Uh oh, it's time for another PG-Trivia Item:

Ever wonder why every PG itinerary which features Rangiroa (in the Tuamotu Archipelago) stays there overnight?

Didn't notice, eh?
(go ahead, pull out the brochure, I'll wait...)

OK.

After all Rangiroa is a huge, mostly deserted atoll, with only two "villages" (and that's generous) on either side of the Tiputa inlet.
Oh, and a small airstrip.
Makes Vaitape in Bora look like Los Angeles.
(ok, thankfully not really)
As a touristy cruise stop, Rangiroa hardly rates,
unless you ask Leeanne, because she just said the diving's great. In fact, the one non-aquatic excursion (the vineyard) will have you pining for some Gallo Bros. You've been warned.

So I asked Capt. Zupan.

Answer: The PG can only transit the Tiputa inlet at slack tide. Other times, as Leeanne can surely attest first hand, the inflow or outflow current makes it impractical. And this despite the fact that at these latitudes, tides as we know them are hardly noticeable. It's just that the atoll, being so huge, encloses so much water that's gotta flush...

I still recommend stopping at Rangiroa because it's really interesting to see people living at elevations of 2ft above sea level. Without any obvious source of fresh water. See it while its still there. As Greenland & the Arctic melt away, Rangiroa will be as much a memory as the touristy Alaskan glaciers...

--PGJunkie
(3 x 7-night Society (2000, 2002, 2005))
(1 x 11-night Marquesas (Dec 2006))