Fakarava Part 1: Pushing Ourselves & Facing Fears

Our overnight winter solstice passage from Tahanea to Fakarava atoll, full moon lighting up the night, sailing slowly over calm seas, watching the moonset and sunrise as Fakarava came into view. 

It was a magical passage between these two atolls and an easy pass in where we anchored amongst bommies and friends, took a nap, then set off on an afternoon adventure.  Fakarava for us has meant pushing ourselves (and facing some fears) in new ways, accompanied by stellar cruising friends. 

Fakarava is the second largest of the Tuamotu atolls.  The atoll is roughly rectangular and its length is 37 miles by 13 miles in size with two passes.  Fakarava has some of the most pristine and undisturbed coral reef ecosystems in the world. The south pass of Fakarava has been protected since 2008 and is now home to the highest concentration of grey reef sharks in the world, with an estimated 700 sharks comprising the single school that inhabits the area. This is also one of the only reefs where sharks are fully protected and can be found these numbers.  In 2016, Fakarava also became part of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. 

Here we were – the famous shark pass of Fakarava.  This also happened to be the full moon in July, when thousands of massive groupers come to spawn, the sharks feasting at night.  This all sounds wonderful and awesome in theory…but…swimming with sharks…lots of sharks.  Have I mentioned my fear of sharks?  Having been raised as most other U.S. kids with visions of Jaws and sharks as a predator on humans, as much as I told myself this was not true, the ingrained images still were there.  Which is exactly why I needed to get in with them.  Our friends on SV Moondoggie were ready to take us for our first drift snorkel through the famous South Pass of Fakarava, so off we went. 

Turned off the engine at the outside of the pass (water running into the lagoon) and it was time.  No time to think, we splashed into the water and absorbed the “wall of fish” – beautiful corals, massive schools of florescent fish, piles of groupers lining the ocean floor.  And then there, in the distance, the outline of a shark.  Just enough to take notice, as the shark slid back into the shadows.  Then another in the distance.  Okay, these are actually quite beautiful. 

Then, directly to the right of us, a large reef shark, less than 10 feet away.  I looked, looked away, then looked back and just watched – in awe.  A bit further up, another ten sharks, all swimming about next to us.  They had no interest in us and swam with grace and speed, quite beautiful in fact. 

Then suddenly, I found myself wanting to see sharks, looking for them in fact.  The water started to speed up and soon, squeezing our way through a narrow part of the pass, I put my arms out and felt myself flying over the coral and fish and sharks.  Stunning, beautiful, and exhilarating.  It was indeed life changing…my fear of sharks is gone (mostly).  I had swam around about 40-50 sharks. 

We had the experience of going another time a few days later and this time brave Cora also decided to confront her fears and in she went, calm and graceful and absorbing of the underwater world.  Her only complaint after was that she didn’t see enough sharks and would have liked to see more!  We are so grateful to our friends who were right there with us, providing us the support to just jump in.

We spent only one night at South Pass Anchorage and the kids made the most of it with a massive beach fire and making new friends.  Overnight, the winds grew and it was a rolly night of interrupted sleep in an anchorage with too many coral bommies. 

We moved to Hirifa anchorage, just 6 miles away, where we continued trying new things by taking a 2 hour lesson in wing foiling.  Calder had been watching some buddy boats do this sport and was very intrigued.  Hirifa just happens to be known for its winds and wind sports, so why not?  Wing foiling is where a person stands on a foilboard with a hydrofoil fin on the bottom, holding directly onto a wing.  The idea is the wing generates both upward force and sideways propulsion and thus moves the board across the water. With the foil, the board lifts off the water (a bit more advanced skill).  At our first lesson, we worked on simply holding the wing, angling it different directions, and balancing on the board.  Both Chris and Calder managed to stand up for a bit, but we mostly knelt and learned the techniques.  It was challenging, fun, and exhausting. 

We are now tucking into Hirifa anchorage for a bit of weather…more on that soon!

Here’s a bit of entertainment: Chris at his first wing foiling lesson. You’ll need to go to the actual blogsite for it to play (doesn’t seem to work on email):