Whale Hello There! Swimming with Humpbacks in French Polynesia
Why French Polynesia?
When I first started looking into ideas for my year off, I came across videos on instagram of people swimming with humpback whales off the island of Mo'orea in French Polynesia. First, I had to look up where that was, and second it looked AMAZING and I knew that it was something I needed to do someday. If you have seen the movie Moana, it is based on a lot of Polynesian culture and stories. I started following a photographer who ran small group trips to swim with whales in French Polynesia (her name is Kelsey Williamson). If you love underwater photography, whales, or marine life, you totally need to follow her instagram account. Back in the spring, I saw Kelsey post that there was one opening left on her whale trip with Wander Out Expeditions for the first week of September, so I took that as my sign to go! I reached out and secured my spot. All the underwater pictures of whales you will see in this post were taken by her!
Boston ➡️ L.A. ➡️ Tahiti
Polynesia is a section of the South Pacific that contains about 1000 islands. French Polynesia is a collection of about 100 islands in the South Pacific. There are five archipelagos named the Society Islands, Marquesas Islands, Tuamotu Archipelago, Gambier Islands, and Austral Islands. Tahiti is the largest island in the Society archipelago, and the capital is Papeete. This is where I would be flying into, and then I would need to get to a smaller island, Mo'orea by ferry! The flight from Boston to L.A. was about 6 hours, with a 2 hour layover in L.A., and the next flight to Tahiti was about 8 hours. This is the longest amount of time I have ever been on a plane. I tried to sleep, but was not very successful and maybe got 2 hours of sleep. I watched some movies and enjoyed my dinner on the plane. I actually love airplane food so this is always fun for me. Also, the flight attendants started out in regular outfits, but about one hour into our flight, they changed into beautiful and colorful floral dresses! Then we landed and they were back into their regular outfits. I have no idea when (or where?) they changed. In those tiny bathrooms? Maybe I imagined it. 🤣 Announcements were made mostly in French, some Tahitian, and English. I tried to listen and understand the French, and I recognized a few words here and there.
Tahiti
La ora na (hello) Tahiti! My first day in paradise! We landed very early in the morning (5 AM!) and were greeted with live Polynesian music. The line for immigration was really long. They only had two people working and about 300 people needed to get through. You should be prepared to answer questions about why you are here, when you are leaving the country, and addresses of the locations you are staying at. I recommend taking screenshots of this information so you can show them on your phone if they ask. On the plane they gave us paperwork to fill out for immigration and customs, which I recommend doing on the plane. Some people did not realize this and got all the way up to immigration counter and then had to be sent back in line to fill out the paperwork. This process took a long time, almost two hours to get through. I highly recommend using the bathroom before getting in this line! After that, we went through customs, and there was a dog that would smell your luggage looking for fresh fruits and seeds which are not allowed into the country. I had some zucchini bread that I brought with me which was almost confiscated, but after explaining that it was baked I was able to keep it!
I decided to chill at the airport for a couple hours, get some breakfast and think about my plan for the day. I wanted to check out the market in Papeete, so I got a taxi and was dropped downtown. There is no Uber or Lyft here, it is traditional taxis. The taxis are very expensive here! I ended up spending about $30 on this first ride and I had only brought $100 cash with me. If you are planning to come here and you are not renting a car, make sure you set aside cash for taxis! Most people seemed to communicate with the taxi drivers through Whats App, but obviously I hadn't met any taxi drivers yet. There was a taxi app that you could use called Tāpe'a, but I never used that. The main language spoken here is French or Tahitian, but most people do know some English. Luckily I knew a bit of French so I could communicate a bit and read signs. There are lockers to store luggage at the airport, so if you do need to store items while you explore the area, you can pay for a locker. I decided to take all my stuff with me, but it was a lot to carry especially if you are planning on walking.
I made it to the market area and walked around for a bit to check out all of the vendors. There was a lot of fresh fruits, jewelry, and clothing. I did not purchase anything, but it was really interesting to see what everyone was selling. I decided to walk around by the pier, which was very nice. You could look over the edge and see coral reefs and beautiful fish swimming around. After that, I walked to the Hilton Hotel and purchased a day pass. A day pass lets you use their pool, showers, wifi, and lounge areas even if you are not a guest at the hotel. This was about $150 and included a $50 meal voucher. I was able to store my luggage, cool off in the pool, and take a much needed nap on the lounge chairs. I was so glad I did this instead of walking around all day! I had a pina colada and grilled duck with roasted potatoes for lunch!
