Opunohu Bay, Moorea

Last Friday we moved over to Opunohu Bay on the northwestern tip of Moorea.  The French sailing guide states that this bay is prettier than Cook’s Bay which is 2 miles to the east, so we wanted to check it out.  Sorry, French guys, but Opunohu Bay does not begin to compete with Cook’s Bay.  Cook’s Bay is far prettier and more dramatic.  We anchored behind the reef not too far from the Sheraton Resort.  There was a pretty beach and a nearby park and they were having a summer day camp where kids participated in every water sport known to man.  There were kids sailing by our boat all day long.  Sounded like a couple hundred Zacharies and Elisabeths.  But it provided entertainment and we did not mind all the kids.  At least they did not run into our boat; some of the other boats were not so lucky and were bumped by hobie cats being sailed by little kids.

Bill went out and swam with the rays on a couple of days.  I did not get into the water but did go there one day and watched the rays from the dinghy.  These rays are just amazing.  They are so docile and gather in one spot because the guides from the local resorts go there and hand-feed them several times daily.  You anchor your dinghy and jump into chest-high water.  The rays swim all around you.  If they think you have fish to feed them, they will come right up to you and even stick their heads and mouths up out of the water to try to get the fish.  Look at the photos of Bill standing up and taking photos of the rays.  The rays were all over him because they thought the camera was a fish that he might feed to them.  There were also black-tipped reef sharks swimming all around and among the rays.  The sharks do not bother the people in the water because they are so accustomed to being hand-fed daily by the resort guides.

We have been waiting since last Friday for a proper weather window to sail to the next island.  Today is good sailing weather.  Just before sunset today we will leave and head to either Huahine or Raiatea.