Raroia Tuamotus French Polynesia May 2023

After a speedy 3-day, 450-nautical-mile passage from Nuka Hiva, we arrived in Raroia in the Tuamotus Islands, previously known as the ‘Dangerous Archipelago.’ Raroia is the atoll where the raft Kon-Tiki completed its epic voyage from Easter Island in 1947. Unlike the Kon-Tiki, which crashed onto the perimeter reef of the atoll, we had to carefully navigate a narrow, fast-flowing pass while also dodging uncharted ‘bommies,’ or vast heads of submerged reefs.

Once safely inside the lagoon, we joined our friends aboard Wild Thing 2, Cinnamon, and Miles Away at an idyllic anchorage in the north of the atoll, with crystal-clear water and coconut palm-fringed shores. Our arrival was timed to coincide with Jamie Wild Thing’s 9th birthday party, ashore at the Twin Palms Yacht Club. Team games and a treasure hunt were followed by lots of cake – a superb welcome to a spectacular island with fabulous friends.

We spent a week in Raroia: snorkeling among the bommies, collecting coconuts, stand-up paddleboarding (SUP), flying our drone, swimming with sharks and manta rays, racing the boys around the anchorage on a ‘doughnut,’ attempting to learn how to foil board, and occasionally squeezing in a bit of school!