Papeete Cruise diving suggestions

[richhagelin]

Going on a cruise out of Papeete in Jan. Stops are: Moorea, Huahine, Raiatea, Bora Bora, Huku Hiva, Hiva Oa, and Rangiroa.

Which of these are good locations to do a dive? Which ones are not worth the trouble?

Thanks,

Rich Hagelin

 

[TSandM]

DEFINITELY dive Rangiroa! The reef there is stunning, healthy and vibrant with color, and so many fish you feel like you have to push them aside to swim. We saw big fish and small fish and huge schools of fish, and sharks, and dolphins, and mantas . . . Two days in Rangiroa were not enough!

As far as the rest of the itinerary, we were not blown away by Moorea or Bora Bora. Lots of dead coral (plague of Crown of Thorns starfish) and many of the dives are shark feeding dives, which don't really thrill me. We did not dive at Huahine, and did not visit the other two islands.

South Pacific diving is a lot of hard coral -- some of the formations are interesting, but don't expect a lot of bright color. We saw a lot of dead reef and a really depressing amount of algae growth.

 

[timetraveler]

I did a similar itinerary from the Paul Gauguin in 2009. Here are my impressions: Moorea is a good place to see lemon sharks, because they're fed, and dead coral (heartbreaking). Raitea had some live coral, but it was mostly dead. We saw 8 black-tip reef sharks there. I don't know whether they're fed there or not. Rangiroa: The outer reef was alive and beautiful. We saw two mantas and two turtles there. Shooting Tiputa Pass was the dive of my lifetime (so far). Bora-Bora: the reef was under pressure from the Crown of Thorns. We saw lots of burrowing clams and human-fed lemon sharks. My advice is to dive Rangiroa and try to schedule a dive that catches the pass running.