Rangiroa, whose name means ” vast sky”, is the biggest atoll of French Polynesia, but aside from two main villages, the rest of it is almost uninhabitable and remote. It has a string of rich coral encircling a luminous turquoise and jade-green lagoon and is considered one of the world’s greatest dive destinations. Insignia anchored in Rangiroa Lagoon and we tendered to a pier with nothing nearby but a string of local vendors selling crafts and t-shirts beneath a row of tents, still ten miles from the nearest of the two island villages.
We barely made it past the pier, when the tropical heat, the sunshine, and the sparkling blue water lulled us only as far as a nearby waterfront restaurant, where we settled in with friends from the ship to pass the day. So, our memories of Rangiroa, despite all of it’s alleged attractions, will be of a lazy afternoon with good company, cold local beer, and a leisurely lunch at a sandy beach cafe under a vast sky. Good enough for me.
