Chasing Summer –

January 2-3rd

Fakarava is roughly rectangular-shaped with a length of 60km and a width of 21 km. Only a thin outer shape is above water, with the majority covered by water in the lagoon. Only 830 people live here as permanent residents.

Needless to say, there isn’t much here, and people visit for the diving. There are so many sharks here; there is a site that is called “Wall of Sharks”. The conditions are so perfect that hundreds of grey, black-tipped, and white-tipped sharks make it their home. Discover a wall of Sharks in Fakarava | Tahiti Tourisme – Official website of The Islands of Tahiti

While I got my PADI Certificate when I taught in Colombia, I haven’t dived since, and that was about 20 years ago, so I don’t think that will be my first attempt at it. Even around the shore, there are jellyfish and shark warnings, so if I choose to swim and get injured it’s on me.

I decided to rent a bike and go up to the “best” swimming beach. It is approximately a 2-hour walk from our tender pier, so the bike ride should take around 45-60 minutes. I tried renting a scooter, but they were all unavailable, and the largest supplier of e-bikes increased their prices too much because of the cruise ship. Jerks. I went with the cheap one. 1,000 XPF for the day rather than the 1,000 per hour place.

That being said, my bike got me there, but it wasn’t pretty. Rusted, squeaky, no handlebars, and a basket held together with twine and prayers. My friends’ bikes looked slightly better, but came with their own clanks and wobbles. They are beach cruisers, so there are no gears, and even the slightest incline can be felt. Up to the airport was paved and easy to do, but it’s only 1/3 of the way, and then we hit the dirt road. Filled with rocks and potholes, our rattly bikes bumped and weaved for 30 minutes. My forearms and coochie felt like they had been beaten. Don’t get me wrong, it was a great morning.

We had stopped at the two lighthouses on the way. One modern and one very unique structure.

The sliver of land is fairly skinny, and while the lagoon side is shark-filled, it is calm; the ocean side is rougher and not recommended for swimming.

Even on the lagoon side, the PK 9 beach had more motion, but it was pushing you back to land, not out to sea. The best thing about the beach is the palm tree hanging over the water.

Some brain coral and several large fish were swimming around. One person saw an octopus, but I didn’t. The snorkelling was mediocre at best, but still a good way to spend some time in the water before cycling back to town.

By 10 am, a lot more people from the ship were headed here, and we made our way back, stopping to take some pictures along the way.

The town itself is very small, only a couple of blocks. There are a few stores, a gas station, a school, a restaurant, and a church.

Since tourism is their second largest income, there are also the tourist-related places- tour shops, bike rentals, dive boats, etc.

There is one swimming area, a five-minute walk from the tender pier, and a pair of German shepherds hang out there. They don’t seem to be owned by any one person but are friendly and well fed, so the village must take care of them.