Rangiroa: French Polynesian Paradise
Drift Snorkeling on Rangiroa
I don’t dive, but I do snorkel. And wow, the snorkeling on Rangiroa was amazing. Even just snorkeling off our beach was interesting. But the coolest thing I did was a drift snorkel tour. In fact it was so extraordinary, I went again and brought Luna and Frank.
A drift snorkel is when you get in the water in one place and the current carries you somewhere else. You don’t fight the current, just drift with it while the boat follows.
Rangiroa has amazing drift snorkeling (and diving) because every time the tide changes, the water flows through the narrow channels between the motus. This is a lot of water moving through a small passage which causes a very strong current.
Some fish get caught in the current, and others are attracted because they think those fish are tasty. And the current carries nutrients to feed all sorts of interesting sea creatures.
On our drift snorkel, our boat went out to the ocean side of the channel when the current was running into the lagoon. We jumped in and floated, with a local guide helping us navigate. The water carried us through the channel and in about 15 minutes we were in a calm coral garden teeming with fish.
As we drifted past, I saw sharks and other large fish below us. We saw a huge bait ball of hundreds of silvery fish, and lots of varieties of corals. Our boat captain followed along and picked us up once we reached the calm “aquarium”.
Then we drove back out to the ocean side and jumped back in. The drift snorkels were really thrilling. There was so much to see, and the feeling that the ocean was just carrying us along was both scary and invigorating. I really felt like this was a bucket-list experience that I never knew to put on my bucket list before.
We booked our drift snorkel tours with the Kia Ora activities desk after we arrived at the resort. The boats picked us up at the resort dock and the boat ride to the channel was literally less than ten minutes long.
Some of our fellow snorkelers were brave novices who wore life vests and held on to the guide’s buoy the entire time. So don’t feel like you need to be an expert to do the drift snorkel. You just need to be curious and courageous.
And make sure you bring an underwater camera.
What to Bring to Rangiroa
There are a few things I suggest to bring along to make your trip better. If you’re traveling to Rangiroa for your honeymoon, consider adding these to your wedding registry.
Click here to see my wedding gift guide for Bora Bora honeymooners.
Bring This to Rangiroa: Underwater Camera
For this trip, I brought my new Fujifilm XP130 waterproof camera. It was perfect for capturing all my adventures, both in and out of the water.
I highly recommend that you bring a real camera on this trip, rather than just your phone. There are so many amazing things to see and you’ll want to preserve these memories. If you mostly just want to shoot in the water, a Go-Pro is another option that will really capture the experience of your drift snorkel.
View Fujifilm XP130 on Amazon here.
