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| Rangiroa Travel Guide Edit This The best resource for sights, hotels, restaurants, bars, what to do and see A small portion of Rangiroa as seen from the airplane A small portion of Rangiroa as seen from the airplane Vanessa DellaPasqua Rangiroa is a coral atoll in the Tuamotu Archipelago of French Polynesia. Although the land mass of the entire atoll is only 40 sq km, the lagoon it surrounds is the second largest in the world, behind Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands. At 1640 sq km in size, the lagoon could contain the entire island of Tahiti. Known for it's incredibly clear waters (60 foot plus "viz"), year-round warm waters, and abundant sea life, Rangiroa is a mecca for divers and snorkelers. Rangiroa is about an hour north of Tahiti by plane. The only inhabited part is an 10 km string of islets connected by a series of concrete bridges. There is also a luxury resort in the southern part of the atoll, accessible only by boat. The sleepy hamlet of Avatoru contains several high-end resorts, many small pensions and several scuba center centers. Tiputa, across the brilliantly named Tuputa pass from the eastern edge of Avatoru, is even quieter. The lagoon is absolutely gorgeous, with tons of fish. There are several scuba shops that operate on the atoll. The signature Rangiroa dive starts at a reef outside of the atoll, where you ride the current of the incoming tide through the Tiputa pass into the lagoon. On the way, you will see triggerfish, hammerhead sharks, barracuda, and 5 foot long mahi-mahi. Additionally, there is beautiful snorkeling if you're not scuba certified. Besides diving and snorkling, there are plenty of excursions by boat available from various small tour operators to various locations such as Les Sables Roses (Pink Sand Beach, the Reef Islands (a series of eery-looking coral spires reminiscent of the Trona Pinnacles in the southern California desert), and the Blue Lagoon, a large lagoon within a lagoon on the western edge of the atoll. Don't expect to find a TV, or at least not one receiving much of a signal. However, Rangiroa is home of the only internet access point in the entire Tuamotu archipelago! The locals are friendly and incredibly nice, and all together this is an atoll you should not miss if you plan to visit French Polynesia! __________Practical Information Edit This Rangiroa is in the tropics, so be sure to bring insect repellent. Most hotels will provide citronella candles as well. The tropical sun is pretty strong stuff, so a minimum of 30 SPF sunblock is recommended. There are two banks in Avatoru - Bank Socredo and Bank Tahiti. The only one that seems to work with American ATM cards is Banque Socredo. It also was open every time I tried it, contrary to what Lonely Planet's South Pacific guide book says. Luckily the two banks are right next to each other. For food, most of the Hotels and Pensions offer half-board (breakfast and dinner) with their room rates. There is a market about a km from the airport that has a pretty decent selection of food if you want to pick up stuff to take with you for lunch. __________Getting Around Edit This As Rangiroa has only two very sleepy towns - Avatoru and Tiputa - concentrated on a 10 km long stretch of islets in the northern part of the atoll, your choices for getting around aren't too complicated. Upon arrival at the airport, your host generally will meet you with a car at the airport. If you have a tour scheduled for the day, the tour operator will pick you up at your hotel/resort/pension. There are several water taxis that will take you from the Avatoru islets to Tiputa village. They allow you to take bikes across with you, so this is a good way to see more of the atoll. They advertise 1000 CFP for a trip across, 1500 CFP with a bike, but they sometimes waive the 500 CFP bike surcharge. Most of the resorts and pensions have bicycles for rent or loan, and this frankly is all you really need once you have made it to your resort. For the lazy, Europcar has gasoline-powered open air "fun cars" and compact cars available for rent. Several other locations such as the Kia Ora resort and a couple of roadside stands have scooters as well. Getting to locations other than the northern part of the atoll will require a boat. There are numerous tour operators that will be more than happy to take you to such locations as la Lagon Bleu (The Blue Lagoon), and Les Sables Roses (The Pink Sands) on the southern side of the atoll. ________Getting There Edit This Rangiroa is about 1 hour by plane north of Tahiti. There are flights daily from Papeete on Air Tahiti. It's difficult to make reservations from abroad, but Air Tahiti has a ticket counter at the airport in Papeete. There are also flights from some of the other nearby atolls, but they once or twice a week. ::::::::Avatoru Travel Guide Edit This The best resource for sights, hotels, restaurants, bars, what to do and see More a sleepy hamlet than a