Let me start this trip report by saying that growing up in the Midwest I certainly dont have the command of the language that Scuba Jim has. With that handicap fully admitted I plunge in
Leaving Denver, where the temperature was just above freezing, in a pair of shorts and a tee shirt didnt seem strange to me, but I did get some strange looks from the neighbors. If they dont know by now just how strange I am, well
Connecting through Los Angeles was a hurry up and wait day. We had a mid day flight to LAX, a few hours in the Air New Zealand lounge and then off to Papeete. Arrive at 2:00 a.m. and then wait 4 hours for a 10-minute flight to Moorea. Moorea by air . Moorea is 12 miles across the Sea of the Moon. There isnt really a town there (although we did rent a scooter and cruised around the island.) One of the highlights of the above water portion of the trip was the view from Belvedere down to Opunohu Bay , and Cooks Bay . There is also a Pineapple Distillery there but we missed it this time around.
The Fare Vai Moana is not a resort. Quite the opposite actually. 6 bungalows of which 3 are Beach front ,(which we upgraded to) Be careful where you step so that you dont smash one of the dozen or so baby chicks parading across the property. The local rooster starts crowing around 4:30 a.m., well in advance of the sun. Confused I guess. Actually the Vai Moana is a quaint location, where the staff knows your name, there arent crowds and the bug spray isnt $15.00. The Vai Moana Beach is very nice and was almost deserted seeing as though it was low season. The Moorea Club Med, which was closed 2 years ago due to money problems, is right down the beach and is now a youth hostile for wayward iguana, crabs, feline and other assorted beach animals. Really to bad considering the size of the property (huge) and the location, which is great.
Anyway, off to the diving. We dove with Rafael at Moorea Blue Diving Center. They are located at the Pearl Resort. Being the slow season we had the boat and DM to ourselves for the two days we were diving there. This was my first time underwater with a camera. I soon realized that it isnt idiot proof. Also, I found myself paying much closer attention to what was around me than I usually would.
Having not dived around the amazing numbers of sharks before, it was quite the eye opener. Our first dive was lemon shark alley. Allison had eyes the size of saucers when she jumped in and immediately saw all of the sharks. There were countless Black Tips , more black tips , Gray Reef Sharks Lemon Sharks etc. Interestingly though the dive site is lemon shark alley, we only saw one lemon and he was to far away to photograph.
A Dive Master from Club Med sunk a Tiki Statue a couple of years earlier that we came across just before we met "Janine" . It seems as if Rafael has a long standing relationship with Janine and they search each other out for play and feeding time. Allison even got in on lunch One thing that we did learn on our four dives in Moorea was that you arent there for the corals. Its really all about the animals!
Weather the first week of December was rather iffy, storms blowing in but it did make for some beautiful sunsets
Off to Bora Bora (or: do you think we will ever see the sun again?)
An early morning departure from Moorea got us to the Bora Bora Pearl Beach Resort (the resort with posture) in time for lunch and to check in with Gilles at Blue Nui Dive Center. (located at the resort) I think that the first day there (out of 5) was the only day it didnt rain for almost the entire day. Sometimes harder than others, but, certainly not sitting in the beach chair getting a tan weather. Thank God we were diving! If not, it would have been a true tropical depression. Accommodations at the PB Resort were great. We had the Overwater Bungalow #43. It was the farthest out, but had view of the sunrise and the sunset from the deck
The Bungalow was actually quite nice and roomy BB Bath , BB Bath2 , BB Inside
Diving with Blue Nui was great. We did eight dives in 4 days and they were all fantastic. On several of the dives we were the only divers on the boat. To put that in perspective, we met a very nice lady from Seattle later in the trip. She was in Bora Bora the same time that we were, staying at the Sofitel. They canceled every one of her dives because of weather. I say bull***t. She was the only one there that wanted to dive and they just didnt want to mess with it. Gilles and Wendy (owners) Patrice, Medi and Franck were all great to dive with. Scuba Jim, you must have loosened Franck up some when you were there. He sure wasnt holding our hand. Both dives were scheduled in the morning, leaving the afternoons to do as you pleased. The resort is actually on a motu across from the main island and the fairy runs every hour or so. With the rain as frequent as it was, we pretty much stayed at the resort.
First dive in Bora Bora was just across from the airport at Muri Muri (The White Valley). While many go there to feed the sharks, we were doing that later at Tapu, so we just looked around. Once again, the black tips and Grays were in abundance along with several Eels , barracuda etc. This dive was just over 100 ft.
Tapu was a great dive. A pretty square profile. Down around 80-90 ft. watch the sharks for a while then back up, with a safety stop of course. This dive site is just outside the outer barrier reef and is well known for sharks, due to frequent feedings. We were not disappointed. Multitudes of Black tips and 3 big lemon sharks. Yes Jim, I did get pictures of the lemons. Patrice mellowed out! Black Tips Bora , Lemon Bora , Lemon Bora2 . Later in the week we visited Tapu again. This time it was not for the sharks, although they were there, but for smaller things. On the way out we saw flying fish and were joined by a couple of playful dolphins. Unfortunately they didnt stick around for the dive. When not focused on sharks there was very nice other life around. Blue Clams , clown fish trumpets, triggers, surgeons. , Napolean wrasse. This dive was every bit as good as the same site feeding the sharks.
We also dove Toopua and Fafapiti while we were in Bora Bora. Both good dives with excellent sea life. Lionfish Fafapiti is known for Mantas, which we did see a couple but from to far away to get good shots. As we were to soon find out, Manihi is the place for Mantas anyway!
The diving was great on both of these Islands. From here we moved onto Rangiroa and Manihi. We thought we were spoiled already.....but we had just begun
Rangiroa (Silver Tip city!) and Manihi (Manta Heaven) to follow before the end of the year!