It was then time to head to my Air B and B in Fa'a. This was really tricky because I had no cell service and was not sure how to call a taxi (and I wanted to save money), so I decided to walk all the way back to the airport and catch a taxi from the airport. This was not my best idea and I walked through some sketchy areas with all my luggage. There are a lot of stray dogs here, most of which are friendly, but a few were very aggressive and chased me down the street. I had to turn around and yell to scare the dogs off. A few questionable people came up to me and tried to talk to me, but I just smiled said goodbye in french and kept walking. There are also a lot of chickens and stray cats! I was very sweaty, tired, and anxious BUT I made it back to the airport. I probably should have just asked the hotel to help me get a taxi, but I did not realize that the walk would be this long. Back at the airport, I was able to get a taxi and get to my Air B and B. The lady could not drive me all the way because it was up a big hill, so she dropped me off and I had to walk the rest of the way. I did not really research where my Air B and B was in relation to the downtown area, but it was pretty far away from everything, including grocery stores. Looking back, I wish I just stayed at a hotel closer to the downtown area, but you live and you learn.
I got inside my room, and felt so relieved! I could not wait to shower and lie down. I was so tired from walking and carrying all my luggage! My bedroom had air conditioning which was a blessing. The view of the island Mo'orea from the balcony was beautiful and got me even more excited about my trip! The next day I did not leave my Air B and B because 1. I was so tired, 2. I didn't want to pay for another taxi, and 3. I was a little nervous about walking around alone. So, I ended up sleeping almost the whole day which was honestly what my body needed. The host had left some eggs in the fridge which she said I could eat and I had packed lots of snacks, so I just ate those things! Looking back, I probably should have grabbed some food while I was downtown, but I didn't know how isolated I would be. There are also some places in Tahiti that you cannot drink the tap water, so it is good to have a couple bottles of water with you just in case. Luckily, the water at this Air B and B was ok to drink.
Tahiti ➡️ Mo'orea
Time to take the ferry to Mo'orea! The word Mo'orea means "yellow lizard" in Tahitian, and the shape of the island looks like a lizard footprint.
I woke up really early and left the Air B and B around 7 AM. I wanted to leave early because the Sun was not really out yet so it would make walking much cooler! Again, I had no idea how to call a taxi so I walked all the way to the airport and planned on getting a taxi there. This walk was better because it was on a main road and there were sidewalks the whole time! I didn't really run into any problems this time, but I was very sweaty and hot! I got to the airport, purchased the biggest bottle of cold water I could find, and drank the entire thing in about five minutes. I do not recommend walking around like I did and wish I had figured out how to call taxis beforehand. I ended up getting chicken nuggets at McDonalds for lunch and a big cold Coca Cola. I took more cash out at the ATM, then got a taxi to the ferry and boarded the ferry to Mo'orea. To buy tickets for the ferry, you go to the little office at the terminal and purchase your ticket. There were two different ferry companies so you should be able to find a time that works for you, I went with Aremiti. You should make sure to be there about 30 minutes before your departure to get a ticket, sometimes they do sell out. They put your bags in these big carts so you don't have to lug them around. This was about an hour ride. The ride was beautiful and the water was SO BLUE! We were greeted at the ferry by Kelsey with a sign that said Wander Out Expeditions! We all gathered and got in our taxi and headed to our bungalow for the week. One of the reasons I booked this trip was because all meals, accommodations, 4.5 days of whale excursions, mask and fins, a tour of the island, professional photographs, and transport to and from the ferry were all included! It was so nice to have someone else take care of these details! We arrived at our accommodation which was near the airport. This place felt like luxury. We had two little houses, each with three bedrooms, a shared kitchen, a mini pool, and a porch. We were right on the beach so we could go for a walk or look for whales. 🐋
