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

[DvrRick]

@DvrRick

Looks like a solid plan... We really enjoyed Tikehau (and we're looking forward to hearing how the renovations to the Pearl resort end up). Tekihau is the more interesting island of the three, however not nearly as many sharks or other pelagics, although mantas basically every day (if you go to the cleaning station).

One thing to consider (although it looks like you're schedule is already full):
The dive at White Valley on Tahiti is an interesting dive. They usually do it as a "shark feed" (which I'm not a huge fan of) - the tiger sharks they get there are beefy, and are there quite often. The lemons and grey reefies make for a good backdrop

The Tahiti dive sounds like it would have been great (although not a fan of feeding either). We changed a few things and will now be doing:
3 dive days Tikehau
4 dive days Rangiroa
5.5 dive days Fakarava N & S

We were told to extend Fakarava to make sure we got to both sides of the diving and sacrificed a bit in Tikehau. Due to no Friday flights we had to lose 2 days rather than 1 there.

We are considering dive shops now and could use advice. We can use Raye Manta Diving on both Tikehau and Rangiroa, or just on Tikehau. Then use Top Dive on Rangiroa and Fakarava N and S. Any suggestions on which shop is better? Both have multi-dive packages although it looks like Raye Manta comes out less expensive.

 

[Manuel Sam]

I've used Raie Manta on all my prior trips to Rangiroa and will be using them again in December.

In North Fakarava, I've always used Kaina Plongée, formerly Fakarava Dving Center.

And in South Fakarava, I've always gone with the dive operation at Tetamanu.

I'm not saying that the above are better than others - just that they have, for the most part, served me well and have not given me reason to switch.

 

[DvrRick]

I've used Raie Manta on all my prior trips to Rangiroa and will be using them again in December.

In North Fakarava, I've always used Kaina Plongée, formerly Fakarava Dving Center.

And in South Fakarava, I've always gone with the dive operation at Tetamanu.

I'm not saying that the above are better than others - just that they have, for the most part, served me well and have not given me reason to switch.

Good to know. That helps my decision. Thank you.

 

[DvrRick]

Another dive trip coming up and another request to help plan days at each location.

Update to the Tahiti trip: Canceled due to layoff. No work, no money, no diving. Thanks for the info everyone, it would have been an amazing trip.

 

[Knockneed Man]

Bummer. I hope you get to make another run at this soon.

 

[kara.mcnair]

Just commenting - not critiquing.

I've never been to Tikehau in seven prior trips to French Polynesia. I've done mostly Fakarava and Rangiroa.

This December, I will be doing a week in Fakarava, followed by a week in Rangiroa. Six dive days each, 2 dives a day. Then 4 nights to try out Tikehau (3.5 dive days). Maybe you are on to something by spending more dive days in Tikehau than in either of the other two.

You did well to research the Air Tahiti domestic flights for the days when they fly (and more importantly, when they don't) from one to the other. As far as I am concerned, there is no right or wrong order in which to do the three, altho me doing Fakarava first meant working around the Fakarava to Rangiroa nonstop flight being available only on Mondays.

I assume that you booked or plan to book the Tuamotu Pass, which comes out cheaper than if booking each leg individually.

In Fakarava, this time I will spend the entire week in the North rather than splitting the days between South and North. I will just plan on doing day trips to the south. Ours is a group of four so we have enough people to justify the operator doing the trip south. Then it is just a matter of the tides being in synch during our time there.

The bad thing about not staying in the South at Tetamanu is missing out on the night dive, which can be quite spectacular.

Thanks for this! We're trying to see if we can figure out a last-minute trip to Fakarava and Rangiroa in February and I'm wondering - do you have recommended dive operators?

 

[Manuel Sam]

In Fakarava North, I've always gone with Kaina Plongée, formerly Fakarava Diving Centre. And after having dived with them three weeks ago, they are still my go-to operation in North Fakarava.

O2 is reputed to be good too.

I did not stay in South Fakarava this time except for doing a daytrip from the North with Kaina, but when I have stayed there, I've always stayed and dived with Tetamanu Resort.

I mentioned in an earlier reply to this thread that I was staying at Kaipolanie Gardens in North Fakarava. Having ended up staying there for 10 nights due to an airport closure, I do not hesitate in saying that this is the REAL thing: in my opinion, the best place to stay in the north for the money ($200 a night for 2 sharing a bungalow that is clean, spacious, double vanity bathroom, small fridge, 1 queen and one twin bed, half-board (you better like fish tho), AC(!!!), easy walking distance (10-20 minutes) to just about everything (store, bakery, restaurants, church and even Kaina Plongée) and absolutely the nicest hosts/owners, Cedric and Vanina.

The caveat: others have noticed too, so virtually impossible to get a booking last minute.

In Rangiroa, I have always dived with Raie Manta and hereagain, nothing happened during my three days with them 2 weeks ago that would cause me to want to take my business elsewhere. Six Passengers is reputed to be good too.

 

[Manuel Sam]

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.

 

[DivingChipmunk]

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.

Thanks for all the information and details @Manuel Sam . We are planning a trip for Dec 2025, and your posts have helped us a lot.
A question about mosquitoes: was it a big problem on Tikehau or also other islands? I usually attract mosquitoes and suffer from the bites. That's one of the reasons why we prefer LOB diving.

 

[Manuel Sam]

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.