We started the day by taking the dinghy into the main town of Vaitape, which is about a mile north by boat from where we are anchored (by land it is farther since the road follows the curvy lagoon). There is a nice protected quay (seawall area) right in the center of town. Facing town from the dinghy, on the right is a parking lot, on the left is an outdoor theater, and straight ahead is a visitor information center and handicraft market. They were setting up for a big concert at the theater. At the information center we picked up a fish guide, so we will actually be able to name a few of the fish we see now.


The main road runs behind the handicraft market.

We walked around town a bit. It is pretty unspectacular. There were all the usual town center things grocery store, post office, police station, bank. There is a Catholic church and an evangelical protestant temple. The Catholic church had two words in Latin on its front door. For some reason, those words drew Christi in.

What really stood out for us was the incredibly large number of tourist souvenir shops lining the road, especially the number of high end shops. It was probably the same in Moorea, but we didn’t notice it as much there.

There were several “snack” restaurants serving sandwiches, but not very many real restaurants. We went to a place Lonely Planet recommended and had average Panini sandwiches for lunch. Christi got tuna, Eric and Pete had ham, and Shelley had chicken with mozzarella and tomato. Shelley asked for a side order of fries and the waitress told her no. After we finished the sandwiches, we got a couple crepes for dessert. Christi and Eric got apricot jam and Pete & Shelley got Nutella. When the waitress brought our check she was holding a plate laden with French fries that she gave to a man sitting behind us. We were laughing that this guy got fries but Shelley was denied. The man offered to share his fries with her. Turns out he is also from San Diego and here on a boat.

We headed back to Kosmos and changed into swim suits to go snorkeling. The guidebooks said there was a nice spot just a mile south of Kosmos. The snorkeling there was really nice. The coral covered a large area with a variety of depths, so it is a good spot for diving, too. Most of the coral formations were quite large, with a variety of shapes. It wasn’t super colorful, but there was some spots of color. There were a lot of fish and a lot of variety to the fish. We saw the biggest moray eel we have ever seen before. It is “Princess Bride” big. What saw a yellow Trumpetfish, which we saw in Fakarava and had mistaken for a flutemouth fish. We saw a couple of flutemouth fish, too. We saw lots of butterfly fish and lots of sergeant fish. There were a lot of what we think are angel fish but the guide calls cocher fish. We have seen tons of crocodile longtom close to the surface every time we have gone snorkeling. We saw lots of neon lipped clams, which we had not seen in Moorea or South Fakarava. We saw a napoleon fish, too. There were a few myripristis fish (aka dinner in South Fakarava), too. Unfortunately, most of the fish we saw are not included in the little guide.

After snorkeling, we headed back to the boat and made dinner, then headed back into town to go to the show. Here are Pete and Shelley lounging before dinner. You can see Bora Bora behind them.

Here is a closer shot of the necklace we bought from Jean-Paul. Unfortunately, you can’t see the design on the pearl.

We are not sure if the show was put on because he was in town or whether he came to town to see the show, but the President of French Polynesia was there. He was elected a year ago and prior to that was the mayor of Bora Bora. This is the third major dance production we have seen and may be the best of the three. According to the flier, the theme is Haroa (no clue what it means). Once again, we scored great seats. It opened with a speech in English, French and Tahitian about the importance of cultural identity. The opening act was a couple of singers singing a more modern tune walking around with a group of children. We’d never seen anything like that before. Then the dancing began. There were many costume changes, and while most too similar to what we have seen before, there were a few unique costumes. The dances looked to us like a variety show instead of an opera, but once again, since it was in Tahitian, we really don’t know. The dancing was fabulous, and seemed to be more overtly erotic than any of the other dancing we have seen. The audience was really into it, cheering for the dancers and going wild when the music sped up and the dancing started to become really fast. It was a fun crowd and a great show. At the end, a group of singers came out and sang the same song that was sang at the start of the show.