We left paradise five days ago… and somehow arrived in paradise².

After entering the pass—thankfully without any drama and only a surprisingly light current against us (we were about 40 minutes early, but got helpful info from another boat ahead)—we tied Akuna up at the town dock in Pouheva.

At 8:00am, I jumped into the clearest water we’ve seen on the entire trip so far. Within seconds, I was surrounded by an abundance of fish—more than I’d even seen diving in the Galápagos—and this was just off the town dock.
A couple of octopuses drifted casually past Moorish idols and parrotfish, along with huge cornetfish and countless others.

Needless to say, the Gambiers had already been the best snorkeling of my life… but somehow, just a few weeks later, Makemo said „hold my coconut!“.

The water feels like a bathtub, and being tied to the dock meant the boys spent the rest of the day jumping in, simply enjoying the luxury of being able to leave the boat as they pleased.

We were soon greeted by fellow sailors from Blu and Bonnie Doon, and after a relaxed lunch together, it wasn’t long before the local kids climbed aboard after school and the lollie-stock was raided.

Later, we did the „right thing“: a visit to the mairie (town hall) to check in and pay the local rubbish fee—120 XPF (about €1) for all of us and the boat, which feels like a bargain for what is essentially a private marina berth. We also stopped by the local gendarmerie. While not strictly required, the officer in the Gambiers had told us it’s simply polite and „the right thing“ to do. Mark had a friendly chat, they logged our details, and it was clear they appreciated the gesture.

We tried to go out for dinner, but unfortunately the restaurants were closed—so we’ll try again tonight.
Probably not the worst outcome, since I was barely conscious by 6:00pm after being up since 1:00am.

So much has happened today already that it really deserves its own blog post, which I’ll try to write soon.

All I can say for now is this: we came to Makemo almost by accident… but now that we’re here, I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to leave!