General travel
We travelled Dec 1 – 14, 2016 on our first trip to French Polynesia and our first cruise. Normally we do land based trips and given how spread out FP is, we decided to try a cruise, the Paul Gauguin. We thought this would allow us to visit multiple islands and give us an idea of where to stay if we decided to return for a land based trip in the future.
The islands visited were: Society Islands – Huahine, Taha’a, Bora Bora and Moorea. Tuamotus – Rangiroa and Fakarava. Tahiti is the starting and ending point.
We travelled from Denver Colorado on an American Airlines flight to LAX then Air France to Papeete. We checked our bags through from Denver and then from Papeete to Denver. The lie flat seats were comfortable but for me not quite lie flat although much better than if I had been in a normal seat. Excellent service and food on the Air France flight. Flight time from LAX to PPT is about 8.5 hours. The Denver to LAX flights were Embraer planes so smaller and one side of the overhead compartments is smaller than the other side. Important for me as I had carry on camera gear. Air France Boeing 777 bins were large with plenty of space.
American Airlines service in LAX from and to Denver was from their satellite terminal (off terminal 6) which is a pain in the neck due to the ground shuttle. They do have a walkway from the domestic terminal to the Intl terminal behind security and it is reasonably well marked.
LAX Tom Bradley Intl terminal is a zoo which reminded me why I don’t like intl travel from LAX. Somewhere in LAX, either TSA or baggage handlers managed to damage two bags but they were still usable. Air France uses the Korean Air lounge in LAX and the gate we used was directly down from the lounge.
Faa’a (PPT) is an open air airport. Counters, gates, shops and lounges are all open air and have mostly fans. Being summer, it was hot. Boarding is via outside exits from the gates. Still relatively easy.
We overnighted in Papeete at the Intercontinental which is a beautiful property but is showing it’s age. The food was average but the service was excellent.
The Paul Gauguin is a round/flat bottom ship so it rolls a bit more but the design allows it to enter the lagoons via the passes. I recall the captain saying it had a draft of 5.2 meters but they use around 7 m to ensure passage.
Topside
We did what they call a cultural tour of Huahine since no diving was scheduled. It was informative and we saw some ruins, Vanilla “farm”, blue eyed fresh water eels, vistas and received general information on industries, religion, construction techniques, how to use vanilla beans, and other interesting tidbits.
My wife did a helicopter tour of Bora Bora and got some good still photos. She said it was fantastic. She did not dive due to a neck injury and was especially disappointed in that fact.
The Paul Gauguin has a motu they use in Taha’a with facilities and tenders people to it. Not a lot to see in the small pass but I did see a large southern stingray and a few colorful fish while snorkeling.
Overall topside, well – it’s French Polynesia.
Diving
I dove all the islands where available and some multiple days as we overnighted in Bora Bora and Moorea. I was unable to dive Fakarava which was very disappointing. One of the divers who did both said Fakarava was exponentially better than Rangiroa for what he saw on both. We did stop at Huahine but diving was not available for us. The ship did separate experienced and new divers on the trips with the second tank on the am two tank for newer divers or ran a separate afternoon single tank dive for newer divers. Divers were vetted for Rangiroa and Fakarava by experience.
I dived via the ship however the same diver mentioned above bought a Top Dive pass which was cheaper. Not having used a cruise ship for diving, I chose the ship to ensure that I could get back onboard. The Top Dive pass diver had no issues though. I figured that if there were a problem it would be difficult to get a last minute flight to catch up with the ship. The Tuamotus are about 300 miles from the Society Islands as I understand.
I dived mostly outer reef on all islands but did do one inside the lagoon which had low visibility due to low current. Overall vis was down with lots of particles which made backscatter and issue.
The outer reef dives had medium current and low to high surge depending on how close we were to the higher part of the reef and to the passes. At some points, especially in Rangiroa, near the pass entrances we got some washing machine currents which on a few were tough to get out of. Definitely be in shape for those.
All dives were moored dives. The boats were all zodiacs. The ship zodiac had a center tank rack while the dive op in Rangiroa (Six Passengers) was open so we needed to keep our gear between our legs. Water entry on all zodiacs was side roll.
The water outside the passes could be rough at times near the reef so holding on to the side ropes was necessary as well as maintaining balance. We did bounce quite a bit.
