As mentioned in an earlier post, Raiatea is part of the Leeward Islands group, which is a part of French Polynesia. The unique thing about Raiatea, and its sister island, Taha’a, is that the two islands are surrounded by a single massive coral reef. In fact, our ship had to navigate through a narrow opening in the reef, to get to the pier. There was a welcome contingency that met us, playing their local music and dressed in traditional Maori clothing. They also gave each person a small gardenia flower. So sweet!

Raiatea is considered the cultural center of Polynesia and where many of the immigrants to Hawaii came from. At just 65 sq miles, Raiatea is considered the second largest island in the archipelago, after Tahiti. With a population of 12,000, its main industry is agriculture; mostly vanilla, pineapple and coconut. Tourism and pearl farming are also important to the economy.
Today we boarded an outrigger boat for a 20-minute ride to the sister island Taha’a. Our outrigger captain was born and lives on the island of 5000 inhabitants. He played a ukelele type instrument for us on the ride over, singing traditional songs. The ride was very pleasant and the waters were gorgeous, making the journey pass quickly

Once to Taha’a, we boarded jeeps to drive around the island. Our first stop was a Black Pearl farm where we learned how pearls are propagated using seed pearls made from shells from the Mississippi River. The seed pearls are then delicately placed inside the sack of a special oyster where the white seed shell is encapsulated with a new cover by the oyster, giving it a unique coloring. They propagate thousands of oysters a year, resulting in round, tear drop and oval shaped pearls, and in different shades of “black” with hints of gray, blue and purple. As with gems, the pearls are rated for size, clarity of color and perfection. It was quite fascinating.

Next, we visited a vanilla plantation and learned about the process of growing vanilla beans. Again, propagation is the name of the game as the vanilla vines are planted along with an orchid and palm tree. The vanilla vine only blooms for one day, making the manual pollination very labor intensive. The resulting beans are harvested when ripe, cured and dried. Polynesia is the largest producer of vanilla, after Madagascar.

We enjoyed fresh fruit at a lookout, before returning to the outrigger for a ride out to a moto for some snorkeling. We dropped anchor on the sand and clamored in to the clear water. The corals and fishes were so bright and we wish we had brought our water safe pouch for the iPhone so we could catch some photos. This was a Princess tour and it was a very enjoyable one!

Back on Raiatea, we enjoyed lunch along the pier at La Raie`Gate and afterwards, strolled around the town.

Tomorrow: Moorea, French Polynesia