Tahiti: It's The Light

It’s the light:

the other Tahiti

Diving the Tuamotu Archipelago

Article and photography by rod klein

it’s the light

I get off the plane, go through customs, pick up my baggage and wander outside to get a cab to my hotel. I have a couple of days in Papeette, Tahiti’s capital city, and a few days in Moorea before I make my way to the “other Tahiti” and some serious diving adventure.

But, whoa! As I exit the terminal I am almost blinded by this incredible clarity of vision. What beautiful light! It’s clean, crisp and everything looks, well…amazing. And I’m only at the airport!

Now, I’ve had the opportunity to visit some of the most beautiful places an underwater photographer could wish for: Indonesia, Micronesia, Hawaii, and Caribbean destinations. But within one minute I feel I’ve experienced something extraordinary.

And what I’m about to find out is that “this incredible light” transcends land and finds its way into the crystal clear waters of Tahiti and especially the Tuamotu Archipelago.

If you ask the person next to you, “So, tell me about Tahiti” You’ll probably get, “Well, let’s see,

there was Marlon Brando, in Mutiny on the Bounty (if you’re my age, or maybe Mel Gibson, if you’re a little younger), or “I once went to Club Med Moorea”…. or, “I spent my honeymoon 15 years ago in Bora Bora”, stuff like that.

If you push a little harder you might hear, “Oh yeah, the sunsets are incredible and it has crystal clear water”. And again, honeymoons, honeymoons, honeymoons! This is what “Tahiti” means to most people. But Tahiti is more than just honeymoons and tropical drinks. The local markets, Tahitian Tattoos, Pearls, and a ride on the Moorea Ferry bring to life a Tahiti that most visitors don’t see.

In fact, Tahiti (and its capital city of Papeete) is only one of 118 islands that make up the area known as French Polynesia. Moorea, “The Magical Island”, and Bora Bora, “The Romantic Island”, along with the island of Tahiti, are the names of those islands most commonly associated with this area.

How about, Fakarava… Apataki… Toau… and Rangiroa? Have you every heard these names? These

are atolls located in the Tuamotu Archipelago of French Polynesia and while they are less than an hour flight from the Papeette airport, the pace of life is even slower than the other islands and the opportunities for diving adventure much greater.

So Close, Yet So Far I have spent almost 12 weeks in French Polynesia over the last couple of years, and while it is 2

With its incredible light, it is easy to understand how the 19th Century French painter, Paul Gauguin, could choose to live out his later life in French Polynesia. The water is truly crystal clear, the people beautiful, the weather perfect…. it is a painter’s and photographer’s dream.

Hanging in Papeette Since I was “stuck” in Papeette for a couple of days I thought I would take a good look around and maybe come up with some interesting photo ops and get a feel for the local French Polynesian culture.

I spent a whole day wandering around downtown Papeette, spending a good portion of the day in the

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(Opening spread) Incredible light…a Tahiti sunset.

1. Incredible early morning light, an artistic inspiration.

2. Incredible light from overhead.

3. Fish vendor with cell phone and daily catch in Tahiti market.

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conveniently located in the same time zone as Hawaii, and only a 7½ hour flight from Los Angeles, I have found this part of the world to be so very different from anywhere else I’ve traveled.

French Polynesia is just that. It has both a French and Polynesian heritage. It does not have the Third World feel of many parts of the Caribbean and Asia.

Things seem to work here: taxis are on time, restaurants and hotels offer good service, and even the ferry boat between Tahiti and Moorea runs right on schedule.

It is truly a tropical paradise and its fame as such dates to the reports from the first European seaman who came home with glowing descriptions of a gentle climate, friendly natives, and abundant food. Poets, painters, writers, traders, seaman, sailors, and many others spread the fame of Tahiti.

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local market. If you get there early enough, I mean 5 – 6 am, you’ll see the real action: the fish vendors selling their fresh catch, flowers vendors making beautiful arrangements, fruit, pareos, and almost anything else you can imagine. But it’s the color… the light, that makes this market so striking. The market itself is a large enclosed area but the top is one big skylight, creating a soft, indirect illumination flattering the incredible activity below.

