Day 51 Tiputa Pass

Rangiroa lagoon
The sail from Manihi to Rangiroa was one of the calmest we have had since the trip began. The sea was fairly flat and the wind blew from 5 to 15 knots giving us a respectable speed of 4 to 6 knots. From this we knew we would arrive at two entrances to the lagoon about mid morning. We tried again to calculate the tide but after reading that both passes were deep enough to navigate at any tide, we figured we could go through as long as the tide was not at maximum flow.
From the description of the two passes, we decided to pick the one that was deeper and wider and this was Tiputa pass. I whipped up one of my famous oatmeal breakfasts so we would be ready and we lined up with two large poles in the entrance, just as the book says to do. As we were just about into the pass, a pod of about a dozen very large dolphins came alongside to either check us out or to welcome us. In either event, they were impressive guardians.
About half way through the pass we almost ran over a fairly large turtle. He (or she) looked over his/her left shoulder (do turtles have shoulders?), saw us and rapidly swam out of the way. I did not know they were so quick.
Unlike Manihi with its many coral heads, the 60 to 90 foot deep lagoon at Rangiroa is mostly sand bottom. The coral heads that exist are much larger and many stick up above the surface. This makes anchoring easier. Also, there are free moorings available but after checking out three of them we decided to use our own anchor.
Near the pass we entered, is a luxury hotel with the typical Polynesian huts on land and over the water. As suggested by the guide book, we anchored in front of the Kia Ora hotel so we could use their dock for our dinghy and their excellent restaurant.
The color of the water here is different from the ocean and from Manihi. The water is a bit deeper than Manihi and much clearer giving the water a light blue cast. Over the water, fly white birds that look lime green because of the light reflected from the water. Another curious thing is that the water appears saltier than the ocean. This is probably caused by the fact that the large lagoon is refilled by the sea where more water evaporates than is returned to the ocean.
The atoll itself is very narrow - less than a quarter of a mile - and covered with vegetation which is mostly palm trees. We did not see anything that you could call soil - only ground coral. It’s a tough life for a tree.
The surface of the atoll is also only about 20 to 30 feet maximum above the ocean. Any good sized wave from a hurricane or tsunami would swamp everything manmade. And what about global warming?
Nonetheless, if you have a mental image of a South Sea island paradise, this is it.