Tahanea Atoll

Tahanea Atoll was our first atoll in the Tuamotus and we loved it. If it weren’t for the fact that our visas for French Polynesia will run out in about six weeks, we might still be there.

If you aren’t familiar with atolls, they are somewhat circular reefs with an inner lagoon that provides good protection in which we can anchor. In places along the reef there are small palm ringed islands. The islands are low–just a few meters above sea level. Atolls can be quite large.

Tahanea is 25 nm (46 km) long and 9 nm (16 km) wide. Looking across we couldn’t really see the other side. We didn’t expect that. Also, there were several anchorages. We didn’t expect that either. We chose to go to the SE corner of the atoll because it would offer the best protection from the SE winds that were forecasted while we were there.

As I mentioned, we didn’t expect to have more than one anchorage in an atoll. We thought they’d be too small for that but once we were there we realized, it’s a bit like the Gulf Islands back home in Canada. In the Gulf Islands there are many places to anchor in a relatively small cruising area. It’s possible to spend a week in the islands and never sail more than a few hours between each anchorage. One could treat Tahanea the same way. We didn’t but we could have.

We spent most of our time at the SE anchorage. There were several small islands that gave us good protection from the wind and waves while also giving us opportunities to stretch our legs. We anchored among the coral heads–bommies–and floated our anchor chain so we wouldn’t snag any of them. The coral was home to many small colourful fish. We could don our mask and fins, slip off the back of the boat, and be in our own fish tank!

Leisurely days were spent paddle boarding, snorkelling and enjoying the nearby islands. We had several bonfires and potluck dinners on the beach with other cruisers. It was paradise.

We even had a lobster dinner. Our friend Simon from SV Renard was invited to join a couple of locals as they went lobster hunting. He was good enough to share so one evening he and his family joined us on Cambria and we had a lobster feast!

Our time in Tahanea could be summed up by a comment Sharlene made a day or two after we’d arrived there. She commented that Tahanea was everything she’d dreamed of when she’d dreamed of sailing in the South Pacific. We had palm fringed islands, warm turquoise water and an abundance of fish to snorkel with.