Neither the ship nor Six passengers had any kind of camera bucket but that was probably a good thing as it was better to hold my camera myself. Having a camera bouncing in the bottom of a dive tank/bucket would have been a bad thing. Both would hand me my camera and take it back aboard.
Overall the diving I saw was all about sharks and fish. Mostly there were Black Tip reef sharks, Lemon sharks and a few White Tip reef sharks. We were told the feeding stopped about 3-4 years ago but there are plenty of sharks coming around. Almost all was low hard corals with very little soft coral. We did see two mantas and heard dolphins but did not see any UW. Large schools of fish and other colorful fish can be seen. We did see quite a few Eagle rays as well at multiple islands. There were a few Hawksbill turtles with one very friendly one known to the DM’s.
It is a bit difficult to shoot still photographs in the surge on the outer reefs so some patience is necessary. All DMs were patient but they still had to try to keep the group together. As usual as a photographer I was in the back. Make sure you communicate with the DMs as they may be taking you to sites for a particular reason. SI’s with the ship were all back onboard the ship as it has a platform they lower on the stern.
Diving was mostly two tank am diving. Night dives were not an option.
This dive trip was more of a sampler dive trip as we visited many islands.
Rangiroa
I did dive Rangiroa on the outside reefs due to the current being in the wrong direction in Tiputa pass. There seemed to be a lot of rubble on many parts of the reef and coral was not in good shape. I would hope that other areas of Rangiroa were better but I did not see it. Somewhat disappointing.
There were two large manta rays that came by the wall edge but I was closer in to the reef taking photos of fish to get good manta shots but I can now say I have seen them.
As we got closer to the pass entrance, we did get in washing machine currents so at one point I had to get a low as I possibly could to the bottom and use my arms as well as legs to get out of it. This was definitely more advanced diving.
Coming back through the Tiputa pass we had about 6 dolphins riding the bow wave. I tried to get still shots but had I been smarter about it I would have hit the video button. I just don’t shoot enough video to even remember it’s there. The SI was at the Six Passengers dive shop where they had water and I think some juice available. They did provide me with AL 100 tanks. I would dive with Six Passengers again.
The ship did try to provide me with steel 100 tanks but the valve thickness was too wide for my reg yoke so I dived with AL 80’s.
Bora Bora and Moorea
Most dives were on the outer reefs however we did dive the lagoon side in Moorea. The latter had low vis due to low currents. I did see Eagle Rays, pipefish, many other fish, and sharks though less than the outer reef side. We dove the outer reefs around Opunohu bay and between Opunohu and Cook’s bay.
The outer reefs at both seemed to have healthier and more coral than Rangiroa. Again it could have been the site we dove in Rangiroa that was poorer.
Most outer reef dives featured many sharks, mostly Black Tip reef sharks but many large Lemon sharks. At no time did any exhibit any aggressive behavior and many approached.
Large schools of fish, colorful fish, puffers, small crevice and bottom dwelling fish are to be found. I found the photography to be better in Moorea than Bora Bora but could have been the site and day as a difference.
Taha’a
We did stop at Taha’a but diving was cancelled due to lack of interest (not mine).
Photos
See the Flickr album - https://www.flickr.com/photos/144696783@N04/albums/72157678131411485
Initially I used a wide angle lens with a dome port and after enough landscape and targets too far away, I switched to a 12-50 mm zoom lens on my 4/3 camera. I did not try to do macro as the surge was a bit too much on the outer reefs.
We travelled Dec 1 – 14, 2016 on our first trip to French Polynesia and our first cruise. Normally we do land based trips and given how spread out FP is, we decided to try a cruise, the Paul Gauguin. We thought this would allow us to visit multiple islands and give us an idea of where to stay if we decided to return for a land based trip in the future.
The islands visited were: Society Islands – Huahine, Taha’a, Bora Bora and Moorea. Tuamotus – Rangiroa and Fakarava. Tahiti is the starting and ending point.
We travelled from Denver Colorado on an American Airlines flight to LAX then Air France to Papeete. We checked our bags through from Denver and then from Papeete to Denver. The lie flat seats were comfortable but for me not quite lie flat although much better than if I had been in a normal seat. Excellent service and food on the Air France flight. Flight time from LAX to PPT is about 8.5 hours. The Denver to LAX flights were Embraer planes so smaller and one side of the overhead compartments is smaller than the other side. Important for me as I had carry on camera gear. Air France Boeing 777 bins were large with plenty of space.
