Manihi and Rangiroa July 30 - August 17

Our trip to Manihi was very calm and uneventful. Manihi is like a skinny island ring with a big lagoon in the middle. It was very pretty and the people were very friendly. Fred did a little scuba diving while we were there. Some dives were for pleasure, and he saw an octopus and several manta rays, and one dive was for work - to free our anchor which was really wedged into some coral in about 50 feet of water.

We stayed in Manihi longer than we planned because of some rough weather. Fred flew out from Manihi to return to the states for the wedding of a good friend (congratulations Dave and Laura - we'll all be waiting for you at the hotel in Bora Bora!). While he was gone Jeff and Angie moved the boat to Rangiroa and began scuba diving training. Rangiroa is a very big atoll, we couldn't see the other side of the lagoon at all, and it is a fabulous place to learn to scuba dive.

Fred and Aimee flew back from the states to Rangiroa via Tahiti. They did a couple dives in Tahiti one of which was a wreck dive on an sunken plane and boat. Then they came back to Rangiroa and we all went diving together and we got to dive with dolphins! It was really amazing. At first the dolphins were playing with each other near us, doing what looked like a show you'd see at Sea World. Then they came closer and closer and Fred actually got to touch one and another swam right up to Jeff. It was incredible.

The coral reefs here also quite impressive. Most of the diving we did in Rangiroa was outside the atoll and the reef just goes on and on with no end in site and with lots of colorful fish and turtles and rays and eels and a few sharks. All very beautiful. We also really liked the people who took us diving and wound up giving them some of the Smith sunglasses we brought as trade items and they could not have been more pleased.

We hope to add some pictures to the blog when we get to Tahiti which should be early next week.