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Tetamanu Village, Island of Fakarava

Posted on January 22, 2009 by: Traveler

Closest City: Rotoava, Fakarava
State:
Country: French Polynesia

With Rangiroa now behind us, Danielle and I were extremely excited about our next stop of three nights at Tetamanu Village on the island of Fakarava. Our Lonely Planet guidebook, “Tahiti & French Polynesia,” described Tetamanu Village by saying, “Lovers of complete escape will find happiness in this idyllic setting- it’s difficult to imagine a more remote location.” That fit EXACTLY what we were looking for in one of our island escapes. This was our second stop in a seven-island tour of French Polynesia. Little would we know that in three days time, Tetamanu Village would become our favorite stop and be one we wish we would have stayed at for no less than seven nights.

The following is a brief overview of the island(s): French Polynesia has five island groups; the Society Island Group (Tahiti, Bora Bora etc.), The Australs Island Group (Rurutu, Raivavae etc.), The Gambier Archipelago (Mangareva, Temoe etc.), The Marquesas (Nuku Hiva, Hiva Oa etc.) and the Tuamotu Archipelago which Rangiroa and Fakarava are members of. The Tuamotu Islands are ancient volcanoes that have collapsed and then filled with water creating a lagoon. The ancient crater rim of the collapsed volcanoes (coral atolls) remain as the only exposed land mass, called motus. The exposed motus of Fakarava are rectangular in shape and form a lagoon that is 60 kilometers long by 25 kilometers wide. The surface area of Fakarava’s lagoon is 1121 square miles, making it the second largest lagoon of the Tuamotu Archipelago (only Rangiroa’s lagoon is larger at 1640 square kilometers). Fakarava has two deep-water passes; Garuae Pass in the north and Tumakohua Pass in the south. During the tidal exchange, the water of Fakarava’s lagoon mixes with ocean water rushing into and out of these two passes. Garuae Pass, at 800 meters across and nearly 130 feet deep, is near Fakarava’s only airstrip (a one building airport completed in 1995) and the town of Rotoava (population less than 500). A long motu stretches from the east side of Garuae Pass. This motu, which the airport and Rotoava lie on, is an uninterrupted reef stretching for 40 kilometers along the eastern edge of the island. The western edge of Fakarava, in contrast, only has a few scattered motus. Tumakohua Pass in the south only has one settlement, Tetamanu Village.

After our brief flight from Rangiroa, we were picked up by Sane’ Richmond and his island helper, Ronnie Samera. Sane’ has a chiseled physique from a life of active work and lean diet of strictly eating fish. Ever present on his face is a warm and genuine smile creating deep creases (although, squinting from the harsh tropical sun contributes). Ronnie is a citizen of Nice, France who answered an advertisement from his local newspaper to work at Tetamanu Village for a period of six months. The only two requirements from Sane’s advertisement were a hard working individual who was a certified scuba dive master. In his twenties, Ronnie was someone who Danielle and I hung out with when free time came about. After brief introductions, Sane’ made a quick stop for perishable items (French bread) and then drove us to his little dedicated pier. The boat ride down to Tetamanu Village would take us about two hours. With the airport and main town of Rotoava so far north, Sane’ has to maintain a small pier and parking area to pick up /drop off Tetamanu guests. We loaded the luggage on our water taxi (a small boat hereafter referred to as Hemoana) and settled in for a pleasant ride south. Our first shark sighting occurred at this little pier within a minute of standing at the edge of the Fakarava lagoon.

Sane’ wasted no time extending his Polynesian hospitality as Hemoana took off. He handed us both a sandwich and cracked open a coconut for us to drink. There was already something different about Fakarava than it’s neighbor to the north. The island seemed greener (less development along the shore) and the waters bluer than Rangiroa (just imagination, I’m sure). We skirted along the eastern edge of the lagoon, following the long motu to its southern terminus. Sane’ then headed into the open lagoon and made a beeline toward Tetamanu Village to the southwest. Soon enough, our Tetamanu Village motu came to view. Sane’ killed the engine of Hemoana and expertly glided alongside the over-water restaurant of Tetamanu Village. The stilted restaurant, built into the reef below, jutted out about 150 feet from the edge of the motu right where the coral made a precipitous drop to the valley below. Sane’s wife, Annabelle was at the edge of the restaurant to extend even more rounds of, “Welcome to Paradise.” Annabelle is a native of Hawaii who migrated to French Polynesia with Sane’. She is a very striking woman with long flowing blond hair and long flowery dresses.

