We Came for Fakarava's Wall of Sharks — But Left With Something More

Kelly and Connor Malone aboard the catamaran Sailing Big Lost anchor along the unpopulated motu of Tahanea in the Tuamotu archipelago of French Polynesia, preparing the vessel for an offshore passage to Fakarava. The anchorage provides open water and palm-fringed shoreline without roads, crowds, or schedules, giving the family time to explore the lagoon before timing tidal cuts between atolls.

Ashoreside, the children practice climbing coconut palms, light beach fires with dried husks, and invent their own island survival challenges along the sand. Connor guides Maddy as she scales the palm trunks while the children explore the coastline, turning remote island life into self-reliance before the family readies their offshore sail.

Night Coconut Crab Encounter at Tahanea

After sunset, the family puts on headlamps to explore the shoreline woods dubbed “rat beach” in search of local wildlife. At around dusk, the search turns up a small crab and an unexpected spider crab before uncovering a large coconut crab climbing through the low brush. One of the kids notes the darkness: “It’s only like 6:45 and it’s so dark.”

Although the crew initially debates whether to harvest the coconut crab, closer inspection reveals that she is carrying a cluster of eggs beneath her carapace. Kelly and Connor instruct the children that breeding females cannot be taken: “I think it has eggs and you can’t keep them with eggs. It means it’s a female.” The crew leaves the crab undisturbed in the trees and returns to the dinghy.

Underway from Tahanea to Fakarava

At 05:00 the following morning, the crew raises the anchor to begin the passage toward the southern pass of Fakarava. Safe entry into the enclosed atoll lagoon requires timing the passage to coincide with the slack tidal window, preventing dangerous standing waves and strong outflows at the cut.

Connor explains the navigation plan and boat speed requirement from the helm: “We picked up the hook at 5:00 and we are headed over to the South entrance… It’s about a 6-hour journey, but we had to leave early because we had to time the cut.” Timing remains critical, with Connor noting: “We need to average about 7 knots to make it in time. Otherwise, we’ll be spending about 5 hours waiting for our next opportunity.”

Resolving the Spinnaker Wrap at Sea

Once clear of the pass, the crew furls their code sail and hoists the asymmetrical spinnaker out of its dousing sock with one reef in the mainsail. As the sail fills, turbulent air causes the spinnaker to luff and collapse, wrapping itself tightly around the furled headstay jib.

The crew monitors the rig as the sail clears the stay, then takes immediate action on deck. Connor turns the catamaran into the wind while Kelly secures the sail at the bow: “Connor turned the boat into the wind, dropped the main, and we went back downwind, put up the spinnaker without the main up cuz the main was basically blocking the wind from the A-Sam, which is what was causing it to flop.” Running downwind under spinnaker alone restores vessel speed and brings them back on schedule for the cut.

Family Scuba Dive at Tumakohua Pass

Arriving at the southern cut of Fakarava, the crew spots dive skiffs and monitors divers already drifting the pass. Before gearing up for scuba, the family snorkels the surface to gauge current velocity and underwater visibility across the entrance.

Once underwater with scuba tanks, Connor, Kelly, and the children drift along the reef wall. The family encounters schools of fish, large Napoleon wrasse, and reef sharks patrolling the channel. June marks the annual aggregation where thousands of grouper gather to spawn near the full moon, drawing hundreds of grey reef sharks into the pass and forming Fakarava’s famous wall of sharks.

Walking the Motu and Adult Drift Dive

Following the dive, Kelly and Maddy walk along the sand of the motu, taking in the quiet surroundings between dives. Later in the afternoon, Kelly and Connor return to the South Pass for a second dive alongside fellow cruising friends, diving without having to monitor the children’s air supply or depth: “This time, without keeping an eye on everyone else’s air or making sure the kids were comfortable, we could simply take it all in.”

In the evening, the crew gathers aboard with friends Michael and Vivian to share dinner and toast their successful passage across the Tuamotus. With changing seasons on the horizon, Kelly reflects on cruising life: “Cyclone season is getting closer and we have some big decisions ahead.”

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