Rangiroa: The Atoll of Our Dreams

When I flew over the atoll of Rangiroa I sincerely believed I had arrived in paradise! Holding my breath, I looked in awe at everything around me, unable to tell whether it was a dream or really reality! I had never seen anything like it in my whole life and I sincerely believed I never would. Instead it happened, just when I least expected it!! My greatest dream, my most vivid wish turning into reality, and I couldn't believe it... but at that moment I saw it with my own eyes, from the sky above. And it was there, just 500 feet below me, Rangiroa, the marvellous RanRan, the largest atoll of the Tuamotu archipelago in French Polynesia and the second largest in the world. A ring of white coral barely 300 metres wide and 80 km long, facing a 20 km lagoon of totally unspoiled blue.

The island's only two villages, Avatoru and Tiputa, are located on two different "motu" (islets) to the north of the island and from above I could distinguish them perfectly. In a few moments we land and a whirlwind of emotions crowds into my heart. I'm really here, I've made it, and now I want to savour every single instant I'll spend on this spectacular island... The airport is particular too: it's in the village of Avatoru, and as your plane lands it feels as though you're landing in the middle of the sea, since the runway is a thin strip of land just a few hundred metres long surrounded by water. Rangiroa's beaches are not made of sand but of countless shells and countless little pieces of white and pink coral that have broken off from the reef over time.

The sea, totally unspoiled, is invaded by myriad clouds of colourful fish, by the marvellous and astonishing manta rays, by the huge and sleepy Napoleon fish and by the small, harmless blacktip reef sharks. One really important tip: you absolutely must go and see the Lagon Bleu. It's a truly dreamlike place, inhabited by gigantic manta rays, sea turtles and many other species of fish. To stay on the island a few days, I recommend the Rangiroa Lodge in Avatoru (tel. (689)968213). It's a very pretty and welcoming family guesthouse with rooms on the beach; it's quite cheap! If you want, there are also dormitories, backpacker-style, which cost much less! The kitchen is, of course, shared, with the use of gas, fridge, water, pots, dishes, etc. The owners are a hilarious couple: Jack and Rofina; he's Chinese and she's Polynesian!! They're incredibly friendly and not at all intrusive.

For diving I recommend the diving centre "The Six Passengers", founded - imagine - by an Italian (he's the one who really understood everything about life!). You'll experience great emotions at Rangiroa and I hope I've managed to explain at least in part what mine were! I warmly recommend you give it some thought, and remember that if you organise the holiday on your own, it's not as expensive as it seems!! The flight isn't very cheap, but if you plan ahead in good time I think anyone could do it! To fly, at the time, the cheapest airline was Corse Air, which organised charter flights from Paris with a technical stop in San Francisco, and tickets could be bought from the Nouvelle Frontiere. Marti and Miano

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