Surrounded By Sharks! Let’s Go Swim!

Adventure, Diving, French Polynesia, Sailing, Tuamotu, Videos

Surrounded By Sharks! Let’s Go Swim!

September 8, 2019

4.69k

Every time someone says anything is the “best in the world” I am immediately skeptical. But I can’t tell you how many articles and scuba sites I’ve seen that list Fakarava as the best diving in the world.

Sailing up to the pass, it looked like just another atoll in the Tuamotus. A skinny, low lying strip of land hugged by shades of blue. Beautiful, but nothing all that different from the atolls we’ve just come from.

But it didn’t take long to see just how different this atoll is.

We haven’t been to every country in the world, much less explored all the world’s oceans (but it’s on our list). So, we can’t say it’s the best in the world. But, spoiler alert…it is THE BEST DIVING we have ever experienced!

Fakarava is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and WOW, what a difference. We have never seen so much life concentrated into one area. It’s truly a magical world down there.

Grab a beverage and settle in for a little sailing, a little land exploration and a whole lot of our favorite underwater playground in all of French Polynesia.

I don’t want to keep gushing but this really is the stuff sailing dreams are made of. A beautiful anchorage, sandy beaches, clear water and fish by the thousands. Throw in high speed internet and we may have never left.

Stay tuned because next time we wait for the sun to go down before diving in. And oh baby do we see some sharks…sharks by the hundreds!

🙏 MADE POSSIBLE BY YOU!

Ups, downs and all arounds, we share them all. If you like what you see, there are lots of FREE ways you can show your support. Thank you for being a part of the journey!

GEAR USED IN THIS VIDEO

🚣 Dinghy & Accessories

Dinghy: Highfield CL340 / With Yamaha F25 (love our setup!)
Magnetic Tricolor Light For Night: gonewiththewynns.com/product/lights-torches
Cool Underwater Light: navisafe.com/project/navilight-glowtube-114/
Dinghy Anchor: gonewiththewynns.com/product/mantus-anchor

🎶AWESOME tunes

Source: http://bit.ly/artlist-gwtw
- Artists: Giants and Pilgrims, John Isaac, Borrtex, Michael Shynes and Oliver Michael

⛵ SAILING REPORT

To see our full map with interactive pins, click here: gonewiththewynns.com/map

Sailing Route: Rangiroa to Fakarava – Tuamotu, French Polynesia
Nautical Miles Sailed: 140
Date: March 2019

Comments (37)

Tim

Do the cats really swim in sea water?

- Curious Minion
  
  Singa has fallen in a few times trying to catch fish from the sugar scoops or the paddleboard. Cats do “dogpaddle” and he can get right back onboard BUT he must then undergo the indignity of a freshwater rinse (because cats will lick themselves dry and you don’t want them to ingest saltwater). And yes, falling in the ocean is okay, but getting a freshwater rinse really makes him huffy! Cats are silly.
  Curious Minion
  
Jeffrey Stenberg

Wow, sailing, scuba, coral, sharks( I would still have a poker in my hand), stars, champagne on the beach watching the sun set. Gives a whole new meaning to ” Living the Dream ” Thanks!

Pam McClure

Oh my gosh, so beautiful. But sharks? Nooooo way. Glad you did though. Thank you

Bernard Schaer

fantastic!! Thank you guys!! Bernard

Joan & Kenny Haig

Best video EVER! We thank u both for taking us along. So glad both kitties are doing great.

Haigs

Pippi H.

Great video as always. I was so intrigued I was looking up Fakarava on Googlemaps . Looks like an amazing place and I’m pretty sure that’s your boat on Googlemaps image, though I could be wrong. You guys must have been there when google took it’s pictures. Cheers and sail on.

YDion

The images of the sunsets were incredible!
And the stars at night… Is this really what you see on clear nights?
And funny you thank us for watching… I’m very grateful for you folks filming, selecting shots, editing and uploading these videos for us; so much work for people you’ve never met. Thank you.

Kimberly A. Selleck

I think I’ve missed something along the way! What happened to the other cat?

- Curious Minion
  
  Cleo’s in this video – rewatch the beginning. She just isn’t a big adventure kitty and prefers to hang out on the boat, sunbathing in the nude and drinking tuna juice straight outta the can. The good life!
  Curious Minion
  
Greg and Gretchen

My wife Gretchen and I are flying to Tahiti Sunday. We are chartering a 47’ catamaran to sail to Bora Bora. We have been binge watching your wonderful videos on YouTube for a week. We love them. Please pet Cleo and Signa for us.

Alan Solomon

Those pictures of the island as a whole are amazing. There is so much there.***
The marine life is incredible there. Great video. Your right the coral is definitely alive, colorful and happy. Great to see.
Did someone got there belly button pierced?! I love the kitty video.
Wow. Cannot thank you enough for bringing us along. We are all blessed.
Safe travels.

Michael Magill

Amazing Video , you two, not so sure I would be as happy as you two were swimming around with those sharks , it only takes one to ruin a very beautiful moment , but what a beautiful place to be , love the picture of the entire Beach area. Looks like an Island Paradise to me love to find one like that some day. safe seas and calm winds for both, can’t wait till the next one comes !!

Robert Regan

Thank you fantastic loved every minute watched twice really brightened up a dull Monday at work

Michael Priaro

Great video! What a place, Fakarava — in the middle of the Pacific pretty much as far from the all the continents as one can get.