After spending time in the market, I was getting some aspirin in a local drug store and I asked the owner where one might get a Tahitian Tattoo. I had been thinking about this for some time and was really curious. I was taken around the corner to a local tattoo parlor by a nice French / Tahitian woman that I met in the drug store. I was already to “go for it” but was

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told that I would have to stay out of the water for a week or so because of the possibility of infection. So, sadly, I passed up this chance to take with me a “real” souvenir from Tahiti. Maybe next time.

Moving on to Moorea With a few more days before my short flight to the Tutamotus, I decided to take the Moorea Ferry over to the “Magical Isle”, as Moorea is affectionately known.

The trip on the Moorea Ferry was an adventure in itself.

Like the Papeette Market, it was an opportunity to get away from the general tourist hubbub and to interact with the local population. While French is the language most commonly spoken, you can easily get by with English and if that doesn’t work, you can always try

swim or snorkel. But there was an unexpected amenity at this resort that I was able to take advantage of.

The Moorea Beachcomber resort is home to Dolphin Quest, a dolphin education and research facility that allows guests at the hotel to have an educational, up-close and personal experience with their resident trained, but still wild, dolphins. While there is some controversy with facilities of this nature, I found the staff to be totally dedicated to their dolphin family and so seriously committed to education and conservation that I could hardly argue against it. I was 2

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1. Dolphin Quest trainer with her best friend.

2. Tahitian dancers.

3. A hotel guest cools off right outside my Moorea bungalow.

basic hand signals. The ferry itself was like a microcosm of Tahiti. Mothers and fathers with children, local workers on their way somewhere, and food vendors satisfying a hungry appetite all creating a real but festive atmosphere on my 90 minute, 12 mile journey.

But you can’t visit Moorea without at least playing tourist and experiencing the resort life of the island.

So, I chose to stay at the Moorea Beachcomber Hotel and did everything right up to the hilt. I booked an over-the water bungalow, with my balcony right over the pristine lagoon, and a ladder allowing me direct access to the water…it was just like you see in the movies. Being directly over the water provided a totally unobstructed view of the legendary Tahiti sunsets and I could walk down the ladder for a quick

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given the opportunity to photograph several of the dolphins and their trainer and this was certainly the highlight of my time in Moorea.

Tradition and history are a large part of the Tahitian culture. Local Tahitian dance and fire shows are a popular attraction at most of the large resorts.

But this is anything from a Las Vegas type review. The traditional festive costumes, the incredible rhythmic music, and the athletic and sensual dancing make this an educational and cultural experience not to be missed. I was honored to have a lovely young Tahitian performer graciously pose for me before the show.

But even as much as I enjoyed swimming with dolphins, snorkeling in a pristine lagoon, and basking in the amazing Tahiti light I was ready to do some diving.

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Discovering Tahiti Diving While scuba diving has been a popular activity, Tahiti and its islands have not been thought of as a major diving destination. As a point of comparison, Hawaii gets more visitors in 10 days than Tahiti does in an entire year. Moorea and Bora Bora and some of the other islands offer so many other activities, that

Tuamotus: Tahiti’s Most Diverse Islands The Tuamotu Islands are located northeast of Tahiti and is the largest of all the Polynesian archipelagos.

These are some of the most diverse islands in French Polynesia. The Tuamotus are comprised of 76 islands and atolls and cover 7500 square miles. Rangiroa is the gateway island to diving in this area.

1. A smile for me before the show.

2. Crystal clear water and pristine coral in the Tuamotu.

Rangiroa is the largest atoll in the Tuamotu chain, and is, in fact, the world’s second largest atoll. It has a small airport which services Air Tahiti, the primary inter-island air carrier, and there are three daily flights from Papeete.

Rangiroa is known as “The Island of the Long Sky”. The lagoon inside the atoll appears endless and since there is no island runoff, the visibility outside lagoon is often over 150 feet and stays at a constant 80+ degrees. During a trip in February-March the water was 84-86 degrees everyday.

The second largest atoll is Fakarava. This is a protected atoll and along with its six neighboring islands is a classified as a Unesco Nature Reserve.

Fakarava also has a small airport and flights stopping in Rangiroa, make a stop there before returning to Papeete.