A delicious charcuterie board was waiting for us and we all snacked and chatted. We ended up seeing a few whales right from the porch. We all settled into our rooms and relaxed for a few hours before dinner. Our group for the week consisted of two couples (Michael + Kelsey, and Matt + Ally), our tour leader Kelsey, and her assistant Barbara. For our first night together we had a traditional Polynesian meal. This included so many different foods that I had never tried. There was poisson cru (my favorite of the dishes), fafaru, poulet fafa, taro, po'e, and so many other foods. There was a fermented coconut cream that was really yummy on the grilled fish. Kelsey gifted us little waterproof bags with lip balm and toothpaste tablets! Kelsey then gave us a presentation which included information about the island, safety, and an overview of the week. We learned what to do in case of a shark sighting in the open ocean (not going to lie, this made me a little nervous). There are a lot of rules and regulations in place to make sure everyone is being safe and that we are respecting the whales. There is no scuba diving or free diving allowed with the whales, only 7 people are allowed in a group in the water, you must wear a life jacket or a wetsuit, only three boats allowed per whale to minimize the amount of people in the water, boats must stay 100 meters away from whales (150 meters if it is a mom and baby), and you are not allowed to chase a whale if it is swimming away. Basically, you are going in the ocean hoping that the whale chooses to interact with you, you do not force yourself on the whales. In Mo'orea, there are two bay areas, one is called Cook's Bay and the other is called Opunohu Bay. If the whales are in these bays or the shallow lagoon area you are not allowed to swim with them. We learned that is difficult to get permits for this, and the guides have to pass a swimming test. You can't just show up to French Polynesia with a boat and start running these trips, it takes a lot of organization. When it comes down to it, everyone is trying to respect the whales and make sure everything is done appropriately and ethically. We went to bed feeling excited for our first day on the water.
First Day on the Boat
We woke up around 5:30, ate breakfast, and packed our bags for the day. I brought a dry bag and I usually packed a sweatshirt, long sleeve dry fit shirt, towel, sunscreen, hat, sunglasses, wetsuit, a couple snacks and two water bottles. I highly recommend covering up while you are on the boat because you will be in the sun A LOT! Many people opted to wear a neck gater and pull it up over their cheeks to protect their face.
We had the same boat captain (Mitchy) and guide (Temoana - his name means "the ocean!") for the whole week which was awesome! We really got to know them and it was nice to be on the same boat every day. Mo'orea is surrounded by reefs, which have created a shallow lagoon that has several natural passes created from the mountain runoff. The lagoon provides shelter for many marine animals and excellent snorkeling. This is one of the reasons the whales come here to have their babies. The water in the lagoon is such a beautiful teal color, it felt fake. We often would see turtles, sharks, rays, and dolphins here in the lagoon on our way out. Temoana explained that before we leave the lagoon and cross through the channel into the deep ocean, we stop the boat and do a blessing. We gathered fallen flowers to give as offerings. When we did the blessing, we all thought about our hopes for the day and thanked the ocean for whatever she may bring. I really enjoyed this tradition and felt connected to the ocean each time we did this. They also gave us a traditional Polynesian braided rope made of leaves to wear around our necks for the first day. We also got a warm chocolate croissant!
Once we made it out of the lagoon, we started driving all around the island, looking for signs of humpback whales. To find them, you look for the "blows" which is when they come up for air. You see what looks like a puff of steam come out. On a calm day, which we were very lucky to have, you can usually see these from very far away. Our captain and guide also would communicate with other boats to see what else was in the area. When you do find a whale, you first start by observing the whale to watch its behavior. We would time how long they stayed underwater between breaths. If the whales moved too quickly, that meant it was probably leaving the area, and we would go and look for a different whale. We saw several whales from the boat, but none of them felt right to go swimming with just yet. The guides here take their jobs very seriously and always make sure to follow the laws and to make sure we are not disturbing the whales. I loved that we were not forcing the interactions and waiting for the right moments. We also saw a lot of flying fish! I did not realize how far these fish can glide in the air, I am talking like a football field distance. Watching for them was really fun and I got excited every time I saw one!