(Technically, the farthest point from any land is Point Nemo, at coordinates 48°52.6′ south, 123°23.6′ west, 1,670 miles (2688 kilometers) from a trio of land dots: Ducie Island to the north, an uninhabited atoll in the Pitcairn Islands; Motu Nui to the northeast, a tiny islet off Easter Island, which is off the coast of Chile; and frigid Maher Island to the south, off the Antarctic coast.

Stunning shot of the night sky. If I have my astronomy right, the Milky Way, with the Large Magellanic Cloud to the right, in the background, Alpha and Beta Centauri (the closest stars to our star except for Proxima Centauri) at the bottom pointing up to the Southern Cross on its side with the “Coal Sack” below it.

I’m just missing the crazy hippy dolphins! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cBsnopTVmo (I can’t stop listening to that video.)

Stay safe!

Venice Scherer

That is your best episode yet!!!! Wow!!!! Thanks so much!!! This is where I would be if I could, especially with you! The ocean life is incredible!!!! Why aren’t you afraid that the sharks are hungry????? and aggressive?????

- Curious Minion
  
  Sharks are just big fish and there is plenty to eat here. None of these small reef sharks is “aggressive” and the Wynns are danged near as big as most of these guys. Why waste valuable energy trying to kill something as big as you are when there are literally plenty of little fish in this sea? Shark Week is not real life and neither is Jaws. Sharks get an undeserved bad rep. Odds of being attacked & killed by a shark are 1 in 3,748,067. Odds of dying in a car accident? 1 in 84. Why on earth would anybody chose to get into a car?!
  Curious Minion
  
Roger B

I love the underwater colorful videos. The marine life is awesome and so much color. We enjoy the videos of your cats watching the sharks.

Joanie

Brillant, dazzling and exquisite!

Greg

Couldn’t watch the video. It kept locking up at 17 seconds… couldn’t get it past that no matter what I did.

- Curious Minion
  
  Nobody else has reported problems viewing it. Maybe restart your computer and/or router and try again.
  Curious Minion
  
- Seabee Vet
  
  i had the same problem with internet explorer. I used a mac air(safari) when i got home and it worked ok.
  
Jana

As always, your vid did not disappoint. A few questions – aside from having an amazing diet, how do you two cuties stay so fit? And when you show the nifty shot in your vids that show all the controls like wind speed, direction, etc, where does that come from? Like, how do you drop that into your vid?

LOVED the time lapse of the sunset and the starry night sky. Thank you so much for all the work you guys put into your vids. For those of us who really enjoy watching them, it is appreciated. For twenty mins a week, we are all transported with sights and sounds that are so tranquil and satisfying. Keep it up!

- Curious Minion
  
  That’s the VIRB, which syncs with their Garmin instruments. Check it out in the gear store: https://www.gonewiththewynns.com/product/virb
  Curious Minion
  
Pat

WOW that was absolutely amazing..THANKS for this

Greg and Gretchen Vallejo

My wife Gretchen and I are leaving for Tahiti a week from today. We are picking up a 47 foot catamaran and sailing to Bora Bora for 10 days. Can’t tell you how much we enjoy your adventures on YouTube!! We have been binge watching for a week.

Jeff

Simply gorgeous!

April Winship

Absolutely a great way to start our Sunday morning coffee hour immersing ourselves in your adventures. Appreciate the time, energy and thoughts that go into every video! You two are awesome capturing the sights, sounds and tastes of the cruising life. Safe travels.
Bruce and April

Roy Hardcastle

beautiful camera shots. admire you both for your gusto. looking fwd seeing you both in October!

OjaiLynda

Absolutely. Amazing! Beautiful waters, scenic and colorful world beneath the surface. OUTSTANDING editors, well done!

Deborah Kerr

Such great video and pictures – I’m sure they don’t do it justice! I love when you get some water noise against the boat sounds, and my favorite is always the sky with a dreamy amount of stars and that milky way!! Please let us know how warm is the water? And does it taste and feel salty on your skin? How does it smell there? Engage all of our senses – I can SEE that place is a beautiful paradise, but I’ll never get there and don’t want to assume it’s warm and salty, like Destin Beach 🙂 I love love love your videos and pictures 🙂 Keep up the great work – and keep smiling 🙂

Diana Rodgers

Wow, wow, wow! Amazing! Thanks for sharing!

jim

I am sure you will have so many questions about the sharks. Being from Illinois I cannot understand why the sharks do not try to eat you. Is it because they are well fed? Beautiful location. Are there many, many boats there?

- LAURENCE
  
  The short answer is in this environment the sharks do not recognize the divers as food, or even something edible, and if they did the divers are way too big and healthy to try to take on. Shark danger involves a lot of movie hype and some distinctions of environment. The only time humans are “attacked” with any frequency is surfers who are mistaken for seals or other normal prey, and after the first bite the shark says yuck and lets go. No surfer has ever been fully eaten, but could be seriously injured if the one bite is large enough.
  
Tom Serra

Varieties of reef fish we’ve never seen! Thank you

Jan

wow, what a place. Didn’t want the video to end.

Paul Holstein

OMG! Look at all those hungry, man-eating sharks below. I know, let’s jump in and swim. LOL.