Currently, the only diving in the Tuamotu chain is either from a private boat or from one of the small dive operations running out of the inhabited islands such as Rangiroa or Fakarava. (Until recently, the Aggressor Fleet operated a liveaboard alternating 2

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for most, scuba diving is more of an after thought during a romantic vacation.

French Polynesia has outlawed the use of long-line fishing in its waters, which has resulted in very healthy populations of many shark species.

These include Grey Reef, Silvertip, White Tip, Black Tip, and Lemon sharks. Shark dives and shark feeds are a very popular activity among local dive operators and are the major diving attraction at some of the more popular islands. But it is the outer archipelagos, most specifically the Tuamotus that offer the true dive adventure that many divers are seeking.

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weeks from either Rangiroa or Fakarava, but since has moved that vessel back to Fiji). The distances between the atolls make it impossible for day dive boats to dive the waters of the other areas so if you want to dive both Rangi and Fakarava you will have to stay on each island separately during you visit.

Checking out an Atoll One of the best aspects of diving the Tuamotus is the opportunity to experience more than one atoll, and each has its own special feeling. During my journey, I was able to spend an afternoon exploring and snorkeling part of Toau Atoll, which is the smallest, and one of the most picturesque in the area.

After befriending a local diveguide, he and his girlfriend decided to take me on a tour. Using his fast skiff we parked ourselves on a deserted Toau beach.

A walk, some sun, and great snorkeling in clear water made for a really cool afternoon break from the rigors of the high energy diving I had been doing up until then.

What is an Atoll?

Atolls, which are often circular, consist of ribbons of reef, sometimes dozens of kilometers across, enclosing a large body of water known as a “lagoon”.

It is the “enclosed lagoon” that is the key word when describing an atoll. An atoll’s enclosed lagoon always has at least one opening or pass where tidal flow can move into and out of the lagoon at regular intervals.

At the height of an “Outside To Inside” tidal flow, clear, open ocean water flows into the lagoon with the relatively narrow pass funneling the water down the channel creating very fast currents. At the entrance to the pass, the ocean rushes in creating a perfect environment for large schools of sharks and other schooling fish. This is where Tahiti diving is at its best!

It is this “pass diving” or “pass flying” that differentiates Tuamotu diving from other areas in French Polynesia, and certainly from most Caribbean dive destinations. A safety sausage, reef hook, dive alert, and an EPIRB are supplied by the Aggressor for

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current to take you on its fast ride through the pass.

As you fly though the pass, the depth decreases and you will come upon a large crater in the reef that has been aptly named a “Wrasse Hole.” This is Part Two of your Pass Dive experience.

Inside the large Wrasse Hole are huge schools of bigeyes, sharks, Napoleon Wrasse, Bannerfish, and many other critters. Since the bottom of the Wrasse Hole is lower than the pass bottom, a diver can hunker down below the level of the current and have a more relaxed view of the underwater activity. Because of the relative shelter inside the

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1. Opening in the atoll marks the entrance to the pass on Rangiroa.

2. Huge Schools of fish can be found in the “Wrasse Holes”.

3. Snorkeling off Toau Atoll.

all divers, as the current in the pass can run anywhere from 3-6 knots. Once in the pass, there is only one way to go….with the current.

Not Just Pass Dives There are actually two types of dives in the Tuamotus.

The Pass Dive: You enter the water, follow your guide, descend quickly to 80-100 feet, “hook in” at the entrance to the pass, and watch the incredible shark and schooling fish action. After about 10 minutes you unhook and, following the dive guides, allow the

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Wrasse Hole divers are afforded some of the best photographic opportunities during a pass dive.

When it’s time to move on, you just have to swim up a few feet and let the current pick you up just like the floating leaf in Forrest Gump. You finish your dive doing your safety stop while the diveguide signals the skiff with a safety sausage on a reel.

What’s interesting to note is that while many who diver this area use nitrox the most common blend of 32 percent is not used. Since it is possible to reach 120-130 feet during a pass dive, most boats blends nitrox at 30 percent giving an extra margin

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of safety against oxygen toxicity.

