Moorea/Bora Bora - Taking the Plunge - Must do dives?

[BBP]

Okay, we're taking the plunge and booking two weeks in FP, pretty much evenly divided between Moorea and Bora Bora. What's the skinny on must-do snorkeling and diving and what's the recommendation for outfitters? Cattleboats are out, please. Not much into the shark feeding type deal either. Are there shore diving opportunities? night dives?


thanks in advance for info.

Traveling last two weeks in May.

BKB

 

[Diver Lori]

BBP. We're taking the same plunge, but in August. We're doing 2 weeks also and have decided on 4.4.4 Rangiroa, Bora Bora and Moorea. We've decided to dive in Rangiroa and Bora Bora only, and to just do topside on Moorea rounding out the two weeks. We've based those decisions on reports in Undercurrent's Chapbook.

 

[Ayisha]

The diving in Moorea and Bora Bora were absolutely awesome! Very healthy and we saw tonnes of life. Lots of sharks (nurse, black tip, lemon, grey); sea turtles; lion fish, clown fish; spotted eagle rays; some divers, even snorkellers saw manta rays; trumpetfish; and all kinds of other beautiful fish - off the top of my head.

Just beware that the reef there is not like what you would see in the Caribbean or other parts of the South Pacific. It's a lot of hard corals, very little colourful soft corals, so it's not as colourful but it's very healthy and full of sea life.

I used Top Dive www.topdive.com which was highly recommended on this board on each of those islands, and I also highly recommend them. They were a great dive op.

I really wanted to go to Rangiroa and Fakarava and do the passes, but we did not have a chance to get there.

I think I have a trip report on this board. If not, I definitely have one on Scuba 2000 The Diving Board You would have to register (free) to see it, but it has tonnes of details.

You can see my pictures, on land and u/w, on my webspace at Ayisha's Space under Photos: Tahiti and Islands 2007.

Have an awesome time!

 

[BBP]

Thank you, Ayisha and Lori!

BKB

 

[TSandM]

Thanks, you guys. Peter and I are doing a cruise with diving in September. I particularly enjoyed looking at the photographs, to get an idea of what we would see.

 

[Ayisha]

Hi Lynn,

We sailed with Princess Cruises on the Tahitian Princess 10 Day Polynesia and Cook Islands itinerary. We had actually wanted the Polynesia and Marquesas itinerary, but it was sold out and ending for the season last winter.

I had been warned not to dive at Rarotonga due to the crown of thorns infestation and resulting coral bleaching, so I didn't dive there. I also found out that Tahiti was so-so in terms of health of the coral, so I skipped diving there as well. (My husband does not dive, so I chose wisely). So I dove at all other islands we visited: Moorea, Bora Bora, and Huahine, which had great reviews; and Raiatea, which had mixed reviews. I also did a night dive on Bora Bora, which was excellent.

I found Moorea and Bora Bora to have excellent healthy reefs with lots of life - all that I mentioned in my post above.

Raiatea was so-so in terms of abundant reef but had tonnes of sharks. We saw 5 species of sharks in Raitaea: black tip; nurse; grey; lemon; and we saw hammerheads from the boat. By the time the boat got near them, the hammerheads left. We attempted a "pass" in Raiatea that I was really looking forward to, but one of the divers was having issues and the DM chose to abandon the pass and we went to a nearby reef. If you can do the passes in Rangiroa or Fakarava or Raiatea, they're supposed to be fantastic for pelagics. Top Dive was not on this island, so I went with the ship's excursion.

Huahine was supposed to be really good but I found it to be so-so in terms of health of the reef and sea life. It may have just been where they took us, but I was assured of the best sites possible in advance. Top Dive was not on this island and Mahana Dive, MAHANA DIVE - HUAHINE which has excellent reviews, was closed temporarily. So I went with the only other dive op on the island, Pacific Blue Adventure, which had so-so reviews.

I've heard great things about the Paul Gauguin 10-Day Tahiti itinerary visiting the Marquesas islands and Rangiroa.

Which cruise are you taking, Lynn?

 

[BBP]

Ayisha, what were the number of divers on the boats for your dives with TopDive? I looked at their website and the number of divers each boat accomodated kind of put me off.

BKB

 

[TSandM]

We're doing the Paul Gauguin trip. We're going with some friends who have done it before, and rave about what a great experience it is, but when they went before, they were not divers. So I'm lapping up any and all information I run into about the diving -- It will all cost extra, so I'd like to choose the best possibilities.

 

[Ayisha]

Hi,
In Bora Bora, there were about 8 divers with 2 instructors/DM's. In Moorea, there were only us 3 divers total with 2 instructors/DM's.

I saw that their boats have a large capacity, but that was not my experience. You would have to email them and check on how many divers they expect to have. We went last February, which is their summer. Not sure how that compares to when you're going. They're very prompt at emailing back answers to any questions.