We woke up early and packed our bags in the car, then headed to a marina on the northern aspect of the island, where we were picked up by our guides from The Native Expedition for a full day excursion on the seas and reefs around Moore'a. Tuteahu (our main guide) and Vetearii (our boat captain) took us on an adventure around Moore'a we will never forget.

We saw a hammerhead shark, which I caught on video (safely from the boat, with hand over the side of the boat and GoPro in the water:

The absolute highlight was swimming with humpback whales. These giants are important spiritual symbols for Polynesians. They return every every year to give birth and breed in their immense Polynesian sanctuary during the austral winter, after feeding for months in Antarctic waters. After tracking some traveling whales (they were all over, around the circumference of the island), we jumped into the water with Tuteahu where we were immediately greeted by two adolescent humpback whales. I only got the end of the encounter on video but it was simply amazing. We swam with two additional large whales a bit later, but they were more shy and tougher to see as they swam below us and in the distance.

We also came accross a small pod of rough-toothed dolphins.

The professional photographer on the boat with the fancy equipment and underwater camera housing got some better shots:)

We made our way to the lagoon for lunch.

We anchored the boat, ate, and did a little snorkeling.

Seth caught his first glimpse of a shark while snorkeling.

Finally, we headed to the pass near Motu Fareone to see the eagle rays and green sea turtles.

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After an epic day we headed back to the marina satisfied and tired. We made our way with our bags to our new digs at the luxurious Sofitel resort. 

The hotel puts on a celebratory cultural presentation every Saturday night. The fire dance wads pretty cool.