Dive junkie needs advice on Moorea & Oahu

[STXdivebum]

Hello fellow dive freaks,

I'm new to this message board and look forward to learning/sharing a lot with all of you. Briefly, I'm a 21-year old PADI-certified OWSI from St. Croix in the USVI. When I'm not in Colorado finishing my BA in political science (no clue what to do with it...), I work for St. Croix Ultimate Bluewater Adventures (SCUBA) in Chrisiansted, STX. I've been diving for 8 years now and don't ever plan on quitting, a feeling I'm sure you're all very familiar with.

Currently, I'm studying oceanography and nautical science in Woods Hole, MA and will take off for the Society Islands in six weeks to conduct field research while sailing from Tahiti to Oahu in Hawai'i. My question for all y'all is: where's the best diving & who are the best dive operators on Moorea (or Tahiti) and Oahu??? I've never been to the Pacific Islands, so I'm WAY psyched, but I need quality advice and references. Your input is vastly appreciated.

Cheers,

Doug

 

[floridanewbe]

welcome aboard

 

[rsilva708]

Welcome to the board..

 

[M.HARDY]

Welcome to the Board

 

[TSandM]

Welcome to ScubaBoard!

I can't tell you who the best dive ops on Tahiti and Moorea are, but I can tell you who we dove with, which was Top Dive (in both places, and in Bora Bora and Rangiroa, too). The diving is off small, open boats, and on Tahiti, the boat was moored and left unattended. I did not see any O2 on the boat, nor was any mentioned in the briefing. The rides to the dive sites were short in both places.

Shark feeding dives are the big thing in that region, as far as we could tell. There are a lot of blacktips and some lemons. The areas of the reef where those dives are held are not in good condition (the South Pacific is apparently having a plague of crown of thorns starfish, and they are doing a great deal of damage) but there were still a fair number of reef fish, particularly following the guide with the bait.

The second day we dove off Papeete, we specifically requested NOT to do a shark dive, and instead, we did a really lovely little wall, covered in colorful invertebrates and topped with some of the only really healthy, vibrant reef we saw. We also did two wrecks, a seaplane and a barge, and saw the only stonefish of the trip on the barge. Frank, who I believe runs the Papeete Top Dive operation, is extremely nice, and was very receptive to our request to do something different.

Our trip wandered through the Society Islands and down into the upper Cook's, and I have to say I was disappointed in the diving most everywhere, because of the reef damage. Further north, in the Tuamotos, was some spectacular diving -- Rangiroa was as good as I've seen.

Have fun with your trip!

 

[STXdivebum]

Thanks for the info!