Huahini - Port Bourayne

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This bay or Port is no longer used as a port.   There is no evidence of there ever being any sort of structures here either.   It is a beautiful large bay that is well protected from the elements.  It can be entered at any time of the day if you follow the channels.  Inside one must carefully observe the markers as it shallows sharply to only a few feet in depth.

We stayed outside the bay on the point.   It is exposed to the winds but very protected from the seas by the reef.  We found good holding in about 15ft of water on a sandy patch just on the edge of the reef.   We managed to lay out our chain without getting tangled on a coral head. 

We and all the cruisers were very conscious of destroying the coral heads with our anchors and chains.  In most cases cruisers would dive on their anchors immediately after setting them to make sure they were not fouled on a coral head.  We also used our dinghy and a mask for the same purpose.   "Mouse Pad" used a marker buoy on her anchor which made it easy to pick up and move a short distance if it was close to a coral head.  There was of course always the chance that swinging with the tide would wrap the chain around a coral head.  This happened more often than most of us liked and we all became experts very quickly at maneuvering our boats and chain to disentangle it without the need to dive.

An impromptu dinner party aboard "L'Alchamist" from France or Sweden.
We were just dinghying by when Loic hailed us over and asked if we would like to join them for a drink.  Well, one thing led to another, it was several bottles of wine and late into the night before we made our way back to "Mouse Pad".   We never did make it to the hotel!  Not bad considering we didn't speak French!
This is where we first met Gordon and Jackie on "Lazy Jack" from England, and Linga and husband (sorry, I can't find his name) on "Wynxy" from Sweden


1.  Looking back at Raiatea, "Lazy Jack" in the foreground
2.  Another guest arriving

Hotel Hana Iti with it's very expensive tree top chalets
Check these out.  They are at the very tops of the trees.

1.  View of the outer bay and entrance from "Mouse Pad" at the reefs edge
2.  The inner bay at Port Bourayne


1.  Looking out over the reef to the ocean from "Mouse Pad"
2.  Looking back at the bay from "Mouse Pad"
This was a typical type of shallow, reefy, anchorage in the Society Islands.  Beautiful, isn't it!
The depth is about 15-20ft and the coral heads would extend up to approximately 6ft from the surface.

1.  "Lazy Jack" (Raiatea in background) in another superior sunset
2.  "Lazy Jack" and others at anchor a few minutes later

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Revised: July 04, 1999.