Question 16 Nights - How long in Tikehau, Rangiroa, & Fakahava

[DivingChipmunk]

It's not like we didn't get btten in Fakarava and Rangiroa, but nothing like in Tikehau. Tikehau was our last stop, but I doubt that a week or so further towards their Summer season made a difference. And I don't recall that it rained any more in Tikehau than in the other two. It might have been a bit breezier during our time in Fakarava and Rangiroa.

They were there just about everywhere: in Tikehau at the Pension, at the dive shop, at the Snack near the town pier where we had lunch, and for sure at the airport. We were spared only when we were in the water, on the boat or riding a bike.

Now, getting bit isn't the end of the world, but the owner of the Pension we stayed at in Rangiroa was recovering from dengue fever, and that is a show-stopper. So best to come prepared and try to minimize the bites.

Thanks for responding @Manuel Sam .
Now we are reconsidering our 2025 Christmas/New Year dive travel plan to FP. It seems to be a time for mosquito problems there. Being in constant battle with mosquitoes takes away the joy of travelling to a tropical destination. Dengue fever is definitely no fun.
In your previous diving trips to Fakarava/Rangiora, did you run into mosquito issues like this time in Tikehau? And were you ever there on these islands around Chirstmas/New year time?

Thanks again for all your help!

 

[Manuel Sam]

No, sorry - never been there in the Christmas/New Year timeframe. My prior trips were in January (2x), February, April, June (2x), and September/October. That included a January 2015 trip in Fakarava during the chikungaya outbreak. But I can't recall mosquitoes being as bad a problem in any of those trips as in Tikehau. I speculate that there might be less mosquitoes during their winter months becasue there is less wet.

I didn't mean to scare you from traveling during your planned time. I think that with proper precautions, you can abate the risks. Late December/early January is a good time to see Great Hammerheads and Tigers both in Rangiroa and Tikehau.

 

[cetacean]

DvrRick: sorry about the layoff and the trip cancellation. Hopefully you'll be able to get back up on your feet soon, so to speak, if not already, and then do this trip in the near future.

I do want to report briefly on my experience in Tikehau - my first time there in 8 trips to the Tuamotus. We dove with Raie Manta, but they are no longer owned by the owner of the Rangiroa Raie Manta. We went out on their so-called sunset dive the very afternoon after arriving late morning. Unbeknownst to us, these cost 10,000 xpf vs. 7000 (it was about 112 xpf to the US dollar during my trip, Dec 2-20) for non-sunset afternoon dives. The reason turned out to be quite simple. It should have been obvious after that first sunset dive.....15 minutes into this sunset dive, a 14 ft Great Hammerhead. A few minutes later, a 12 ft Tiger. And a few minutes later, an 11-12 ft Great Hammer. I could have gone home after that dive and been happy.

In 3 1/2 days of diving totaling 9 dives, the tally was 4 Great Hammers and 5 Tigers. All of the Great hammer sightings were on sunset dives. And all in 30-60 feet of water - not waaay down in 150-200 feet where we saw one Great Hammer one day and one Tiger another day from above in Rangiroa.

Be forewarned, however, that these encounters are fleeting 5-10 second encounters and the shark do not come close. Chasing is futile. Sure, there are also a lot of fish of different varieties but they're the same fish day after day, and not a heckuva lot of anything else. I didn't see a single grey reef, oceanic black tip, and just one silvertip late one day. A few white tips reef and a couple of reef black tips were the only other sharks we saw. Apparentrly, none of them seem to want to be where the big boys and girls hang around. So after a few dives and when there are no Tigers nor Great Hammers to be seen, it can get pretty boring swimming all over.

Also worth noting: lots of mosquitoes. Maybe it was the time of the year (start of their summer) - who knows. Waiting for my flght back to Papeete on my deaprture day, it was the first time ever that I felt literally swarmed by dozens of mosquitoes. So if you are going, bring long sleeves, long pants, and repellent. I brought all of those and still got bit quite a bit. If there is a next trip, I am adding one of those electric zapper rackets to my arsenal.

We've been to Tikehau three times, there are definitely mozzies, but not like you are describing. Maybe we've been lucky...

Did you find the mantas? We usually add on Tikehau for the cleaning stations, after diving with more of a shark focus elsewhere.

 

[Manuel Sam]

Yeah, luck for sure, along with time of the year and perhaps where one stays. If you stayed at the Pearl, being in the over-the-water bungalows probably makes a difference. But that episode of getting swarmed by the mosquitoes at the Tikehau airport was a first for me - and I lived my first 18 years in Cuba, Miami, and Puerto Rico.

There were just two of us passengers waiting at the Tikehau Airport at the time, and between the two, we easily killed 25 of them. Then I saw one the counter agents zapping them almost nonstop and that's where I got the idea of bringing one those electric zappers the next time.

The manta dive was offered but the viz in the lagoon was terrible at that time so we opted to skip it.