We finally found a whale that our guide felt comfortable letting us get into the water with. We put on our wetsuits, fins, snorkels and masks and got ready to jump in. The anticipation of the first "drop" was crazy! My heart was pounding out of my chest. When you swim with the whales, the boats are not allowed to be within 100 meters of the whales, so you have to park the boat and then swim in the open ocean towards where you think the whale will be. So Temoana told us it was time, and we dropped in the water. Swimming in the open ocean was challenging because you are excited to see the whale, looking around for sharks, fighting the current and waves, breathing through a snorkel, all while trying to stay quiet and keep up with people who do this every day! The best way to stay quiet was to swim sideways so your fins stayed under the surface of the water. I thought I was a strong swimmer but Kelsey and Temoana made me feel so out of shape! They are so fast! We got to our spot where we thought the whale would be surfacing next and waited. We could barely make out the whales, but there were two down there sleeping and facing each other. All of a sudden out of the deep, we started to see the outline of a figure. One of the whales was coming up for air! We were all so locked in watching this whale that we didn't even notice the second whale until it almost swam into us! I really cannot describe how it felt to be in the presence of an animal this large. It was so close and so graceful! I looked at the whales as they swam by, and tried to soak it all in.
The whales swam away and then the boat came over to pick us up, and we did this process for the rest of the day! We saw a few more, and one of the whales even gave us a big tail slap. We ate lunch on the boat every day, and all the lunches were prepared by a local woman and they were SO delicious. Today's lunch was a poke bowl with quinoa and banana bread. All the meals usually had a fish portion, some kind of salad or side dish, and a dessert! The food was so fresh and I was always hungry from all the swimming! I did not realize how much I enjoyed eating fresh fish until this trip. Most of it was served raw or only partially cooked and at first I was worried, but I grew to love it, and I honestly crave it now that I am home. It felt so light in my stomach and healthy! 🐠
Our first day on the ocean was over, and we went back to our house for the night. We stopped at the store to grab some snacks for the week, I got popcorn, pickles, Oreos and nuts. We had about 3 hours of downtime before dinner, so I showered and took a nap! I did not realize how tiring it would be swimming all day. We had dinner together which was was chicken with rice and spring rolls! Another amazing meal! It was so nice to chat with the other people on the tour and get to know each other. There were a few cats around, and they really wanted some chicken, but we had to shoo them away. Now that I knew what to expect, I could not wait to wake up and do it again the next day!
Facts I learned about whales today!
They sleep for 15-20 minutes cycles and come up for air between cycles.
Mom and baby are followed by an "escort" male who is looking to mate.
Females are pregnant for about 11 months.
The whales do not eat while they are in Mo'orea having babies and breeding. They go about 3 months without food when the migrate here! This was shocking to me.
Southern Humpback Whales have more white on their bellies than the Northern Humpback Whales you would see in New England.
Male humpback whales do the songs, the females do not. The males are usually alone when singing.
Stingray & Shark Lagoon
This day was so busy! I had some yogurt and granola for breakfast. We realized that ants get into everything after my granola started to crawl. So be aware if you come here, you will probably have ants in your food at some point! There really is not anything you can do about it other than keeping things tightly sealed or in the fridge.
This day we started closer to the lagoon and we visited a spot to swim with black tipped reef sharks and stingrays. 🦈 This was really fun and reminded me of when I swam with stingrays in the Cayman Islands. The water here was about 5 feet deep so I could stand up. Kelsey also took some photos of us underwater with the sharks and rays. I've never been this close to sharks in the water before, but I was not nervous because they were small.
When we headed back out to the deeper waters, we saw so many whales and were constantly in and out of the boat. We got to see a group of five whales and about 15-20 rough toothed dolphins playing with the whales. The whales were rolling around and swimming upside down at some points. It was magical! We followed this group for about four hours. I don't usually get sea-sick, but on this day I felt very nauseous by the end. I couldn't tell if I was actually sea sick or feeling that way from constantly getting off and on the boat, or swallowing sea water a few times. I sat out of the last drop of the day to try and get my stomach right. There was also rumors of a White Tipped Atlantic Shark in the water, so I decided to play it safe. They did not end up seeing the shark, but I was a little nervous about it. The guides never pressured you to get into the water if you are feeling nervous or need a break! We were all very tired after this day, but it was worth it to see so many whales! At the end of the day we stopped by a coral reef garden area where we got to snorkel for about an hour. This was a really nice way to end the day, and I got to see so many colorful fish and corals. We had pizza tonight for dinner and it was so yummy!