Together, Sane and Annabelle built everything we were looking at from the over-water restaurant to the quaint little beach bungalows. Tetamanu Village is self-contained with solar panels and water cisterns to the septic system (Eeeww) for all waste materials. And all of it was either installed by Sane’ or he played a major role is the construction and set-up. To say he is a handyman is an understatement. And don’t worry about the boat ride to and from the airport… Sane’ doesn’t use a motor he hasn’t taken completely apart and then reconstructed.

Standing on the over-water restaurant, we could look over to the bungalows lining the shore of the lagoon. Our bungalow was the last in a row of four. From the over-water restaurant, a boardwalk led to the shore over a shallow portion of the lagoon. During high tide, as it was upon our arrival, up to twenty black tip reef sharks would lazily swim into the current just past the walkway. At all times, we could look out from the edge of the restaurant and see grey and black tip reef sharks mulling about. The whole gamut of tropical reef fish would swim directly below among all the coral. Two large moray eels called the coral below the restaurant home. Also part of the Tetamanu experience was two behemoth Napoleon Wrasse, named by Annabelle as Brad and Peti Peti. Annabelle gave us cut up fish later on to feed Brad and Peti Peti with the strict guidance to not drop any carcass in the water if a shark approached. Brad and Peti Peti would come up to a lowered platform to be fed their cut up fish cousins. All while numerous sharks swam close by. I was intrigued by the fact that these predators would not approach two seemingly benign (but large at about 125lbs each) Napoleon Wrasse and steal their food. Only Brad had two visible teeth, and they didn’t appear to pose a threat to anything except his upper lip. We learned Napoleon Wrasse begin their life cycle as females. At about six years of age, Napoleons begin to grow a signature “camel’s hump” and they change colors from a drab brownish to the vibrant blues and greens we were seeing on Brad and Peti Peti (to impress the ladies like they used to be… that’s just wierd). There were a couple female “juveniles” swimming nearby.

Another spot to feed the Napoleons was just off to the side of the over-water restaurant. There was a break in the reef wide enough for us to pass through (really it was for Hemoana to pass through to get to the Tetamanu Dive Center). A resident “herd” of goatfish always congregated at this break in the reef. We were able to swim out over the reef edge of Tumakohua Pass where it plunged deep below us. During a slack tide (period lasting about thirty minutes in between high and low tides), we could all go out and snorkel at the edge of the pass and not worry about getting swept into the lagoon by the incoming high tide or out to sea by the outgoing low tide. Brad and Peti Peti would approach us and take the fish directly from our outstretched hands. We were in the water long enough to actually feel the tide begin to change direction. Awesome! Because not all slack tides lasted long enough or had a still had a weak pull, we were only able to snorkel one time. Bummer!

From the over-water restaurant, Tumakohua Pass stretched off in the distance and we could look out and see the high tide rolling into the lagoon. Just like Tiputa Pass on the island of Rangiroa, we would be drift-diving Tumakohua Pass by getting dropped off on the ocean side of Fakarava and being swept inside the lagoon from the incoming tide. The awesome thing about a dive at Tetamanu Village was that we ended the dive coming straight up through the break in the reef and took our last underwater breath just yards from the dive shop at the edge of the motu. Sane’ and Ronnie asked if we had seen any sharks on Rangiroa. Danielle and I excitedly and proudly proclaimed we had swam with about fifty reef sharks at the Blue Lagoon and saw about twenty sharks while diving at “The Valley” drift-dive through Tiputa Pass. Sane’ and Ronnie looked at each other and (both smirking) said in unison, “Is that it?” Sane’, also a scuba dive master, scheduled Danielle and I to go out with him and Ronnie the very next morning. Soon enough, we would find out why the drift-dive through Tumakohua Pass is called “The Den of Sharks”. Another unfortunate circumstance was only being able to do two drift-dives in Tumakohua Pass.

Our bungalow was perfectly situated on the shore of the lagoon. I appreciated Sane’s craftsmanship. Upon entering our humble abode, Danielle had a brief moment of dread when she saw the mosquito net draped over top of the bed. She was five hours into her recuperation from having 29 mosquito bites on one of her legs (and the rest of her body) from our five nights at Miki Miki Village. That first night, we discovered the mosquito net to be unnecessary due to a strong breeze that blew over the southern portion of Fakarava each night. The nightly breeze not only made the temperature comfortable for sleeping but kept the little bastards at bay. Mosquitoes were not even an issue like they were on Rangiroa.

