Manihi, Bora Bora, Moorea or Tahiti

[JanR]

My wife and I just returned from a back-to-back cruise (same 7-day cruise twice in a row) in Tahiti. We did a total of seven dives with three in Bora Bora and four in Moorea.

Either are fantastic dives, but we much prefered Moorea to Bora Bora (at least for diving). We dove two sites in Moorea which is just outside of Opunohu Bay. The dive staff called it "Ledges" and "Shark Gallery". It was FANTASTIC. 12-14 black tip reef sharks swimming all around you with a couple of 10ft Lemons lurking further out; multitudes of Moray eel, a couple of sea turtles, and hundreds of other fish of varoius varities. On the way out to one of the dives, we came across 3 humpback whales surfacing 100m from us, what magnificant animals.

The topography of "Ledges" site had five "fingers' jutting out to the dropoff, this made for some good bouyancy practice as we swam over each finger and descended to the valley. Intereresting sites to see with each kick of your fin.

In Bora Bora we dove Table Top twice and Tapu once. These are wonderful dives as well, with multitudes of fish. In fact, the fish were so thick that our instructor (we got our OW certification here) had to shoo the fish away because they were so thick that we couldn't see his hand signals 5 feet away.

But like I said, both are nice sites, Moorea just seemed to tip the scales a bit in the diving arena. Now, above the water's surface, you go to Bora Bora for the beauty of the lagoon and you go to Moorea for the beauty of the island.

For what its worth,

Jan

 

[Shasta_man]

Looking for helpful hints on these locations. Going in January and trying to decide which one.

Tahiti is a no go. You want the outer islands. Moorea should have great diving. Bora Bora was good diving and great view. Manihi is out there near Rangiroa which was great.

I fully second the overwater bungalow rec from personal experience. It's worth every cent. Roll off your deck into the water. Forget something, just walk up the ladder to get it, then back in!

 

[dman]

Tahiti is a no go. You want the outer islands. Moorea should have great diving. Bora Bora was good diving and great view. Manihi is out there near Rangiroa which was great.

I fully second the overwater bungalow rec from personal experience. It's worth every cent. Roll off your deck into the water. Forget something, just walk up the ladder to get it, then back in!

Sorry about not getting back regarding this thread, but Biloxi, MS took a severe hit from Katrina. The wind and 30-35 foot storm surge wiped out about half of the homes and businesses in Biloxi. Our anniversary will probably be spent trying to figure out how to refinance the reconstruction of our business. At least our home is not too damaged and livable, but there won't be any vacations in the near future. Maybe we can try to do this trip for our 26th anniversary.

Thanks for all of the replies and information though.

 

[tahitisweeti]

Looking for helpful hints on these locations. Going in January and trying to decide which one.

I have been able to dive in Tahiti, Moorea, Huahine, Raitea, Bora Bora, Rangiroa. We love diving with TopDive when we can. Their location on Bora Bora is great and intimate. Rangiroa will afford you incredible diving. We came upon humpback whales, a mom and dad with a baby (calf?). Swam with a lone dolphin that let us approach her. We will return to Rangiroa but also add Manihi next time.

 

[ScubaShari]

I have been diving twice on Moorea. We have stayed at the Beachcomber and the Sheraton. Both times dove with Moorea Fun Dive. If you have the budget the Sheraton OTW bungelow is a must. Tahiti-explorer.com has a great message board regarding the various accomadations. We love it so much we are taking the kids back in December. I will be happy to anwser accomadation/moorea questions

 

[nisswavic]

Loved Bora Bora-great diving and loved the people, Moorea may be OK if you speak French, Huahini diving was just OK, very underdeveloped with little to do, Tahiti had a great busy atmosphere. Didn't have time to dive there. Had really good snorkeling, right outside the door, in Moorea and Bora Bora. Most over the water bungalows are $1000+/night. We were there in 2004, stayed in bungalows on the beach (moderate) and it cost over $10,000 for 3 weeks. Hopes this helps