We loved Tahanea and ended up staying there for 3.5 weeks. There is as good as nobody living there. Well, almost. There is one copra farmer at the Southeast corner, and one settlement with 3 guys living by the lagoon’s pass.
We visited several different anchorages, and moved around according to how the wind direction changed. If we had southeasterly winds, like we had for most of the time, we stayed at the southeastern anchorage, which gave us a nice protection. And so on.
Moving to different anchorages inside these atolls for the best possible protection, is part of the process. About every 14 days we experience a 360 degree turning of the wind within 24 hours. This can be a little uncomfortable (i.e. rocky) if you’re not in a good spot. Normally, the boat hardly moves at all inside these lagoons, so we are becoming really spoiled in terms of sleep quality. It almost feels like we’re on land!
Being this remote is really special. We stocked up on as much fresh produce we could find before leaving the village in Makemo, the previous atoll we visited. Our provisioning turned out to be successful, as we enjoyed fresh fruits and veggies every day. We also still had some pamplemousse left from the Marquesas, so it seems we are so far doing well at rationing our supplies as well.
However, we need to start learning how to use the local resources. And, the captain is becoming a master at opening coconuts. We use them for all sorts of dishes; coconut rice as a dinner side, an addition to our morning muesli, coconut oatmeal cookies and savory snack baked in the oven with added spices.
We are fortunate to be traveling with some other cruisers we have met on our way, so we had lots of fun social activities. Jill and Michael on SV Gerty were already in Tahanea when we arrived. Karmen and Tom on SV Sauvage arrived one week after us, and we also got reacquainted with Meriam and Paul on SV Walkabout, whom we first met in Galapagos.
One day, as we were walking on the beach, we met an Italian couple, Anna and Paolo on SV Zoomax. They have been sailing for 12 years, and are on their way back to Italy, but moving east, not west, like us. It turned out that they knew a Norwegian couple who just finalized their circumnavigation, whom we also know! What a small world it is, in deed…
We also had a beach BBQ where we finally got to use all of our brai gear we bought in South Africa. This was a long lost dream of Carine, so she was particularly happy about this evening!
We also had a bonfire night with a ukulele concert and the most beautiful sunset with barely no wind and glass-like waters. Some of these evenings are just so magical.
In between all of the fun social activities, we also got some boat work done. As we had plenty of days with calm weather, the captain used the opportunity to go up the mast and inspect our rigging, as well as cleaning out our sail locker, and other maintenance. There is always a project to be done, even in paradise…
As whaling season officially starts in August, we were excited to see whales in the lagoon on two separate occasions. The first sighting was far into the lagoon by the southeast anchorage, whereas the second one was right by the pass.
It seemed to be a couple with a newborn baby. We became aware of them just as we had raised the anchor to move to the next anchorage inside the lagoon. As we approached them, we ensured we stayed at least the advised 300 meters away from them. We were the only big boat there, all the other cruisers watching the whales were in their dinghies.
It seemed like the father whale wanted to check us out, to ensure we were not a threat. He passed under our boat four times, and got really close. We almost got splashed by him as he came up for air!
Most of the whales here are humpback whales, and that was what we saw as well. They come up from Antarctica to breed, and the season lasts here from August to November. We do hope we get a chance to swim with them.
The beauty of Tahanea really touched us. The white and pink sand, the crystal clear waters, the tall palm trees swaying in the winds and the beautiful sunsets and sunrises. We love it all! The snorkeling was also really awesome, with small reefs in shallow waters that feel like swimming in an aquarium, to drift snorkels in the pass over gardens of corals and schools of fish.
We will definitely come back. After almost one month, it is time to restock for fresh produce. And, our next atoll, Fakarava, is a bucket list kind of place. It is on the Unesco world heritage list, and we are looking forward to some epic diving 🤿
