A New Journey Begins in Pape’ete Tahiti,French Polynesia

At the end of February 2022, we began another journey as we continue exploring and photographing the world by sea. We flew from the United States to Pape’ete, Tahiti where our first night was spent at the delightful Intercontinental Hotel near the Pape’ete airport before heading to the Ship the next morning for a nasal swab PCR COVID-19 test (a requirement before boarding). After being cleared, we enjoyed some truly outstanding reef snorkeling, with gorgeous corals in many colors and a variety of shapes and geometric patterns – one of the best coral displays now available in any ocean in the world, according to our international guide.

Another highlight was an underwater school of cornet fish (also known as flute mouths). The school of cornet fish ended up surrounding us after we swam through the horizontal “column” of fish. It was really stunning to see them just inches away from our face masks.

The Sea Eagle II, the world’s largest aluminum sailboat, was also docked in Pape’ete. With an overall length of 266 feet [81 meters] – almost the length of an American football field, SEA EAGLE II is the largest yacht built at Royal Huisman’s shipyard in Vollenhoven, Netherlands, and joins another Huisman build – Athena – in the top 10 ranking of the world’s largest sailing yachts. She is, by any measure, a head turning superyacht destined for greatness.