Traveling from Raleigh, NC to Tahiti
First, Portland and Cannon Beach
Due to the things, we forgot to grab at Cannon Beach, we drove from the Portland airport the whole 1 hour to Cannon Beach, grabbed the wet suites, water shoes, and anything else. I then, being the amazing big sister I am, was permitted to stuff the back seat of the car (which consisted of my youngest siblings 😉) with cardboard. 😁 It was the best! Kb and Bardez did like it. Just so you know…
After a long day of driving, plane rides, and item gathering, we ate at Kaizen Sushi for dinner. The food was AMAZING, and I loved our waiter Nate. 🙂
The Flights to Papeete and Raiatea
We took a very early flight to San Francesco, which has SUCH a fantastic United club! It even had a hot chocolate bar! We waited for about 30 minutes till we went down to the gate. Yet alas, the planning was delayed for another 45 minutes in the club. Don’t tell anyone, but I may or may not have stocked up on dried mangos and pineapples at the club. 😉🤫 When we finally got on the plane, it was good from there. I watched Father of the Bride. Which I thought was NOT good. Please don’t watch it! It’s just not worth it. After watching movies, I sleep for a couple of hours. The windows were so cool. They filled up with gel to dim them instead of having shades to draw over them!
Arriving at the Hilton in Tahiti
We arrived in the afternoon. It was so hot getting off the plane! We went to the Hilton Tahiti, changed, and went to the pool. It was pretty refreshing, and there were pool chairs! Like, literal chairs in the pool! After a relaxing afternoon, we got dinner at the hotel dinner. The sunset was beautiful, and the food was very delicious.
Our First in on the Sailboat: Anchored at Taha’a Island
The following day, we took a short flight to Raiatea, where we met my grandparents, Kenny and Cindy, and Casey and Sherry. The sun was beating down on us like crazy, so by the time we got to the meeting place, an outdoor cafe; we were all muggy with sweat. Then, around noon, we walked back to the dock to get on the boat. GrandKari and GrandpaTim had walked over with the littles a little before. But when we arrived, the ship and the people who had gone ahead were gone! We waited for about 30 minutes till dad came over and told us what was going on. He said that the boat was over at the cafe and was waiting for us because it would pick us up and then come back to the dock to grab some play toys. It was all very confusing. So we waited for another 10 minutes till the yacht arrived. After getting all loaded, we set off. We were given a safety briefing and met Captain Wen and his wife/chef, Via. We sailed to a nice spot off the coast of Taha’a. We ate lunch and then went snorkeling! But…. Before anyone got it, we realized there were sharks!! I know! I was like: No. Way. 🫣Zeb, being so daring, jumped in and scared them all away. By the way, these were nurse sharks, so really, they weren’t a problem in the first place!
That night we sailed overnight to Bora Bora.
Mooring at Bora Bora for Two Nights
Scuba Diving in Bora Bora Manta Rays!
Mom had booked us for scuba diving for the next morning, so at 7 am, I got ready for that. We were in the water by 8:30, and it was quite lovely! We were underwater for about 30 minutes, and while we were down there, we saw a new kind of Ray. A Manta Ray! They look like they have two eyes sticking out infant of them, but it’s actually a part of a huge mouth. Another fun fact about Manta rays is that they can grow up to 30 Feet in wing span!! Manta eats plankton, and their predators are Orcas’ also known as Killer whales.
Underwater Dive Emergency
This dive did have one interruption, and that was when, Nandi, one of our dive instructors, had a sudden tank leak that started bleeding air really fast! And that’s not good because the take is where you get all your air from! So we had to go back up, and she had to replace her tank. We went back down and finished our dive after that. And it was all good.
Perfectly Clear Water
The second dive was, what I call, go-pro clear. You know in the ads for go-pro, or at least the photos, are in super clear water? Well, that’s how clear this water was. We were also by a reef, so the water was wishing back and forth If you know what I mean. If you don’t, it was like the water on a beach when the waves go in and out. Anyway, I really liked it, and there was only one mishap on that dive. Mom’s weight belt wasn’t working! One of the dive instructors, Nandi, helped her, so that was good. Other than the not-great male dive instructor who was completely unhelpful, I say it was an A+ dive experience! After diving in the morning, we played and swam for the rest of the day.
