I wasn’t sure exactly what I was going to do today, I was waiting to see what the weather would bring.
I woke up early and decided since my bungalow had a nice view of the ocean that I should sit back, relax and enjoy the view, I paid for it after all.
After checking out I drove to Teahupoo to record the sound of the waves. It is one of the few areas where there is a break in the reef that actually gets waves. Most of the rest of the island is surrounded by a lagoon that is very calm.
I decided to go snorkeling today, hiking by myself with questionable weather and possible flash flooding just didn’t seem prudent. I had done some research that there were two beaches near PK 18 (closer to the hotel I am staying at tonight).
The first beach I stopped at was Mahana Park. The park had calm, clear water but almost no sand. It did however have a nice bathroom, shower and changing room. The coral was quite tall and I was a bit hesitant with the possibility of getting lost in the maze of coral and having a tough time getting back to the shore. I snorkeled for a bit and decided to try the next nearby beach.
The next beach was really walking distance, according to Google Maps it is only 650 meters away (8 minute walk). It was called Vaiava Beach. This beach had a real white sand beach on one side, but there were no facilities other than two portable toilets and a rudimentary outdoor shower. There was significant construction ongoing, so I believe they were building facilities similar to Mahana Park. I read a sign when I arrived and it actually had markers in the lagoon for a snorkeling path. The signs were a considerable distance away, but since they had them marked I was more comfortable snorkeling here. At one point a huge school of convict fish swam by me. I never seen a large school like that before. They reminded me of a herd of buffalo in the western movies. It did take a considerable amount of time to complete the circuit. Afterwards I just dried out by the beach and enjoyed the scenery.
From here I drove to the hotel – back to the Hotel Sarah Nui. I had considered staying at a beach resort, but it would have been almost three times the cost and I was only staying for one more night.
This time I got room 315, which was high enough to have a view and I could see Moorea and part of the port of Papeete. Unfortunately there was a radio tower in the middle of Moorea. The room was pretty similar to the previous one, not fancy but perfectly fine.
I walked downtown to get some dinner, the cheapest actual meal still appeared to be the US Embassy. I tried a Bacon Royale this time (it had real bacon on it).
I attempted to check in for my flight at 10:40 PM, but the United app and website said that online check in wasn’t available for the Papeete airport and to check in at the airport. I contact United via Twitter to see if I could at least get an Economy Plus seat that I would normally be able to select at check in. After an hour (yes a simple request took over an hour) I was able to get an exit row seat on the aisle.
After this I was exhausted and called it a night.
Today’s timeline:
