Underwater Wonders

Encounter remarkable marine life in Bora Bora and beyond.

- Susan B. Barnes

TWENTY. FORTY. SIXTY.

Seventy is as high as I reached when counting the blacktip sharks that gracefully glided past our small dive group as they went about their midmorning rituals. They seemed unaware of our presence in their underwater world, about 100 feet below the incredibly clear water’s surface. When I reached 70 in my counting exercise, I was only about two-thirds of the way across the ever-moving wall of sharks in Fakarava’s South Pass.

As I floated, watching, what caught me by surprise was how calm and controlled my breathing was at that depth with all of that activity happening on every side. As my body gently swayed with the current, the sheer beauty of the scene unfolding before my eyes far outweighed any thoughts of fear or anxiety. A sense of peace washed over me as I watched in awe of the life simply existing in this undersea world.

Bora Bora, Tahiti and essentially all of French Polynesia occupy the prime spots on many bucket lists, their positioning bolstered by images of crystal-clear waters in gradients of blues, deserted white-sand beaches with reaching palm trees and dreamy overwater bungalows. For scuba divers, even more enticements may just nudge the destination to the No. 1 spot on the list.