Rangiroa, French Polynesia

Today we are in Rangiroa. A beautiful atoll in the Tautamous Island chain. The atoll is so big you can't see the other side from sea level. There are a couple passes into the central lagoon. They are fairly short but the current moves through there at up to 6 knots or so. During the afternoon while the current was flowing out of the lagoon and the waves from the ocean were meeting them there were probably 4-5 foot standing waves across the entire center of the pass. The dolphins were just jumping and playing in the waves like a bunch of kids. Fortunately the current slowed before we left but we still flew out of there like crazy. I would have been pretty nervous about bringing our little boat through all that rough water and the seas were pretty calm today.
The snorkeling was nice along the inner beach with lots of little coral heads full of fish and stingrays traveling all over the area.Read more