Question Rangiroa and Fakarava

[Dan G]

I have read through a few threads about diving in Rangiroa and Fakarava and I have some travel logistic questions. Based on reading threads here and chatting with a friend, I think we'd like to dive in Rangiroa, both north and south Fakarava, and snorkel with whales. This seems like a 7-10 day trip to me and one we would want to do this fall or fall 2025 since that's when the whale migrate. Does this seem right?

-What are some good ways to book flights to get from the western U.S. to either Rangiroa or Fakarava and then travel between islands? When I use the Air Tahiti Nui site and try to create an multi-city itinerary, I cannot get flights to pull up between Rangiroa and Fakarava. I am happy to book flights a la carte, but perhaps there are better/easier ways to do this.

-How do people travel between north Fakarava and south Fakarava? Do the airport transfers provided by many of the guest houses extend to moving around the atoll or do I completely misunderstand the layout of the atoll?

-Since we will need to stay overnight in Papeete in each direction, does it make sense to try the whale encounter while there? From what I can gather, the whales migrate through the Papeete and Moorea-Maiao area. For example, Top Dive mentions whale encounters on their site, but it seems like it is out of Papeete.

-For comparison, flights between Grand Cayman and Little Cayman are in a small prop plane that is not pressurized, making it safe to fly after diving. IIRC, the windows in the cockpit were open during flight. What are the flights like between Papeete, Fakarava, and Rangiroa?

I appreciate any input and/or wisdom. Thanks.

 

[runsongas]

you want air tahiti for the interisland flights. they offer passes that cover interisland flights for certain periods that can be a better option than booking individual flights.

 

[SCUBA Fletch]

-For comparison, flights between Grand Cayman and Little Cayman are in a small prop plane that is not pressurized, making it safe to fly after diving. IIRC, the windows in the cockpit were open during flight.

I am very concerned about this comment, as it is NOT safe to fly after diving regardless. In fact, you can have DCS issues in mountainous areas if you drive in a CAR up over the mountain to another part of the island. Please don't fly for at least 18 hours after diving. <3

Flying After Diving

Pressure changes while flying after diving increase the risk of decompression sickness. Find out what you can do to help lower your likelihood of DCS.

dan.org

 

[Manuel Sam]

-How do people travel between north Fakarava and south Fakarava? Do the airport transfers provided by many of the guest houses extend to moving around the atoll or do I completely misunderstand the layout of the atoll?

The Fakarava airport is in the north. To get to the south requires a 1 1/2 - 2 hr boat ride.

If staying in the south, the resort you are staying at in the south provides the transfer from north to south and then back to the north.

If you are staying in the north, no, the guest house you are staying at there will not provide transportation to the south. To dive the south while staying in the north, you can try to do it as a day trip with any of the dive operators. BUT, the day trip with 2 tanks and lunch usually costs over $200 and there have to be at least 4 people going.

I think we'd like to dive in Rangiroa, both north and south Fakarava, and snorkel with whales. This seems like a 7-10 day trip to me and one we would want to do this fall or fall 2025 since that's when the whale migrate. Does this seem right?

In my opinion, even 10 days is awful tight to do all four. I agree with Scuba Fletch: I would not dive and fly. The nearest chamber is on the island of Tahiti.

What are some good ways to book flights to get from the western U.S. to either Rangiroa or Fakarava and then travel between islands? When I use the Air Tahiti Nui site and try to create an multi-city itinerary, I cannot get flights to pull up between Rangiroa and Fakarava. I am happy to book flights a la carte, but perhaps there are better/easier ways to do this.

The international flights and the domestic flights are booked separately. There are international flights out of LAX on Air Tahiti Nui and Air France to Papeete. And out of San Fran on United and French Bee. And as Runongas said, the domestic flights are on Air Tahiti (not the same as Air Tahiti Nui).

-Since we will need to stay overnight in Papeete in each direction, does it make sense to try the whale encounter while there? From what I can gather, the whales migrate through the Papeete and Moorea-Maiao area. For example, Top Dive mentions whale encounters on their site, but it seems like it is out of Papeete.

I've never heard of whales in Rangiroa or Fakarava. So either Tahiti or Moorea would be your best bet - Moorea is a short ferry ride from Tahiti. Depends on which operator you choose. For whales, I did both Rurutu and Tahiti in Sep/Oct 2022, but in my opinion, you are already starving for time, so adding Rurutu makes no sense.

 

[Dan G]

Thanks for the replies. Sounds like we will either need to plan for 2 weeks or simplify our itinerary. Also seems to make the most sense to start in north Fakarava so we get transport back and forth from the south. I have heard good things about going to Moorea.

I spoke to DAN about flying after diving in a non-pressurized plane and they do not have data for planes that fly at those low altitudes. Their official recommendation is to wait a minimum of 24 hours for non-pressurized cabins since 24 hours is enough time to be fully off gassed after non-deco diving.

 

[Manuel Sam]

Thanks for the replies. Sounds like we will either need to plan for 2 weeks or simplify our itinerary. Also seems to make the most sense to start in north Fakarava so we get transport back and forth from the south. I have heard good things about going to Moorea.

I spoke to DAN about flying after diving in a non-pressurized plane and they do not have data for planes that fly at those low altitudes. Their official recommendation is to wait a minimum of 24 hours for non-pressurized cabins since 24 hours is enough time to be fully off gassed after non-deco diving.

