Just the words - Tahiti, Bora Bora, and South Pacific, bring images of exotic adventures to mind. At least they did to me. So when I began looking for someplace out of the ordinary to go and vacation, I started with an image I saw on cable of Easter Island. Somewhere in my blind searches on the web, I found a reference to Tahiti. Not being sure where it actually was, I checked Tahiti’s home page (it seemed to be a good place to start). Amongst all the general island information, I found out through their vast image files, that ALL Tahitian girls are tall, tanned and not overly dressed. Things were looking up, but how could I get my wife on board? A cruise, of course!

Luckily, I found a ship. A rather small ship in comparison to the other cruise ships we had been on, only 360 feet long with a crew of 88, but this one had SAILS! Wow, this was even better than the island girls! OK, it was as good as… Yeah, your right, but the ship was neat.
The Windstar is a very comfortable 148-passenger motored sail yacht (ship) that took 7-day voyages between the islands of Tahiti. The pictures were attractive, but that was just the start of a great adventure.

Leaving out of Houston, we took a flight to L.A. Getting our bags onto the Air Tahiti Nui flight was an adventure since Continental had forgotten to send the luggage straight through to the Air Tahiti terminal. Nevertheless, after passing all the interesting security points and finally getting on the plane, the comfort surprised us. It was an Airbus A340, wide body, very new and well-equipped plane. Air Tahiti flies four of these planes (ours was named Bora Bora and had been in service only since 2002). The crew was helpful, kind and attentive. They even changed outfits as the flight progressed from ground service apparel to in flight native Tahitian dress, and the food was actually very good!

Once we landed in Papeete, musicians playing local music (despite the fact that it was 10:00 pm) entertained us, as we made our way through customs. The bus ride provided us with a nighttime view of the city as we headed to the port. Little did I know this was the most civilization I would see for the next week. Arriving at the dock, a beautiful white ship floated silently on the water, and I could feel the lure of the sea and hear the calling of the mermaids as I walked to the gangway. Wait, that was my wife calling me, not the mermaids. Seems I was getting ahead of her in my anticipation to get onboard.

If you love the sea, if ships fascinate you and if a trip out of the ordinary is what you are looking for, this is the trip for you. The sights and sounds of the ship making its way out of port and the sounds of the sea lapping against the bow, were everything I had hoped for. Our cabin, as with all cabins on the Windstar, had two portholes and watching the waves crash over them was hypnotizing, much like one of those washing machines at the Laundromat.
Every morning I was up early just to see the sunrise over the next island. Although there is a lot of rain on the islands, rain never ruined our days. We only had brief showers from time to time, which only made me smile.

On our first stop, Raiatea, we toured a black pearl farm. Black Pearls are one of the things Tahiti is known for, besides tattoos. The time and care it takes to culture a single black pearl is amazing. I can well understand the cost for such pearls, I can’t afford them, but I understand it. It takes up to 2 years to grow a pearl and the success rate may only be 40%. Each clam is hand cleaned every few months and uncontrollable things such as rainwater and tides all affect the success of the cultures. On Moorea, we ventured a few miles to their main shopping district, where there was a whopping 8 shops in a row. The focal point was the Black Pearl shop. Knowing that Tahiti has the best black pearls and after looking at all the colors, shapes, mountings, it was hard to walk out without buying one. So we bought one. Much less expensive than any place else, but still reflecting the time, care and hands on work that must be done to cultivate such a gem.

On the second stop, Huahine, we rented bikes to explore the only road that went around the island. Coming into port, they would tell you that you really couldn’t get lost. There was Front Street and there was Back Street. Only a couple of the islands had a road that went around - almost - the entire island. Renting the bike from a native Tahitian lady who spoke only French and Tahitian, was amusing, to her. Curious about returning the bikes after closing time for the shop (3:00) we inquired on where to lock them up. She just smiled and indicated as best she could to leave the bikes out back. We were confused. As Americans, it was almost impossible to imagine leaving a valuable belonging unattended and unlocked. Luckily another person in the store was there to help with the translation, “It’s an island. Everyone knows these are her bikes. They aren’t going anywhere.” This calm and friendly attitude was everywhere on the islands. This was different than the Caribbean, where it was mostly that they didn’t care. Here, they cared if you were happy.

Each day brought new adventures to our doorstep. On Huahine, we visited an old worship and sacrifice (usually animals) site. On Papeete we went to the home of the co-author of “Mutiny on the Bounty" and visited the museum of the painter Gauguin. We took a jeep ride up to the top of Raiatea, learned how to open coconuts, and had a view from one of the WWII gun emplacements (ironically, pointed in the direction of the ‘new’ Japanese built hotel). We swam with dolphins at a resort in Moorea and snorkeled everywhere we could. We had a BBQ picnic on a private island, went spinner dolphin sightseeing on Bora Bora, went to a luau and every night had five-star dinners onboard the ship.

Tahiti will always have a very special place in my dreams. It will be that place where things were better than I could have imagined they would be and beauty was always right in front of you. It was an exotic adventure that maybe, someday, we can experience again.

As we departed the Windstar for home, we found out that the ship was being moved to South America. The smaller, but more traditional cruise ships, would service the islands. I am so glad we were there for the days of sail. But even without the ship, the islands of Tahiti are a place to dream of an incredible adventure.

*All Photos by David Almaguer

If You Go

Air Tahiti Nui

www.airtahitinui-usa.com

Windstar Cruises

www.windstarcruises.com

Black Pearls

www.tahiti-blackpearls.com

Papeete

www.papeete.com

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