There were other guests at Tetamanu when Danielle and I arrived. A French Family stayed in one of the two “family style” bungalows (on the left side of the restaurant-motu walkway) and a couple from Ireland with their little baby girl. The Irish couple also had a friend with them and told us they were staying at Tetamanu for 12 nights. Envy poured over Danielle and I after learning this. Unfortunately for them, they had left Ireland during a snowstorm and developed a cold from the change in humidity at our tropical clime. I’m sure with twelve days, they still had time to enjoy their surroundings after the sickness wore off.

All guests of Tetamanu Village eat in the over-water restaurant for a “family style” gathering. This was for all meals and Annabelle rang a bell at the restaurant to signal our next fare was about to be served (see our YouTube video because we were actually filming when the bell went off). Coupled with the perishable items Sane’ picked up at the market area of Rotoava, every dish served to us was made from fish. The fish obviously came from the Fakarava lagoon. Immediately following dinner, Sane’ and Ronnie disappeared to go catch the following day’s meal. Danielle wanted to go fishing (more than I did, I admit) so she asked Sane’ if we could join them the second night we were there.

After our second night’s dinner gathering, Sane’, Ronnie, Danielle and I, Patrick (the Irishman) and the father of the French family all boarded Hemoana to go out fishing. We took turns putting on heavy duty work gloves and throwing a line and hook into the water. Sane’ revved up the engine and we held on “drag-lining” until the tug of a barracuda was felt. I was first up and almost immediately felt a barracuda catch onto the line. I pulled the line aboard, handed the flailing barracuda off to Ronnie to unhook and then changed spots with the French guy. This is easy I thought, so I figured the drag-line would be quick to come back my way. Stubborn fish after that left me with only one caught barracuda. The French guy and Danielle eventually caught one and then it was Patrick who went last. Almost right away, Patrick felt a light tug but didn’t think it was anything more than a nibble from a passing fish. Really, there was nothing to nibble because there was not even any bait. After a couple minutes of trolling in circles, Patrick felt a huge pull on the line. Got one! What he reeled aboard was a half eaten barracuda. That first light pull was a barracuda latching onto the hook. It then swam along effortlessly but trapped at the end of the line. Then along came Molly the shark who halved the barracuda (see the picture of me at the bin of caught barracuda and notice the one that became shark bait). Now that would have been some fight to reel a Black Tip aboard Hemoana.

From feeding Napoleons to drift diving to just plain relaxing with a cup of Polynesian brew (coffee, but I did enjoy the Hinano beer), Tetamanu was an interactive and somewhat working vacation. At one point, us merry men all banded together in an effort to push Hemoana back into the lagoon into a rapidly receding tide. After thirty minutes of barely budging the hull, Sane’ called off the effort until about 9pm(ish) at the next high tide. It took 10 seconds to push her in.

One afternoon, Danielle and I walked to the next motu over and saw Tetamanu Sauvage. This was a newer version of Tetamanu Village but the “Sauvage” indicates a no electricity compound. Now if you read “Bike ride from Avatoru to Tiputa Pass” you’ll see the reference to the sister hotel of Kia Ora on the far side of Rangiroa from where we stayed. Tetamanu Sauvage was just like this except right next door to where we stayed. Well, you had to take a kayak across a small channel (hoa) or wait until low tide to simply walk across. Annabelle asked if Danielle and I wanted to stay one of our nights at Sauvage but we chose to remain at our bungalow in the Village.

Another great experience was getting dropped off for a couple of hours on a motu about fifteen minutes away by boat. We rode over with the French family but soon spit in separate directions. There was absolutely no sign of human development. With only the sounds of the lagoon lapping against the motu’s edge and birds off in the distance, Danielle and I felt as close to being a castaway as we dared. At that moment, I understood what the brief description in our Lonely Planet guide referred to.

The last morning at Tetamanu, Danielle and I took another short boat ride with Sane’ to drop off the bloody Irishfolk and then packed up for our departure from Tetamanu Village. So much had happened to us in the previous three days it was almost impossible to think we had only been at Tetamanu for such a short period. Back aboard Hemoana for the two-hour ride north, I remembered how I felt seeing this slice of paradise for the first time three days before. Halfway across the lagoon, the engine of Hemoana began to bog down. After briefly stalling out in the middle of the lagoon (remember, I already said Sane’ doesn’t use an engine he hasn’t first completely disassembled) we were back on track. After saying our good-byes at the airport, we had a brief wait to board our next Air-Tahiti flight back to the big island herself. Our next hotel would be right on the beach at the Sofitel Maeva Beach Club on the island of Tahiti.

Time flies when your having fun, so it was bittersweet to move on to our next island location. I had no idea it was possible in just three short days, but if Danielle and I never return to Tetamanu Village with the hospitality of Sane’ and Annabelle, the memories we shared I will carry for a lifetime.

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