Fully seond the "nothing else to do" for Rangiora.
As an atoll, there ain't much island there. It has a huge lagoon 14 miles long as I recall. The main draw are the passes that have fast currents in and out depending on the tides. Looking at the pass from land, I thought, I ain't going in there! But we went snorkeling nearby on a glass bottom boat with a Tahitian on an excursion. We snorkeled with a huge Napolean fish, about 4 feet long. The Tahitian who could dive like no smoker in the world, speared fish and fed them to the Napolean. It moved so slow, until in the blink of an eye, it struck the spear to take the fish he offered.
After snorkeling, he took us to "shoot the pass" going about half way in and then he jumped in the water. Not to miss the chance of a lifetime, I jumped in too. You didn't realize how fast you were going, until you looked at the bottom whizzing by.
Like most of these islands spots, if you're not completely interested in nature, don't bother going.
If you want to shoot the works, get an overwater bungalow. With double decks including one at the water level, you just roll off your deck into the lagoon. No walking in sand and coral. Just a swimming pool ladder into the water. We watched an eagle ray search for food under our bungalow. Magnificent. The entire wall telescopes out of the way to expose the horizon. Incredible sunsets and the stars of the Southern Hemisphere. Watch out for the amaretto gecko! Sitting outside under the stars with your drink on the table, you'll notice something moving, only to find a gecko in your drink, slowly lapping up your amaretto! Yes, we had a great time.
Bora Bora was nice as well, but more to do, but it was still all about the ocean for us. You can catch the local Heiva dance festival in July. No hotel dance set up, but real dance groups competing for their local competition.
