[Music]
We travel the world in search of the mysterious
Sea cucumber!
On this Quest we often stumble across other fascinating sea creatures
and more times than not they're right in front of our hotels
here there's often nobody else in the water to scare Critters away
and you can search as long as you like without holding up and annoying a tour group.
When we were booking lodging on Moorea Island, we were concerned that if we didn't stay at the
pricey Resorts right on the Lagoon we wouldn't have access to all its corals.
Now that we've been here we know that's not the case.
Come along with us
as we explore the fairy tale scenery among Moorea Island's reefs lagoons and burritos
on our quest to find sharks
whales
and the amazing sea cucumber.
At the Hilton Moorea Resort you can stay in a dreamy Bungalow right over the Lagoon
for only 1200 bucks a night
or you can do like us and get this room right by a parking lot for 450 bucks.
Here the car is driving by sound a lot like the waves down on the beach
and the 3 minute walk from Bungalow number 4 to the water and back
will save you 750 bucks.
Snorkeling right off the resort shore
We saw butterfly fish, bat fish, box fish and moray eels.
plus tons of chromies, humbugs and wrasses.
We found the fierce shrimp gobies funny when they spook
but we never found the mind-blowing sea cucumber.
are you kidding me
If you're a free diver, feel free to challenge yourself here.
The highlight at the Hilton though is the crepery over the water
where guests devour an assortment of delicious crepes
while sharks make the rounds below.
To avoid filing chapter 11, we relocated to something a little less taxing.
Close to the beach and super relaxed Bohemian vibe
This is it? This is kind of cool.
The Fare Club Holiday Cottage was 140 bucks a night.
Our modest room came with a complimentary mosquito net and Pit bull
Hello? Hi baby.
Just make yourself at home Kiko.
Kiko!
Go get the coconut.
Go get the coconut. go get it!
Yeah!
You got spit all over my camera.
Get it!
That's how you do it.
Today we're taking a snorkel tour hoping to swim with sharks rays and sea cucumbers
Maybe even see some humpback whales.
We're going to see the sharks.
Our super fun guide, Mana,
educated us with interesting facts dovetailed with BS.
About the sharks, Don't worry. Our sharks are vegan.
Today Polynesian's are Christian. You can say thank you Captain Cook.
If not, have to sacrifice one of you to keep the Sun.
My friend, we are inside the crater of the volcano. This is the rim of the crater.
I don't know if you guys are going to boring boring? Uh Bora Bora?
No? You're my friends. You're not missing anything huh.
All the islands of French Polynesia are going to be underwater in a couple Million years
but time that's gonna happen and we won't be here anymore.
I'm just happy to be here today
and I wish to be here tomorrow so
who know what's going to happen today yeah?
Maybe the sharks are gonna decide to eat the local meat today and not the tourist meat.
OMG OMG OMG!
[Tahitian Music]
While we gawked at humpback whales
Mana picked coconuts out of the sea.
Tourist: Is that our lunch? Mana: My lunch. Not your lunch.
He handed me one and asked how I knew if it was good or not. How do you know that?
because you picked it [Laughter]
Water inside its good. No water, no good.
Take yours.
Oh yeah! Okay but this is not the way to shake it.
stand up and go over there.
Better do what he says
Not like this.
Grab the Coco like this. Stand up!
Hauka!!! 1-2-3...
HAUKA!!!
Stay like this and to shake the coco go Ho Ho Ho!
I stepped on her foot. Sorry about that.
[Music] "PillBox by Southern Backtones
On a white sandy shore
We got to swim among peaceful peaceful rays and sharks.
these black tip reef sharks prefer to keep their distance from humans
and never suddenly turn and approach you.
On the nearby reef
We saw sunset wrasses, pinktail triggerfish, lagoon triggerfish,
sailfin tangs, bristletooths, dascyllus, and raccoon butterfly fish
But no sightings of the Majestic sea cucumber.
After a little snorkeling Mana brought us to a little island
to cook lunch with the coconuts he just picked from the sea.
The catch, he made us open them first using only a sharp stick
a lesson he said, may one day save our lives.
Position... Baton - baton
Not like this.
the coconut we're gonna put it on the stick like this.
Why? because the fiber go this way
After this simple demonstration
any men that struggled
were publicly...
Motivated?
To do better.
You, come.
To ward off Mana's motivation
I summoned the help of my spirit animal...
Kiko
Yay. You got it bro.
But removing the husk was only half the challenge.
For the women,
Mana demonstrated that one center hit perpendicular to the coconut grain will crack it in two
You hit it one time. Not 10 times. Not ta ta ta ta. Ok?
Cut it out!
to motivate the women that struggle
Mana told them to imagine coming home from work and seeing four feet sticking out of the bed.
Honey I'm back from work.
Imagine the two extra foot.
What are you doing in my bed?
Bravo
oh
Mana was the man.
We're gonna prepare the Tahitian Ceviche.
With fresh fish, pineapple and the coconuts plucked right from the sea
He chopped up a big bowl of poisson cru for everyone
Hoping for their share some gentle locals decide d to join the party
But not everyone knew what to make of their presence.
In a tropical wonderland
strangers from around the globe hung out together with the animals
soaking up the paradise.
Poisson cru.
Back at the Fare Club
complimentary breakfast of breads jams cereal and coffee
is served in the local charm.
If you get the feeling you're being watched here,
you probably are.
Gold Dust day geckos from Madagascar
have now colonized Moorea to keep an eye on tourists.
Most geckos around the world are nocturnal. They're large situated light sensitive eyes
can follow prey and Predator movements while their head remains stealthy still.
Day geckos have smaller eyes and like us
have to turn their heads and look over their shoulders to make sure you're not up to any mischief.
This gives them the cutest little personality
and a good bet why the video game Gex and Geico Insurance
choose this species over their more mysterious seeming, nocturnal cousins.
To explore the majestic mountains of Moorea for sea cucumbers
there are ATV tours that Caravan you to Scenic overlooks
or you can rent a more quiet car like we did.
Hey I found your iPhone charger.
There's a hole in that mountain.
Oh wow, there's a little hole threw the side of it.
The Iconic mountain with the hole through it is Mou'aPuta
which means pierced mountain in Tahitian.
Something different in Spanish.
The dramatic profile resembles a woman looking up to the sky.
Excuse the nasty dust spot on my camera sensor.
In these photos I'm attempting to more strategically position the dust spot.
The Magic Mountain trail was rumored to be a beautiful easy one-hour hike
up to a breathtaking overlook.
We paid to park at a little shop that sold snacks and knickknacks.
While we were waiting for our tour guide to show up
we realized he was waiting for us.
Shall we guys? Let's go! All the way up there.
He's like, hurry up slowpokes. we're coming.
This is a pretty steep grade I don't know if you can tell but uh our tour guide isn't waiting for us
almost there
Wow. If there's a point on the globe that's the farthest from noisy industrialization
and air pollution, this might be it.
With riches of fish in the lagoons and abundance of coconuts,
Mango, papaya, star fruit and...
dinosaurs space grapes... in The Valleys below
you get the sense if the rest of the world blew itself up
it wouldn't really matter here.
Oh, special moment.
Thank you
for coming with us all the way up here.
In part one of this series
Fire
snorkeling from your Bungalow deck
the most adorable baby whale.
Finally, up close
insane video
of the sea cucumber
Comment ca va sea cucumber?
But here, we're pretending not to leave an expensive camera and tripod behind
tell next time friends happy trails
[Music] "Male'diction de la danse du Poulet"