High Seas & Open Ocean
Today we had a slower day on the water, we only dropped in once. Remember, you never know what you are going to get so you have to stay positive. This is why I am glad I did a trip that include five boat days. We did spot a rare whale, which we think was a Beaked Whale. It was also a bit windier today and the waves were crazy high! I decided to take sea sick pills today to prevent the nausea from yesterday! I was really glad I took the sea sickness medication for this day. I've never experienced rolling waves on the open ocean like this until this trip! It was beautiful but also a little scary to be in a tiny boat miles away from shore! The larger waves also made it more difficult to spot the whales.
Island Tour
Today we did a half day on the boat in the morning, and then we did a tour of the island in the afternoon. It was another slower morning with the whales, we only did one drop and saw one whale. After lunch we got a tour of the island. Kelsey brought the girls flower crowns to wear which was so sweet. We stopped at the Rotui Juice Factory to taste some juices, some of which had rum in them! They were all so fruity and sweet. I lost track of how many we tried. Here I decided to purchase a set of rum samples for my family, and a bag of loose leaf tea! We also went to a viewpoint to see some of the mountain peaks on the island. There is Mou'aputa which means pierced mountain (it has a hole on the top), Mount Rotui, and the tallest peak is called Mount Tohivea. The views were really beautiful and we took some awesome pictures with our flower crowns. We ended the night with dinner on the water at Cook's Bay Hotel. We saw an octopus while waiting for dinner and learned that we do not like licorice flavored shrimp. I had a yummy pork chop with potatoes and carrots. We were all sad that tomorrow would be our last day on the water!
Dolphins, Sperm Whales & Stargazing
Our last day on the water did not disappoint. This day was just as busy as our second day! We saw so many whales each time we dropped. Many times there were rough toothed dolphins that were swimming and playing with the whales. Dolphins would swim by us so quickly it felt like they were going to bump into us! You could hear the dolphins making clicking sounds. I forget which day it was, but we did get to hear a whale sing, we called this "a singer," and you could feel the vibrations of the sounds it was making in your body. So cool! We saw a lot of breaching behavior as well. When we stopped for lunch, which was a curry fish wrap with coleslaw and fig cake (so good!), our guides told us that there was a chance that we may be able to see a pod of sperm whales, which is very rare for this area. We all decided to try and go see them, and we DID! We found the pod of sperm whales, which had maybe 17 whales in it! It was amazing to watch them all surface and come for air. There were so many boats around, everyone had clearly heard the news! When they come up for air, their blows go sideways instead of straight up like the humpback whales. This made it easy to tell that they were sperm whales! The sperm whales dive very deep and swim very fast, so it was hard to get into the water with them, but after a few tries we were successful! We saw two sperm whales swim by us! Our guides were so excited and it was a very special and unique experience. It was a great way to end our last day on the water. Back at the docks, we did a champagne toast to celebrate the week, and we said goodbye to Mitchy and Temoana. If you do an excursion like this, don't forget to bring cash to tip your boat captain and guide! Dinner tonight was a chicken curry with sweet potatoes and tuna with lime juice. Two of Kelsey's friends came over for dinner and one taught us all about the stars. We went outside and learned about the navigator's triangle, found Maui's hook (which I learned is part of the Scorpio constellation), and he told us about the different zones of the sky and how he uses them to navigate on a boat! He says learning this skill takes many years and is very challenging, which I believe!
Mo'orea ➡️ Tahiti
Today we got to sleep in a bit since we were not going on the boat. I packed up my bags, we said our goodbyes and we were dropped at the ferry. For my final night in Tahiti, I stayed at another Air B and B, and my host was so sweet! Her name was Menia, and she picked me up from the ferry, brought me dinner, and even took me to the airport the next day. This was so nice and she saved me probably $60 on taxis! Her daughter also brought me fresh cantaloupe for breakfast. It was so lovely and she made me feel so welcome! I spent a lot of this day resting and talking to my sisters on the phone about my experience!
Tahiti ➡️ Boston
Menia dropped me at the airport and I treated myself to a nice dinner at L'Aviation in the airport before getting on on my flight! I had a big poke bowl and ice cream! Leaving the airport, the security line did take a while, they only had one line and one machine to check scan bags. Everyone had to take all the liquids out of our bags and open everything up which slowed us all down. Make sure to have your liquids all together in one place for easy access and get in the security line earlier than you usually would! Overall I loved my time here in French Polynesia and Mo'orea and I would 100% come back and do it all again! It made me want to do more snorkeling and tropical trips this year!
Nana (goodbye) Tahiti!
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