On our November 1995 visit there we went snorkeling every morning, straight offshore from the Hotel Mo'orea Lagoon, seen here against the backdrop of Mount Rotui. Cooks Bay is to the east (left), and Opunohu Bay opens further to the west (right).

Normally QTVR panoramas are taken under very carefully controlled conditions, with a steady level base and precise placement of the lense's nodal point on the axis of rotation. This partial panorama (I ran out of film before I had gone all the way around) proves that considerable variation from the recommended technique is possible.

The camera used was a single-use waterproof Fuji with plastic lens of unknown focal length. Spacing of the frames was very approximate and holding the camera straight was a challenge because of the stiff wind and choppy water. After panning along the shore from left to right, I threw the camera to my wife, to take a picture of me, then she threw it back and I got her in, too.

Pre-processing in PhotoShop (primarily to rotate the horizons level) and direct control of the stitching process produced an acceptable image. It is remarkble how well the foreground water stitched together. The main remaining artifact is the color shift of the last frame on the right -- the lens got wet and made the last picture blurry and undersaturated.