FAAITE
March 27 - Faaite Atoll - Tuamotus (French Polynesia)
I'll be brief on Faaite, as brief as our 24-hour stay. There is no doubt that this small atoll is lovely. The village at the entrance of the pass is colorful and attractive. But the anchorage suggested in the pass did not appeal to us. Neither did the anchorage outside the atoll, not any more than the anchorage in front of the village although the sand bottom looked pretty safe. We looked deeper into the lagoon for adventure.
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| No desire to anchor in the pass |
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| Nor in front of the village |
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| Pearl farms, still |
Faaite East anchorage - S 16°45.425 - W 145°07.368 - Since the Easterlies had piped up into the 15-20kt range, we were glad to have seeked refuge at the east end of Faaite. But, as it seems to be the case at the closed end of lagoons, there was not much to experience. On one end, we loved to drop anchor in pure sand, not having to float any buoy over coral heads. On the other end, there was not much to dive or fish.
We did, however, take advantage of the calm lagoon conditions to dive a few "Karenas." These are reef formations that bloom in the middle of the lagoon, on which colonies of coral and red Ca. algae develop. They are typical and abundant in Manihi and Ahe, but can be found all over the Tuamotus. They are much fun to dive as they harbor plenty of life. But they can be deadly for yachts that transit the lagoon with poor visibility. We learned how to recognize them from far away. Sometimes, it's just the different ripple of the water barely distinguished from the chop that gives them away.
Until then...dominomarie