ADIEU MAUPITI
 |
| Getting into Maupiti... mooring field to port, once passed the Cardinal marks |
Maupiti – April 16th, 2015
- Mooring balls: 6 at Pte Tamaupiti (just west of the pass) and 3 more in town
- Town dinghy dock
 |
| Getting to the pass, coming from the south... this is as good as it gets |
We had hoped to stay a short week in Maupiti. But you don’t PLAN a stay in Maupiti, really. You get there if there’s a good weather window and you get out like a bat out of hell if the swell is contrary. Twenty years ago, we waited a whole week to get into the pass, but we never had a chance. This time, we did make it… and rushed out 3 days later.
 |
| This was a good day to enter Maupiti! |
The trick in Maupiti is that the pass is very narrow and faces south. Any swell from SE to SW creates breaking waves and sheer walls of water, making the pass impossible. It goes without saying that the locals can be quite isolated from the rest of the world. The commercial shuttle "Maupiti Express" has ceased its money-losing activities; the supply ship can't always come in on schedule; the airport landing strip is too short for any plane larger than a 12-seater. Isolation is the norm, here.
 |
| Any swell from the south makes entry/exit into Maupiti impossible |
But we were lucky this time and threaded through the infamous ‘Onoiau Pass with absolutely flat seas and no wind at all. Still, even at mid-day (Solar tides here), the out-flowing current was strong. But trust “Big-D”… she got us through smoothly.
The area just west of the pass hosts 6 mooring balls, and that’s great. There is nothing better to do than jump in the crystal-clear water and wait for the rays to show up. Some are stingrays, but the majority are leopard rays (spotted eagle rays), bat rays and other specimen of the Myliobatis family. I call them the little sand-pigs. Just watch them bury their rounded snouts into the fine white sand and shake-shake-shake, like little piggies in mud. I wish my Lumix underwater camera had not broken down on its 4th use… I have no underwater photo to show you, sadly.
 |
| Maupiti town |
Off to town, then! There are 3 more mooring balls and a dinghy dock, to our great satisfaction. For more snorkeling, we dinghied to the north end of the atoll and snorkeled the area west of Motu Paeao. It’s worth a trip, even though it’s not the greatest coral or fish population.
 |
| Varieties of butterfly fish are everywhere |
Our trip to shore was quite a “raté”… we’re OK with water activity, not so good with land-based stuff. The waterfront restaurant was closed: out of food and the supply ship, the red Teravao was just docking… no food till tomorrow! So, let’s climb up the volcanic peak and have a view from the top, we hear it’s a spectacular 300-degree shot over the lagoon. But we took the wrong trail (the one by the grocery store instead of the stairs) and I gave up after an hour, JP giving up shortly after. So, let’s take the bikes out and explore around the island… tomorrow morning… and that’s when our mooring neighbor announced that the charter company had just ordered them to leave Maupiti IMMEDIATELY or they would be stuck in the lagoon for the next 5 days.
 |
| When all else fails, picking flowers and collecting shells can fill my days |
Ten minutes later, we had slipped our mooring lines and were chugging towards the pass. Just in time! We were greeted by a 15-foot wave, thankfully well-rounded and not breaking yet. It was quite impressive to watch “Big-D” climb to the top only to be greeted by a major mascaré beyond. We were tossed around in that washing machine and were thankful to have a big, powerful boat that got us out of there quickly. We felt a bit sorry for the 36’ sailing cat that was to follow us… mercy!
That’s how it is in Maupiti… you get what you get and are thankful for it. Indeed, we are grateful to have had this opportunity, 20 years in the making.
Adieu, surprising Maupiti!
Next stop: Bora Bora. Till then…
dominomarie