Strangers had become friends by our last evening together.
We anchored frequently to swim and snorkel.
Everyone wanted a selfie with the aquamarine background.
We spent a night anchored in Bora Bora’s iconic lagoon.
Taro and Tahitian vanilla ice cream was one of the onboard culinary treats.
Swimming with the sharks was one of the included “fun” activities.
Our catamaran anchored for many swim stops.
The cabins are small, but very comfortable.
Each meal featured delicious tropical fruits. Tahitian raw fish was another specialty.
Just typing the headline makes us feel like part of the 1 percent, but the truth is that you can really take a yacht trip in French Polynesia if you plan for it carefully and aren’t a billionaire. We got a very fair price through Dream Yacht Charter for their 7-day, 12-person catamaran from Raiatea to Bora Bora with stops at Huahine and along the coasts of Taha’a and Raiatea. We had some reservations about booking a trip with 10 other unknown passengers, but it turned out to be a very friendly and interesting assortment of people. Our French isn’t great, but we wanted to improve so we were happy to be two of the three non-French speakers onboard this week. Instead of being excluded, we felt very welcomed by our fellow passengers. A young French honeymooning couple from
Marseille were fluent in English and helped us immensely. Not only were they willing translators, they also were patient teachers
who corrected our French pronunciation gently and explained grammar points. The crew were Captain Wen and Nono and Vanille who all sang Tahitian songs and played the ukulele and guitar during the sails and in the evening adding to our idyllic life. After swimming with the sharks and stingrays with our fellow passengers, we bonded very easily. We now have new friends to see on future trips to France and you will too when you sail on a Dream Yacht Charter in paradise.
