A much better day than yesterday, all around. We started early with breakfast and a short circuit at the gym to get the blood flowing. We had booked a snorkel tour the day before, that included a visit to a “private” lagoon for sting-rays and a snorkel with sharks.
Our boat picked us up from the hotel “lobby” at about 10:00am and we headed to the lagoon for the sting-ray encounter. The boat captain/guide (a Tahitian native), jumped in the shallow water and started to chum the area with sardines, which caused the rays to swarm him. The water in the lagoon is only about three feet deep, so mediocre visibility (especially in a sandy area), but you could basically see the rays from the boat too. We found out later that the rays had all been debarbbed a few year ago (either because a tourist had been badly hurt, or because of Steve Irwin’s death… the root cause is a bit unclear
Our boat picked us up from the hotel “lobby” at about 10:00am and we headed to the lagoon for the sting-ray encounter. The boat captain/guide (a Tahitian native), jumped in the shallow water and started to chum the area with sardines, which caused the rays to swarm him. The water in the lagoon is only about three feet deep, so mediocre visibility (especially in a sandy area), but you could basically see the rays from the boat too. We found out later that the rays had all been debarbbed a few year ago (either because a tourist had been badly hurt, or because of Steve Irwin’s death… the root cause is a bit unclear). Either way, the policy is not to debarb all adult stingrays (as the young ones aren’t as dangerous). We have to say that we were disturbed by this news. We probably would have done a difference excursion had we known what the downstream effects of tourism had on these wild creatures.
Oblivious to these facts at the time, we did enjoy the encounter. The rays are extremely friendly, undoubtedly as a result of years of human interaction and free food from the guides. Certainly not the “wild” animal encounter that would have been ideal, but that’s the nature of tourism, sometimes. From the rays we headed to deeper water to where the black-tip sharks could be found. Again, there is some interference from humans. The guides all chummed the water around us to attract more sharks, but the spectacle was really amazing. Probably around 20 sharks in 20-30 feet of water. The sharks stayed at 5-10 feet deep, providing great views for snorkelers and divers. Lots of fish in the area too, adding to the majesty. This was definitely one of the better experiences of the trip and made the overall excursion worth it.
The last stop was a shallow reef with lots of coral and fish. Unfortunately, the camera we were using to take underwater photos ran out of battery, so no photos from this stop. The snorkeling was really good though (although so was the snorkeling off our balcony back at the Conrad.). The boat trip back to the Conrad continues the clock-wise trip around the island, passing by the airport and the other major hotels on Bora Bora: Meridian, St. Regis, Four Seasons to name a few. It was nice to compare the layouts of the different hotels. We’d love to come back and try another one someday, but definitely no regrets about choosing the Conrad.
Back at the hotel, we had lunch and just hung out for the rest of the day. A little sunbathing, a little paddleboarding, a little snorkeling, a few drinks and a great sunset. We finished the night off with drinks at the “lobby” bar, over the water (Tiki themed drinks) and then a great dinner at the Conrad’s French restaurant. Overall a really great day with shark snorkel as the highlight.