city, Avatoru is a series of islets connected by concrete bridges. It and neighboring Tiputu are the only populated areas of the Rangiroa atoll, aside from the boat-accessible-only resort across the large lagoon. Avatoru contains the airport, numerous small pensions (guesthouses), and a few resort hotels (only one major resort: Kia Ora), as well as a couple of dive shops and restaraunts. Tahitian and French are the main languages spoken throughout Rangiroa, including Avatoru. Avatoru is long and skinny, and has one paved road from end to end. It's fun to ride a bike and look at the lagoon on one side, the ocean on the other. The Rangiroa airport is on Avatoru. It is one room (no walls) and its security system consists of a TAPU sign to keep you from walking on the runway. It's fun to hang out there midday when the place is completely empty. Very refreshing if you're from a Western country that's security-mad nowadays. The graveyard is small, simple, and interesting if you like that sort of thing. Lots of coral and shells used. Lots of local history. Money: Bring money with you, as there's no guarantee the ATM will be working. It never was operational the whole three weeks I was there in July 2004. If you go during June-July-August, remember it's their winter and the sun goes down early. Avatoru has no "nightlife" other than what the locals are doing in their homes, what's being offered at the one resort (Kia Ora), or what the pension owners may be providing -- no movie theater, no bars or dance clubs, etc. This is NOT like being in Papeete! Don't go to Avatoru expecting anything other than entertaining yourself and meeting some extremely nice people in a simple and beautiful place. Toni Armstrong Jr., Chicago, IL - USA __________Sights Edit This More affordable and far less developed than the Society Islands (Tahiti, Bora Bora, Moorea), Avatoru it's simple and yet still part of the modern world. Absolutely beautiful for picture taking. If you are an underwater photographer, you should be able to get great shots of sharks and rays as well as the myriad other colorful tropical fish. In the lagoon, the sharks are harmless. (Avoid the temptation to go to the ocean side.) The coconut trees and blues of the lagoon will make beautiful pictures. Cyclones washed away most of the sand, so the lagoon beaches consist mostly of small pieces of coral. This will make for more textured and interesting photos; not so much like postcards. The little community graveyard is full of local history and makes good use of coral and shells. Simple and pretty. After sunset, there is very little ambient light because Avatoru is so tiny and undeveloped. The stars overhead on a clear night are absolutely spectacular. Read Michener's epic "Hawaii" to fill your head with the history of how the Polynesians navigated vast oceanic distances using stars as their guide. It's awe inspiring. Rangiroa is an atoll that is in old age, geologically speaking, and the ocean is reclaiming it... including Avatoru. You can clearly see the erosion from both the lagoon side and the ocean side. Some little bungalows are collapsing into the water, making for interesting shots. There are fissures in the reef. In perhaps another 100 years Avatoru will be uninhabitable. Go now while you still can. ____________Beaches Edit This Rangiroa is an atoll, and it's all about coral reefs rather than sandy beaches. Cyclones washed away much of the sand, but the views are still very beautiful and the lagoon colors are simply stunning. You can sit all day under the coconut trees on the coral beaches and feel you are in paradise if you just bring a towel or blanket. The lagoon water is warm and great for swimming. If you're looking for snorkeling or SCUBA diving, you've come to the right place. Avatoru has two passes that offer drift diving and great snorkeling in the lagoon right off any beach. (Bring water shoes as you'll be walking over coral pieces and rocks.) Locals advised me that you can swim in the lagoon with no fear of the many sharks and rays. However, they emphasized more than once that it is very dangerous to swim on the ocean side. (The exception is if you're an experienced SCUBA diver and you're doing a supervised drift dive in the pass.) I was in Avatoru for three weeks, snorkeled off the beach about every other day, and saw sharks and rays every time along with the expected schools of smaller colorful tropical fish. For a day trip, Lagon Bleu is spectacular, and you will see schools of baby sharks there. It takes about an hour to get by boat from Avatoru to Lagon Bleu. You can find out which boat owners are taking people by asking the owner of your pension (guesthouse). Lagon Vert is much smaller, but equally pretty. There's a "fish park" there where you can get up close and personal (swim) with large tame sharks, rays, etc. The owner of Pension Loyna (her name is Loyna) in Avatoru can hook you up with a way to get to the less-visited Lagon Vert. Toni Armstrong Jr., Chicago, IL - USA |