Leaving Denver, where the temperature was just above freezing, in a pair of shorts and a tee shirt didnt seem strange to me, but I did get some strange looks from the neighbors. If they dont know by now just how strange I am, well
Connecting through Los Angeles was a hurry up and wait day. We had a mid day flight to LAX, a few hours in the Air New Zealand lounge and then off to Papeete. Arrive at 2:00 a.m. and then wait 4 hours for a 10-minute flight to Moorea. Moorea by air . Moorea is 12 miles across the Sea of the Moon. There isnt really a town there (although we did rent a scooter and cruised around the island.) One of the highlights of the above water portion of the trip was the view from Belvedere down to Opunohu Bay , and Cooks Bay . There is also a Pineapple Distillery there but we missed it this time around.
The Fare Vai Moana is not a resort. Quite the opposite actually. 6 bungalows of which 3 are Beach front ,(which we upgraded to) Be careful where you step so that you dont smash one of the dozen or so baby chicks parading across the property. The local rooster starts crowing around 4:30 a.m., well in advance of the sun. Confused I guess. Actually the Vai Moana is a quaint location, where the staff knows your name, there arent crowds and the bug spray isnt $15.00. The Vai Moana Beach is very nice and was almost deserted seeing as though it was low season. The Moorea Club Med, which was closed 2 years ago due to money problems, is right down the beach and is now a youth hostile for wayward iguana, crabs, feline and other assorted beach animals. Really to bad considering the size of the property (huge) and the location, which is great.
Anyway, off to the diving. We dove with Rafael at Moorea Blue Diving Center. They are located at the Pearl Resort. Being the slow season we had the boat and DM to ourselves for the two days we were diving there. This was my first time underwater with a camera. I soon realized that it isnt idiot proof. Also, I found myself paying much closer attention to what was around me than I usually would.
Having not dived around the amazing numbers of sharks before, it was quite the eye opener. Our first dive was lemon shark alley. Allison had eyes the size of saucers when she jumped in and immediately saw all of the sharks. There were countless Black Tips , more black tips , Gray Reef Sharks Lemon Sharks etc. Interestingly though the dive site is lemon shark alley, we only saw one lemon and he was to far away to photograph.
A Dive Master from Club Med sunk a Tiki Statue a couple of years earlier that we came across just before we met "Janine" . It seems as if Rafael has a long standing relationship with Janine and they search each other out for play and feeding time. Allison even got in on lunch One thing that we did learn on our four dives in Moorea was that you arent there for the corals. Its really all about the animals!
Weather the first week of December was rather iffy, storms blowing in but it did make for some beautiful sunsets
Off to Bora Bora (or: do you think we will ever see the sun again?)
An early morning departure from Moorea got us to the Bora Bora Pearl Beach Resort (the resort with posture) in time for lunch and to check in with Gilles at Blue Nui Dive Center. (located at the resort) I think that the first day there (out of 5) was the only day it didnt rain for almost the entire day. Sometimes harder than others, but, certainly not sitting in the beach chair getting a tan weather. Thank God we were diving! If not, it would have been a true tropical depression. Accommodations at the PB Resort were great. We had the Overwater Bungalow #43. It was the farthest out, but had view of the sunrise and the sunset from the deck
The Bungalow was actually quite nice and roomy BB Bath , BB Bath2 , BB Inside
Diving with Blue Nui was great. We did eight dives in 4 days and they were all fantastic. On several of the dives we were the only divers on the boat. To put that in perspective, we met a very nice lady from Seattle later in the trip. She was in Bora Bora the same time that we were, staying at the Sofitel. They canceled every one of her dives because of weather. I say bull***t. She was the only one there that wanted to dive and they just didnt want to mess with it. Gilles and Wendy (owners) Patrice, Medi and Franck were all great to dive with. Scuba Jim, you must have loosened Franck up some when you were there. He sure wasnt holding our hand. Both dives were scheduled in the morning, leaving the afternoons to do as you pleased. The resort is actually on a motu across from the main island and the fairy runs every hour or so. With the rain as frequent as it was, we pretty much stayed at the resort.
First dive in Bora Bora was just across from the airport at Muri Muri (The White Valley). While many go there to feed the sharks, we were doing that later at Tapu, so we just looked around. Once again, the black tips and Grays were in abundance along with several Eels , barracuda etc. This dive was just over 100 ft.
Tapu was a great dive. A pretty square profile. Down around 80-90 ft. watch the sharks for a while then back up, with a safety stop of course. This dive site is just outside the outer barrier reef and is well known for sharks, due to frequent feedings. We were not disappointed. Multitudes of Black tips and 3 big lemon sharks. Yes Jim, I did get pictures of the lemons. Patrice mellowed out! Black Tips Bora , Lemon Bora , Lemon Bora2 . Later in the week we visited Tapu again. This time it was not for the sharks, although they were there, but for smaller things. On the way out we saw flying fish and were joined by a couple of playful dolphins. Unfortunately they didnt stick around for the dive. When not focused on sharks there was very nice other life around. Blue Clams , clown fish trumpets, triggers, surgeons. , Napolean wrasse. This dive was every bit as good as the same site feeding the sharks.
We also dove Toopua and Fafapiti while we were in Bora Bora. Both good dives with excellent sea life. Lionfish Fafapiti is known for Mantas, which we did see a couple but from to far away to get good shots. As we were to soon find out, Manihi is the place for Mantas anyway!
The diving was great on both of these Islands. From here we moved onto Rangiroa and Manihi. We thought we were spoiled already.....but we had just begun
Rangiroa (Silver Tip city!) and Manihi (Manta Heaven) to follow before the end of the year!
