Dawn’s sunlight cracks across the sky in a fiery blaze as National Geographic Orion departs from its anchorage in Taha’a, heading towards Ra’iatea. Spinner dolphins quite literally leaped for joy welcoming us into the harbor and put on quite the display twirling through the air, riding on the ship’s bow, and darting in the water. The divers went out for a fish-filled dive as others took to a dry landing onshore. We explored the sacred grounds of the Marae Taputapuatea complex, gathering to see the stone structures that united a vast sea of distant islands. In the afternoon, we navigated east, towards our next stop in the Cook Islands.