere, the kiters had to stand in the water to launch.

I usually go with Tom to help him launch and to be ready with the dinghy in case the wind drops and/or the current becomes too strong and he gets stranded downwind. I've actually had to "rescue" him a couple of times. 

Retrieving the kite from the dinghy, not that easy.

It's great fun to anchor the dinghy right in the middle of all the kiters and windsurfers and watch them zipping back and forth doing their tricks.

One day while I was siting in the dinghy in very shallow water watching Tom I noticed something racing toward me at torpedo speed. I thought for sure it was going to hit the dinghy but at the last moment it veered away into deeper water. Tom had startled a small black-tip reef shark so badly that it swam at top speed, half out of the water, to escape him! 

Tom terrifies the reef sharks.

The snorkeling is not very good in Hirifa, but I did get in the water a few times and managed to see a number of black-tipped reef sharks and one afternoon was startled by a very large gray shark. 



SW ANCHORAGE: We had already tied up to a mooring on the north side of the South Pass by the quaint Tetamanu Village and it was a bit bouncy for our tastes. Tetamanu is a tourist destination with dive operations, pensions and a restaurant or two. (On the up side, it is a lot easier to grab a mooring buoy than to set the anchor and reports from someone who dove the moorings is that they appear to be robust.) 

Our friends aboard Jacaranda had moved to the anchorage on the other side of the South Pass and reported it was flat water. We'd heard it was a coral bommie mine field but they sent us their waypoints and assured us it was doable for Cinnabar. 

SW Anchorage - Tom launched from the little motu far right

Also, Adrien the kiting instructor was anchored there and kiting up a storm with his students. 

Adrien and girlfriend Dianne aboard their 28' boat on which they keep 12 sets of kiting gear!

The added bonus of this location is that the diving is much better so I was all for the move. 

As we entered the anchorage we saw Google's 240' luxury yacht DRAGONFLY leaving. They must have heard we were coming!

This anchorage features beautiful sand beaches, long scenic hoas and of course the kiting and diving.

We dinghied far into a hoa for a fun "jungle cruise". The water was so shallow we had to lift the motor and row in. Tom made a cool little video of our journey HERE.

Launching the kite was much easier in this location because it was so exposed to the winds.

Tom kiting, Cinnabar in the background (far right)

The South Pass is a world-renowned dive site and the snorkeling was excellent. We did a couple of drift dives on the incoming tide through the pass. On one dive we saw a school of 12 spotted eagle rays! That was the day we forgot to put the SIM card in the GoPro. 

The place had good visibility, tons of reef fish and hundreds of sharks - we saw black-tipped reef sharks, white-tips, gray sharks and lemon sharks.

A fun day snorkeling the South Pass.

The South Pass is famous for its spawning groupers

Graceful spotted eagle ray

We saw hundreds of black tips of all sizes

Moorish Idol with Ornate Butterflyfish

The sunsets from south Fakarava were magnificent and we saw 3 green flashes in one week, so cool! But this full moonrise just as the sun was setting was pretty spectacular too.

Full moon from the scenic SW anchorage.

The inevitable happened, we nearly ran out of some essential provisions. We had NO fresh fruit or veg left, we ran out of yeast and flour to make bread, and we were getting perilously low on beer and cheese, so we had to leave South Fakarava and make our way north again to provision and to get ready to leave for Tahiti. 

We are back in NE Fakarava enjoying internet access and waiting for a weather window to sail to Papeete. More on North Fakarava later.

Sylvia
Pakokota, Fakarava