Wednesday 9 June Drift diving

Our reason for coming to Fakarava north was to dive. This morning we went on a guided dive to do the incoming tide through the pass at the north end of Fakarava and then to drift through coral canyons. Friends who have done it say it is one of the best dives they've ever done. It was good, dropping onto 25 – 30 reef & grey sharks hanging in the current at 30m and then drifting up over the coral through gulleys and canyons until we stopped in a protected hollow and another group of 20 sharks were with us. It was Shark City. A good dive and a good dive operation.

A second attraction of the anchorage is the bakery. We are just 200m from an excellent boulangerie. The bread is so good they are sold out by 7.30am. Our alarm went off at 6.40am, we dinghied up to the beach and strolled over to fill our bag with baguettes, croissants and pain raisin. Yummy.



A third attraction of Fakarava are the black pearl farms. The Tuamotus is the only area where they are produced. They're all cultured, not the rare wild ones, and are only produced by one species of black oyster. We went on a tour of German immigrant Gunther's farm this afternoon to see how cultured pearls are grown and I ended up with a single stone pendant. Many of our friends have had intricate Polynesian tattoos as souvenirs of their visit here. I'd prefer my pearl – far less painful.