First Peek Inside The Olympic Quarters On The Aranui 5

Thanks to Peruvian Sol Aguirre, we’ve gotten our first real glimpse of the Olympic quarters on board the Aranui 5 – the 126m, 103-cabin luxury cruise ship + home to Olympic surfers at Teahupo’o 2024.

Per Paul Evans, “Staying in the Olympic village is usually one of the experiences most cherished by competitors at the Summer Games, many of whom relish the chance to cohabit with a selection of the finest human physical specimens on the planet. 

It also tends to be a reliable font of juicy goss for those in the press writing colour pieces around the world’s biggest sporting event. At Tokyo 2020, there was the question of whether the cardboard beds would stand up to the rigorous, athletic mingling Olympic villages are infamous for.

At Rio 2016, the New York Times reported the athlete lounges were stocked with 450,000 free condoms. Six-time gold medalist swimmer Ryan Lochte estimated “70-75% of Olympians” were engaging in a bit of the old in-out-in-out at the Rio village (bit creepy if that’s actual data, Ry).” 

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Devastatingly, Team USA + AUS will be amiss from the boat party, as they have their cabins on the mainland. I imagine French Polynesia’s Kauli Vaast and Vahine Fierro will be doing the same, as they are locals. 

Oh, and did we mention the American team will have the watchful eye of the US Diplomatic Security Service – a partner agency to the Secret Service – in tow for security? 

Yes, Mike Bjelajac, a 46-year-old Wisconsin native who has previously guarded former secretaries of state Hillary Clinton and John Kerry, and is currently on the ground at Teahupo’o and will be playing gatekeeper on any invasions into US cabins for some international hanky panky. 

Thrilling.