My reply didnt come up clear enough, so my bad.

If you plan on staying in South Fakarava, you can (and I recommend) to start with South Fakarava first. This is what I prefer to do, because on the day that I fly out, I want to be 15 minutes away from the airport by car/van rather than two hours away on a combination of boat and car.

The resort in the south will pick you up at the airport upon arrival. Wth some luck, on the day that you depart the south to go to the north, you can do at least one more dive in the morning in the south before they take you north.

Once they bring you north, the resort that you are staying at in the north will pick you up at a pre-arranged location: could be at the airport or at the village wharf.

Something to factor into your logistics: when I planned my upcoming December trip, Air Tahiti only had direct flights from Fakarava to Rangiroa on Mondays. On other days, they only offer flights back to Papeete: it is likely that you'd have to overnight there and fly to Rangiroa the next morning. That is a waste.

Regarding flying after diving. In December, I am flying from Rangiroa to Tikehau. It is a 15-20 minute flight at best. And yet, none of the dive operators was keen on me flying after making a dive in Rangiroa in the morning.

In my younger days, I'd fly from Saba to St. Maarten after doing two dives. In fact, after the dives, a lot of divers stay in the village of Windwardside, which sits at close to 2000 feet altitude. We were actually encouraged to tell the pilot that we had just dived, in which case, the pilot would stay at or under 2000 feet altitude. But I wouldn't do that anymore.

 

[TostitoBandito]

Thanks for the replies. Sounds like we will either need to plan for 2 weeks or simplify our itinerary. Also seems to make the most sense to start in north Fakarava so we get transport back and forth from the south. I have heard good things about going to Moorea.

I spoke to DAN about flying after diving in a non-pressurized plane and they do not have data for planes that fly at those low altitudes. Their official recommendation is to wait a minimum of 24 hours for non-pressurized cabins since 24 hours is enough time to be fully off gassed after non-deco diving.

Unpressurized aircraft such as twin otters will typically max out around the same altitude as the cabin pressure is set to on a pressurized aircraft. There's not really any reason to treat them differently.

For perspective, most pressurized cabins are set to 8000 feet, with a few newer aircraft being slightly lower. No unpressurized aircraft is ever going to exceed 10000 feet under any circumstances as that would require everyone to don oxygen masks, and in most real world applications you could expect them to not really even exceed 8000-9000 feet so they have a safety margin. I know the 30-90 minute island hopping flights I've taken in Fiji have maxed out anywhere from 4500-8800 feet based on online flight data. In any case, the max altitudes (barring a decompression in flight) are more or less the same.

 

[moorish8idol]

To offer a different perspective, I would also recommend you consider just staying in Fakarava North and doing a day trip to the South. Fakarava South is indeed fantastic diving but I don't think it was so fantastic (compared to the also amazing North pass dives) that I would want to constantly be traveling and lugging my bags around on limited time. Plus there were more non-diving things to do in the North, if that makes any difference. Also, while I was there, I encountered several people that could not get to or from the South Pass due to bad weather. It wasn't bad enough that we couldn't fly in and out of the North or do dives in the North pass however. I encountered several people that couldn't get to their hotels and were kind of stuck in the North without a place to go and imagine it was the same for people trying to get out of the South. It didn't seem terribly uncommon so I was quite glad that I had decided against going down to stay in the South and had a great time on my one day trip down there to do 2 dives.

As discussed above, if coming from the US, chances are that you will arrive in Tahiti early evening and will need to do an overnight before taking your flight to the Tuamotus. Whale season is July-November in Moorea (specifically humpbacks) and if you want to go swimming with them, you will need to book well in advance as it is a highly sought after activity, but one that is regulated and limited. You can grab a quick flight or a 30 minute fast ferry to Moorea from Tahiti. Based on everything you want to do and the logistics, I think you would definitely need 10 days and would need to carefully plan your flights/boat in advance to avoid losing entire days to travel. Totally doable but I think you would want to pick just one location in Fakarava.

 

[Kendall Raine]

Thanks for the replies. Sounds like we will either need to plan for 2 weeks or simplify our itinerary. Also seems to make the most sense to start in north Fakarava so we get transport back and forth from the south. I have heard good things about going to Moorea.

I spoke to DAN about flying after diving in a non-pressurized plane and they do not have data for planes that fly at those low altitudes. Their official recommendation is to wait a minimum of 24 hours for non-pressurized cabins since 24 hours is enough time to be fully off gassed after non-deco diving.

There is more to do in Moorea other than diving (hiking, horseback riding, great food options) and it's a very pretty island and worth touring around.

As for flying after diving, DAN doesn't agree with itself. DAN USA says 18 hours SIT after multi-day multi-no-deco dives per day. DAN Europe says 24 hours. Both assume flying in a pressurized cabin equivalent to 8000 feet.

FWIW, the Navy ascent to altitude tables (Revision 7A dated 30-4-2018) shows 18:00 hours SIT for Rep Group M (your most likely max preceding 24 hour rep group) at 8000 feet but 12:25 hours for Rep Group M at 6000 feet. Either way "flights... in a small prop plane that is not pressurized, making it safe to fly after diving" ain't even close to right.