The main attraction of the pass dives is the shark activity. And I must say that I had one of the most unusual experiences while diving with Tahiti’s sharks.

During my two weeks in the Tuamotus, my local French divemaster was really a “Pied Piper” for the local shark population. Whenever we would do a pass dive, he would take down a small empty plastic water

bottle. When we got to the entrance to the pass, he would take a rock or piece of dead coral and rub the sides of the bottle, now about half full with ocean water.

Rubbing the bottle constantly creates low frequency sound that emulated that of a dying or injured fish. I have heard hydrophonic recordings that injured fish make and it was amazing that the sound was so similar.

After a few minutes of “bottle rubbing” we had

sharks, sharks, and more sharks. The sharks, thinking that the bottle was an injured fish, would come right up to us, providing some great photos ops. This was a great alternative to an actual shark feed. But even more amazing was our trip down the pass.

The other divers in the group had left us to linger in the Wrasse Hole and after a few minutes we let go and started our ride down the pass. All this time my

They got closer the more he rubbed that damn bottle.

ABOUT TAHITI Tahiti and her Islands are located south of the equator, in the same time zone as Hawaii, halfway between California and Australia.

Papeete’s Faa’a Airport is just 71/2 hours by air from Los Angeles (LAX). Nonstop flights depart from LAX nearly every day. » All visitors to Tahiti and her Islands must have a return airline ticket and a passport that is valid for six months beyond their date of return. » French and Tahitian are the official languages. As English is

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spoken in hotels and shops throughout the islands, communication is rarely a problem. » The local currency is the French Pacific Franc (XPF or CFP). International Banks and ATM machines can be found at Faa’a Int’l Airport as well as throughout the main islands. On the primary tourist islands, VISA and MasterCard are commonly accepted in most hotels, restaurants and boutiques while American Express is accepted in some.

» The climate and lifestyle on the islands calls for casual and comfortable clothing. Pack loose-fitting, natural fabrics and plenty of shorts. Pares and swimsuits can be worn during the daytime at resorts, while casual shirts, shorts and walking shoes provide the most comfort during island exploration. For dinner, casual slacks and sport shirts are the best choice for men, cool sundresses for women.

For more information, please visit www.Tahiti-Tourisme.com

diveguide is rubbing that damn water bottle and I’m thinking to myself, “What the hell is he doing…we left all of the Gray Reef sharks back behind us?” For about 10 minutes, we’re screaming down the pass having a good old time, when all of a sudden we see a couple of big Silvertip sharks following us… actually his bottle.

Then a couple of more join us and by the time we get to our exit point we must have had 10 beautiful Silvertip sharks around us looking for that damn dead fish. Wow, what a ride!

The Corner Dive: Since the Pass dives are totally dependent on an incoming current, it is not always possible to dive the pass. The other option is to dive the reef area on the outside of the atoll that runs perpendicular to the pass. These are called “corner dives”. Why? Because if you went to the end of the reef where it meets the pass entrance, you would be at the “corner” of the pass.

There are two corners per pass and typically the current is very mild. While not as high voltage as the pass dive, a “corner” offers the opportunity to cruise through pristine coral fields filled with huge schools of fish and visibility that often exceeds 150 feet. While not as diverse as parts of Asia and even the Caribbean, the underwater life in the Tuamotu Archipelago is both pristine and plentiful. You won’t see the soft corals you find in Fiji or the Solomon Islands, but the health and bounty of the hard coral population is incredible. It’s hard to think about looking for small critters when there are sharks, rays, turtles, dolphins, and huge schools of reef fish everywhere, but if you look close there is certainly macro life to be found.

It is not uncommon to see Manta Rays, Sharks, Turtles, and Dolphins while on a corner dive. During the Spotted Eagle Ray mating season, December through early February, it is also possible to see large Hammerhead sharks that come in to feed on the mating eagle rays.

The Light, The Water, The People The diving, of course, was spectacular, but there are many other things that burn in my memory. The local kids playing on the pier at Rangi; the Pearl Ladies who come on board each week to sell the local peals which are a specialty in the Tuamotus and most specifically Rangiroa; and the people who make the outer islands of Tahiti so special.

The only thing left for me to say is, “I’m coming back.”n

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