We Arrive in Avea Bay

Avea Bay, my favorite, is quiet even on Huahine, the "anti-Bora Bora" of the Leeward Islands. Huahine has few tourist facilities and few resorts, so just doesn't cater to the tourist trade as does Bora Bora. That makes the island special to me. One must navigate a long, and at times difficult, passage through the lagoon to reach it, including a hair-raising 1/2 mile through very shallow water. There are now moorings that have been placed near the reef since they're trying to regrow their coral.

A father has his young daughter on the bow of his standup paddleboard.

Cocktail in hand, we watched the sun drop into the South Pacific from the cockpit. Transient scenes like this are why we're here. Note the light on the inner bouy at left.

The delineation between the deeper and reef water is clear. The shallow reef creates a color that's hard to believe is real.

On our second night, I snapped this photo of the sunset. That orange I've never seen anywhere else.

One of Lovley Conni's favorite pastimes is spying on our neighboring boats. They're from all over the world, the crews are yound and old, but they all ended up in this tiny bay.

This photo also shows that deeper/shallower divide, but not as clearly as the first.

The surf has been pounding the reef here for millions of years, the eternal struggle between the sea and the land. The surf roar is audible as a background sound all day, every day. In years past, we've seen wrecked sailboats lying on their sides on this reef, a sad testament to a dream's end.