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Blue Lagoon excursion, Island of Rangiroa

Posted on January 15, 2009 by: Traveler

Closest City: Avatoru, Rangiroa
State:
Country: French Polynesia

The Blue Lagoon is a Lagoon inside of a lagoon created by a band of motus that form a ring set off of the main ancient crater rim of the island of Rangiroa. The Blue Lagoon is located on the southwestern edge of the island, which is part of the Tuamotu Archipelago of French Polynesia.

Besides scuba diving Tiputa Pass, Danielle and I looked forward to taking a day excursion to the Blue Lagoon. Out Lonely Plant guide highlighted the Blue Lagoon, but we had no idea how to get there. After talking with our proprietor at Miki Miki Village, Michael, he made a quick phone call and booked us a seat the following morning on a boat excursion to the famed Blue Lagoon. Even though the location has a major draw to visitors of the island, we shared the boat with less than 20 people. That is how few tourists actually visit the island of Rangiroa. This lagoon is the second largest in the world at about 20 miles across by 40 miles long. It took roughly an hour to cross by boat. Soon enough, we could see the approaching motus of the opposite side of the lagoon. The boat anchored at the edge of the (inside) reef and it was a short walk through ankle deep water to the shore of the motu. Looking down, we saw a bunch of lazy sea cucumbers and numerous frantically zigzagging fins of baby black tips. Black Tip reef sharks are docile as far as sharks are concerned. We didn’t know it yet, but our apprehension of sharks would be turned upside down in a couple hours time… The two, always smiling, Polynesian guides of our Blue Lagoon excursion started cutting palm fronds and wove them into what became our placemats, table cover and bowl holders for the feast. I don’t much remember the meal except it was tasty. In the meantime, all of us set out to explore the tiny motu and the surrounding motus.

The guides pointed out a couple directions we could go and things we would see. On the next motu over was a nesting ground for island birds. We joined one of the guides on a small outboard boat to the ocean side of the island (the other guide stayed behind to finish the food preparations). Think of the main island of Rangiroa as a string of pearls and the pearls themselves represent motus; another string of pearls (motus) creates a circle within the main island chain creating a “lagoon within a lagoon!” The size of the Blue Lagoon is more than I could have swam in one sitting so after being offered a boat ride to the opposite side, Danielle and I gladly hopped on the little outboard motorboat. It was the guide, the two of us and a nice French family. At the far side, the boat had to weave in and out of a coral maze in order to make it to the motu’s edge. From there, we still had to walk a couple hundred feet to the Pacific surf crashing over the outside edge of Rangiroa. The lagoon water on this shallow shelf was like bathwater and it actually felt refreshing upon mixing with the Pacific Ocean’s 80 degree surf. I snapped off as many pictures as I could while Danielle scoured the shallows for some interesting seashells (most of which were occupied by tiny critters). The guide gave us only about a half hour to walk around at this far edge of the Blue Lagoon. Finally, our guide called us over for a treat. Earlier, I saw him carrying a machete but I didn’t realize until he started hacking away at some coconuts what his intent was. After a couple swift chops of the blade, he popped in a straw and proudly handed us each a refreshing island drink. Danielle and I have had “store bought” coconuts before, but there is something about a coconut plucked from a tree or recently fallen (we learned they must still have a green outer shell) that makes it taste all the sweeter. Finally, our guide navigated back through the coral maze and we rejoined the rest of the excursion group who had already begun the feast. All leftover fare (chicken chunks) were tossed into the lagoon for the baby black tips to feast on. Now I realized why so many of them kept so close to shore (in less than a foot of water).

After a little more time to let the meal settle, we all boarded back onto the boat to return back across the lagoon. Our guides had one last stop planned though. Just outside the Blue Lagoon from where the boat was moored (just inside the main lagoon where the deeper water began) was a congregation area for about fifty mature black tips. Now these were a little bigger than the ones we saw at the motu’s edge. Here, in about forty feet of water, the guides asked who wanted to go snorkeling. Here???!!! I was a bit skeptical (ok, scared) but figured it should be harmless because business would not be good if they returned with one less tourist. Then, two people jumped in… and nothing happened. Whew! Along with a whole gang of sharks were the ramoras (sucker fish). These guys were funny looking because their mouths were on top of their head (for attaching to the sharks) and their eyes below. And the teeth on these things looked like a barracudas’. The ramoras and other little tropical fish closed in on the snorkelers while the sharks either kept distance or stayed down deeper. I never would have thought I would do it, but next thing I knew my fins were on and I was in the water. Playing a joke, the guides began to throw bread into the water, a tasty treat for the tropical fish and ramoras. The black tips weren’t too interested until the guides started throwing in leftover meat. They threw the meat far off to the side of us snorkelers, but that created a little ruckus in the water. I stayed in for about ten minutes and had had enough. Probably just my imagination, but the circling sharks began getting closer and closer. Then, Danielle got in…well attempted to, but could not talk herself into letting go of the ladder. That was our first experience with reef sharks, but anyone who has visited French Polynesia and has spent time in the water knows this place is known for their sharks. Not pertinent to the Blue Lagoon, but there are so many sharks in this area that on a typical scuba dive, fins of circling sharks will be seen piercing the water before you even jump in. All in all, the Blue Lagoon is an unbelievably gorgeous excursion in a far off tropical paradise. All we had to do was show up for the boat ride and the guides took care of the rest.