Quester is in the NW corner of the "Dangerous Archipelago", the Tuamotus on the atoll of Rangiroa. There are daily flights here from Tahiti and it is a famous SCUBA destination and the nearby dive shop has been very busy. This has been a long and relaxing final stop on our way to Tahiti from whence we fly home on May 5.
As I've said before, these coral atoll islands are very unusual. They are formed from the coral rings that originally build up and surround now long-submerged or eroded volcanoes. The coral originally grows in the sea below the low-tide level and down to a depth of about 30'. But as the volcano disappears the reefs rise up a bit and form dry land where vegetation takes root over thousands of years. The highest land here is about 5' above high-tide. The rings, or atolls, are very narrow but can be miles across. Rangiroa is 45 miles long and about 25 wide. In the middle of the atoll is fairly shallow water - averaging 15 - 40 deep. The coral land is broken up into islands separated by cuts where the sea flows in and out. A few of these cuts are deep enough to be navigable by sailboats and we're close to one of those at this anchorage.
One of the cool dives, which can be done either snorkeling or with SCUBA gear, is to take a motor boat out to the sea-side of the cut after low tide when the water starts rushing (up to 7 kts here) into the lagoon. You jump into the river of water and just hang limply, riding the current as the scenery goes by. You see lots of coral and many kinds of fish including sharks, rays, needlefish, barracuda and brightly colored coral fish. About half an hour later you are in still water hovering over coral beds. The boat picks you up and takes you back out the cut where you repeat the process all over but on the other side of the cut. A very fun experience and one that a snorkeling beginner can do.
Jan and I took our first official SCUBA dive in 14 years yesterday with the Top Dive dive shop. It was at a place they call the Aquarium which is a large area of coral running down to 45' in depth and with very little current. Since our last dive was in Costa Rica so long ago we took a refresher dive in Denver before our trip and then this beginner dive yesterday to ease back into SCUBA. We loved it and were quite comfortable using the gear once again. The huge coral formations and the wide variety of fish were awesome.
As in the rest of the Tuamotu atolls, black pearl farming and harvesting is a big deal here although not nearly as big a deal as it was 11 years ago. We took a tour of a pearl operation and the owner told us he used to have over 30 workers in 2002 but one day the Japanese pearl brokers all decided they would no longer buy black pearls from Polynesia (possibly to support the Japanese pearl market?). Then the economic crises hit and the black pearl market was devastated. Now he has 12 workers. The French government does little to regulate the pearl farmers. When they do institute a regulation there is no enforcement so farmers do whatever they want. This has lead to vast over-production in a period of lower demand. He wholesales his pearls around the world but makes some of his money off his boutique which sells pearls right on location. We are happy to say that we assist the local economy wherever and whenever we can......
Tomorrow we set sail for the final 200 mi sail to Tahiti. Our last few days of sailing for The Great Adventure! We will clean the boat and ready it for the next set of guests, Debs daughter and her fiancé. We will celebrate our adventure with a 3day stay on the island Moorea at a nice resort and will fly home May 5th. We are loving Paradise in French Polynesia but will be happy to get to cooler climes!
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