Dinner at St James Restaurant in Bora Bora
That night we went to a fantastic dinner at a restaurant (on land 🙂) called Saint James. Me and Kb were very excited because it had a little shop with dresses and stuff! We tried some things on, but we didn’t keep anything. It was also a little pricey. We, the kids, waited for the adults to have their time at the bar, and we got some juices and watched a 70-point fresh tune be brought in from the boats! It was crazy! And smelly.
Dinner was good. They even brought us Gluten Free freshly baked bread! It was SO good. I got the Mahi Mahi, but it was pretty dry. Meh. The sunset was unique. With colors flying and the sun setting behind the mountains, it was particular.
After dinner, we went back to the boat and went to bed. That night, we motored to Maupiti, it was deafening, and we rocked back and forth for most of the night. I slept ok, but not that well.
One Night in Maupiti
Snorkeling with Manta Rays
The following day, we went snorkeling at 7 am with Manta Rays! I think this might have been a little bit better than diving with them because the water was so shallow that they were swimming right under me! Well… there were many, but at one point, there was another! Bardez got many excellent photos.
Bike Riding around Maupiti
After snorkeling and breakfast, Wen to me, dad, GrandKari, Casey, and dad onto the shore. We rented bikes to ride around the island. It was primarily flat till we got to the hill. It was so steep that we had to walk up and over it. It was challenging but fun.
That afternoon, we fired up the boat and sailed out of Maupiti to Bora Bora. The beginning was so fun. We were crashing around in the ways, and I was in the surfers’ position for a while, then went up top to rest. I actually fell asleep!
The best part of that day was right before dinner. Kenny, earlier in the day, had gotten stung by a bee, and that night Cindy, his wife, pranked us, saying that she didn’t know what was wrong with Kenny, but he wasn’t feeling well. Then he came up to the top deck dressed in a Jack Sparrow costume! It was so funny. We took lots of pictures.
Back to Bora Bora
Not much happened during the second day at Bora Bora. There was a long and big rainstorm all morning, but some of us still went snorkeling. Most of us played card games for most of the day. It stopped raining around 4 pm, which was great because we were going to the Bora Bora Yacht Club for dinner. It had a show of French Pollination dancing and singing. We also watch a man dance with fire!! It was SO fun! Again, the Sunset was astonishing. And after dinner, we had a dance party on the top deck! It was the best.
Last Night in Taha’a
Even though we were going to Taha’a today, we still did some stuff on Bora Bora. In the morning, most of the adults went to the Rum factory, then they returned, and everyone went to a Pearl farm! This is actually where they make genuine Tahitian pearls! The process is fascinating.
Visiting a Pearl Farm
First, they take little balls from Muscles from the Mississippi River in the USA and insert them into the oysters. Then the oyster sits in nets, and the oyster makes the color around the Mississippi ball! And a pearl can grow 3-4 times in different oysters to make bigger Perls. It’s quite the process!
Visiting a Vanilla Farm
After the Perl farm, we motored to Raiatea and went to a Vanilla farm. I got there pretty late, so I didn’t learn a lot. But I did learn that most villa beans in the US are much smaller because we don’t have five of them as much moisture.
That night, we did something so incredible. When we were eating dinner, we heard a lot of splashing in the water, so one of my siblings, I don’t remember which one, saw a LOT of sharks!! These were nurse sharks again, but when you give them scraps of food, and they fight over it, it looks pretty scary. This was pretty well last night, I would say.
Goodbyes in Raiatea
In the morning, we said our goodbyes to Wen and Via and everyone else at the airport and border a plane back to Papeete. We were staying at the Hilton again, and that afternoon we went to a fantastic market that mom and dad had gone to before the sailing trip. Before we entered the market, we stopped at a chocolate shop. The most remarkable thing was this bust of a head totally made out of chocolate!! I even smelled it, and it was real chocolate!
The market was cool. There were mainly pearl vendors, along with food and knickknack sellers. I got a pair of wooden earrings because that’s what I like to collect when I travel. Kb got necklace. And Zeb also got necklace. We also went to a smoothy shop for lunch which was amazing.
Mango smoothie 
Guitars at the market 
Pure chocolate head 
Straw hats 
Dresses hanging from the ceiling at the market 
Chocolate store
In Summary: Tahiti has Great People, Great Diving, but Not the Best Sailing
Overall, I think that Tahiti was a very good trip. I loved the weather, water, and people. Though, I probably would not go back for another sailing trip. If I got to learn some of the histories, I would love to do that. But for now. The next stop is New Zealand!