The Trip Really Begins

We arrived in Rangiroa, French Indonesia this morning. The first port outside of the US and a part of the world that I have never visited.

I know that many of you are world travelers but, for those who aren’t, I will provide a more descriptive account of the port and surrounding areas.

Rangiroa is what is referred to as an Atoll. Simply, a volcano had once broken the surface of the ocean. Over many millions of years a reef grew that surrounded the volcano. After a period of time, the volcano dropped below the sea’s surface. The open space left by the volcano was filled by water making a natural lagoon as the reef formation remained. You can imagine that the reef is not very wide but does support vegetation. An aerial view would make the reef look small and unbroken. In fact, the internal lagoon is so large that Tahiti could easily fit in the middle. There are enough breaks with enough width between parts of the reef that ships can enter the lagoon and moor. Lots of description I know.

Because many stops don’t have actually ports, we are transported from the ship that is anchored off the shore to the shore by small boats referred to as tenders. The transfer is quick and easy when the water is calm, as it is today. Rougher conditions are more challenging as the passengers try to step from a moving ship onto a moving boat.

I decided to snorkel for the first time on the trip. I was prepared with my new GoPro and snorkel mask. Worked great. The pictures below will give you an idea of the stop.