Plastic in the Pacific Crusade – Part 27.2 – Huahine

by Ian Thomson on 1 May 2016 One item we did manage to get done in Huahine was Annika introduced the kids to diving. They can only go to 2m, but they both got into it so much. They were natural divers and they wanted more and more. Joakim finished his open water dive certification.

I took Maja for a night dive to see the reef come alive with flat head lobsters, scorpion fish and sleeping parrot fish in their little cocoon they create to sleep in. Night diving is a real favorite of mine, and our dive torches from LED Dive Lights Australia really light up the water. Annika says she could do the surface watch from the big boat as the lights lit up the water for a huge area. They certainly did a great job under the water.

Now there was one thing that did spoil our stay in Huahine on this occasion - a superyacht called Vantage. We had seen it in Tahiti . It is just a big Sunseeker-like yacht and for my liking, nothing flash. NB: I hate stink boats. Well they came and anchored off Mt Teapaa, just off to the side of our sunset view.

No issues there. However they have this 40ft black luxury speedboat that follows it and with two of the crew in it, they cruise around at high speed throwing up a huge wake through the moorings. It’s not a very efficient boat through the water. We had our stern port holes open as we were making water. The wake put a fair amount of water in the back of our boat. Needless to say, I was not happy so I went and had a chat to them.

They are meant to be professional, but the crewmember driving had no idea. The fact the hostess who was on the boat was almost laughing didn’t impress me. Well this is not the worst part of this story. They have a boat that follows them called Ad-Vantage. It is the toybox, bigger than the first boat, which is probably 140ft. It looks like a navy ship and is loaded with all the wakeboard boats, jetskis and even a Submarine.

Well they are so arrogant, they anchor right in front of the sunset for the three small yachts on the moorings. They had so much water to anchor in and they park in a spot that spoils our sunset view. With their gensets running and making a whole heap of noise it was pretty annoying. Sometimes I think the rich just don’t have any morals.

However this is a crew thing and their crew should have a bit of respect for other water users. They’d hate it done to them with their rich clients or owners so why do it to smaller boats. Rant over.

Let’s not leave you with a sour note. All in all, Huahine is a beautiful place. The locals really care about you as a visitor and the guy who owns Mt Teapaa says they want to use his land for a huge resort and marina on the north side, but he likes to keep it natural and have the few smaller boats visit, like us. It is better for his land and they are the people who buy his necklaces and actually talk to him.

Sometimes life is meant to be simple and for him, he liked it simple. Paddle from home to his beach every morning, clean the beach, collect a few star fruit, crack a few coconuts for visitors, sell a few necklaces, show a few people the walks and then paddle home. What a life!

We spent two days in Huahine just chilling out and snorkeling. The kids loved the water, for it seemed to energise them. However, we needed to keep moving and getting away from the super yachts was on the agenda. In our next edition we head back to Raiatea and Tahaa with the family.

Ocean Crusaders are out to change the way people treat our oceans. Our online education program is free to download at Ocean Crusaders website where children can learn of the issues our oceans are facing and how they can make a difference. The Plastic in the Pacific Crusade is about educating the South Pacific Islands, finding out what is happening in these islands and updating our programs.

Ocean Crusaders Plastic in the Pacific Crusade is proudly supported by: Cressi Dive Gear, Gill Marine, Keen Footwear Australia, Barz Optics Sunglasses, Maxsea Navigation Software, Digital Diver Cairns, LED Dive Lights Australia, Boat Names Australia, Predictwind Weather & Sail-world.com