Huahine is known as the “Garden Island” though it doesn’t seem any more lush and green than its neighbors. It is beautiful, with white beaches and clear green waters.

We got to the pier an hour early so we took a shuttle bus around the island. Seemed like a good idea at the time. Was the buses. It seems like they took a cube van, removed the cube and replaced it with a wooden cabin that extended eight feet beyond the rear wheels and had 62-inch headroom. It felt like they had replaced any shock absorbers with old-fashioned leaf springs. To say the ride was rough was a real understatement. On the other hand, we did get to see the island.

Our tour was a boat ride through the lagoon to a beach where we had a Polynesian lunch. The boat ride was relaxing and the lunch was good but it was not on the beach, it was in the water just off the beach. It was actually sort of cool except that the plastic chairs kept floating away when you got up. There was lots of Hinano beer though.

After lunch the ladies were taught a Polynesian dance and then, after more beer, we took a short walk to the ocean side of the point where we had a swim. The water was so clear that you did not heed a face mask and snorkel to see the fish, all you had to do was look down.

After an hour of swimming and sunning we walked back across the island and boarded the boat for a ride back to the pier where we picked up the tender back to our ship.