Moorea and the Stingrays 29 - 31st July 2014

Tashi Delek
Mike & Carol Kefford
Thu 31 Jul 2014 03:56

17:29.56S 149:51.182W

 

We left Tahiti (Hooray) and crossed to Opunohu Bay Moorea, the island where South Pacific was filmed.  Glorious to be anchored somewhere rural again. 

 

 

The ‘Must Do’ here is swimming with the stingrays (and sharks of course).  An obvious set up for the tourists but great fun none the less and we have the luxury of being able to go early in the day by taking our own dingy.  In shallowish water on white sand there is a spot where the rays know they will be fed and are consequently tame.  You take some fish,( in our case tinned because we don’t have fresh fish because we haven’t caught any, as you may recall)  tie your dingy to one of the mooring balls and get into the water.  The rays come right up in the hope of some food.  By right up I mean right up so that they brush you and make it very clear where their mouth is and what they are after.

 

This is slightly unnerving at first but you soon get used to the feel of them (suede leather stretched over a firm but springy surface) and the number of them.  For added entertainment there are black tip reef sharks circling about ten metres away in the hope of picking up the scraps the rays don’t get to.

 

 

 

cid:image003.jpg@01CFBA68.5702A530