The Coral Island – Taha’a, French Polynesia

DCIM100MEDIA
The coral gardens at Taha’a

Next on our tour of the Society Islands is Taha’a, a small island between Huahine and Bora Bora, reknowned for its coral gardens on the west side.

one of the many motus on the eastern side of Taha'a
one of the many motus on the eastern side of Taha’a

You can enter the eastern pass and then sail round the island inside the fringing reef. Nostalgic for some more motu-action, we were hoping to anchor off one of the many motus on the eastern side but the depths went from 0.5 metres to 40 metres with nothing in between. Impossible!

So we kept motoring until we reached the western side of the island, anchoring off the hotel complex on the private motu near the coral gardens.

The private island and hotel complex, Taha'a
The private island and hotel complex, Taha’a
Bora Bora from the anchorage at Taha'a
Bora Bora from the anchorage at Taha’a

The views to Bora Bora were spectacular, although with the weather remaining unsettled and squally it was difficult to get the longed-for sunset pictures. This was the best we could do:

Bora Bora in the late afternoon
Bora Bora in the late afternoon
Bora Bora sunset on a squally day
Bora Bora sunset on a squally day

The coral gardens are definitely worth a visit, although much better early in the day before all the tourists arrive, and when the sun is shining. It’s best done as a drift snorkel, walking to the outer reef end of the small motu adjoining the private island, and then drifting down through the pass between the islands. A very pretty snorkel with lots to see and so many fish.

DCIM100MEDIA
colourful coral and fish abound
We found Nemo!
We found Nemo!
A friendly moray eel popped out to say hello
A friendly moray eel popped out to say hello
This guy takes the prize for the best colour scheme!
This guy takes the prize for the best colour scheme!

Lovely as it was, we stayed only two nights here as we were keen to spend our remaining time in French Polynesia exploring the legendary Bora Bora – just a short daysail away.

 

9 Replies to “The Coral Island – Taha’a, French Polynesia”

    1. False! we’ll be in Cairns with the boys for Xmas. but we will be making a short stop in Pittwater for NY before heading back to NZ around 7th Jan…..

  1. Hi Bruce & Di – Stunning pictures. Can’t wait to see your post from Bora Bora. We miss you guys here in Naptown! Peter & Pam

    1. Hi Peter & Pam, great to hear from you! How was your summer? Hopefully you got lots of use out of the boat. We were just talking about you the other day and saying how much we miss Naptown and all our friends there – say Hi to all from us. Bora Bora is stunning although the weather hasn’t been too good. Will get the next post up soon, I promise!!

    1. Thanks Virginia, what an aptly named fish and I can see why it would be your favourite! Hope
      you’re both well. Are you and Picasso still in NZ??

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.