We moved the boat down to the southernmost anchorage on the east side today. The trek from the Saint Regis to the bottom corner of Motu Piti Aau can be made in two ways. We took the Motu side route but you can also go back north to the marked channel and pass over to the island side. The island side is deep water (40-80 feet) until you get down to Piti Aau. The Motu side is about 10 feet and you need to stay close to the hotel over water bungalows (but out of the buoyed swim barriers) as you go. The charts in this area are very out of whack. Our track took us right over several charted reefs that supposedly dry at low tide. We never crossed anything but white sand and though we saw 8 feet as we edged toward the middle of the lagoon, there was nothing less than 10 feet closer in on the motu side.

Once you pass the Intercontinental you can just eyeball your way down. Closer in to Piti Aau at the end of your trek you will come across some coral heads. You can zig though these and head straight into the anchorage or you can head back toward the big island into deeper water and come in farther south where the approach is a little less littered with rock.

The Piti Aau anchorage is gorgeous. It is mostly white sand on a very large 8 foot shelf. The bay in the southeast of Bora Bora's lagoon is bordered on the north and east by Piti Aau, on the south by a 2-3 foot white sand bank, and on the west by Bora Bora. All of this of course is inside the barrier reef. You are pretty protected ocean wise.

The bay does get shallow closer in to the Piti Aau motu, so you can't get too close. This leaves room for a bit of chop and wind when the trades are up. It still has our vote for best anchorage in Bora Bora.

When dropping the hook you do need to check the weather and your swinging room. There are enough rocks around that you could easily get your chain wrapped around one in a wind switch. Of course you can lie to 60 feet of chain and still be at 6:1.

We moved all the way into the anchorage. There are two boats, an old sail boat and a power boat, that are on permanent moorings up in the bay. If you draw 5 feet you can easily anchor in front of them. Until you know your way around you should enter during high sun and keep a good eye out because some of the rocks have less than 5 feet of water over them.

We put our hook down in about six to seven feet of water close to the rise. The wind was predicted to blow strong from the east for the next few days, but I still snorkeled around to make sure we could swing a 360 if need be. We spent the rest of the day settling in to our new spot, meeting the neighbors and snorkeling about. It was beautiful.