American Airlines service in LAX from and to Denver was from their satellite terminal (off terminal 6) which is a pain in the neck due to the ground shuttle. They do have a walkway from the domestic terminal to the Intl terminal behind security and it is reasonably well marked.
LAX Tom Bradley Intl terminal is a zoo which reminded me why I don’t like intl travel from LAX. Somewhere in LAX, either TSA or baggage handlers managed to damage two bags but they were still usable. Air France uses the Korean Air lounge in LAX and the gate we used was directly down from the lounge.
Faa’a (PPT) is an open air airport. Counters, gates, shops and lounges are all open air and have mostly fans. Being summer, it was hot. Boarding is via outside exits from the gates. Still relatively easy.
We overnighted in Papeete at the Intercontinental which is a beautiful property but is showing it’s age. The food was average but the service was excellent.
The Paul Gauguin is a round/flat bottom ship so it rolls a bit more but the design allows it to enter the lagoons via the passes. I recall the captain saying it had a draft of 5.2 meters but they use around 7 m to ensure passage.
Topside
We did what they call a cultural tour of Huahine since no diving was scheduled. It was informative and we saw some ruins, Vanilla “farm”, blue eyed fresh water eels, vistas and received general information on industries, religion, construction techniques, how to use vanilla beans, and other interesting tidbits.
My wife did a helicopter tour of Bora Bora and got some good still photos. She said it was fantastic. She did not dive due to a neck injury and was especially disappointed in that fact.
The Paul Gauguin has a motu they use in Taha’a with facilities and tenders people to it. Not a lot to see in the small pass but I did see a large southern stingray and a few colorful fish while snorkeling.
Overall topside, well – it’s French Polynesia.
Diving
I dove all the islands where available and some multiple days as we overnighted in Bora Bora and Moorea. I was unable to dive Fakarava which was very disappointing. One of the divers who did both said Fakarava was exponentially better than Rangiroa for what he saw on both. We did stop at Huahine but diving was not available for us. The ship did separate experienced and new divers on the trips with the second tank on the am two tank for newer divers or ran a separate afternoon single tank dive for newer divers. Divers were vetted for Rangiroa and Fakarava by experience.
I dived via the ship however the same diver mentioned above bought a Top Dive pass which was cheaper. Not having used a cruise ship for diving, I chose the ship to ensure that I could get back onboard. The Top Dive pass diver had no issues though. I figured that if there were a problem it would be difficult to get a last minute flight to catch up with the ship. The Tuamotus are about 300 miles from the Society Islands as I understand.
I dived mostly outer reef on all islands but did do one inside the lagoon which had low visibility due to low current. Overall vis was down with lots of particles which made backscatter and issue.
The outer reef dives had medium current and low to high surge depending on how close we were to the higher part of the reef and to the passes. At some points, especially in Rangiroa, near the pass entrances we got some washing machine currents which on a few were tough to get out of. Definitely be in shape for those.
All dives were moored dives. The boats were all zodiacs. The ship zodiac had a center tank rack while the dive op in Rangiroa (Six Passengers) was open so we needed to keep our gear between our legs. Water entry on all zodiacs was side roll.
The water outside the passes could be rough at times near the reef so holding on to the side ropes was necessary as well as maintaining balance. We did bounce quite a bit.
Neither the ship nor Six passengers had any kind of camera bucket but that was probably a good thing as it was better to hold my camera myself. Having a camera bouncing in the bottom of a dive tank/bucket would have been a bad thing. Both would hand me my camera and take it back aboard.
Overall the diving I saw was all about sharks and fish. Mostly there were Black Tip reef sharks, Lemon sharks and a few White Tip reef sharks. We were told the feeding stopped about 3-4 years ago but there are plenty of sharks coming around. Almost all was low hard corals with very little soft coral. We did see two mantas and heard dolphins but did not see any UW. Large schools of fish and other colorful fish can be seen. We did see quite a few Eagle rays as well at multiple islands. There were a few Hawksbill turtles with one very friendly one known to the DM’s.
It is a bit difficult to shoot still photographs in the surge on the outer reefs so some patience is necessary. All DMs were patient but they still had to try to keep the group together. As usual as a photographer I was in the back. Make sure you communicate with the DMs as they may be taking you to sites for a particular reason. SI’s with the ship were all back onboard the ship as it has a platform they lower on the stern.
Diving was mostly two tank am diving. Night dives were not an option.
This dive trip was more of a sampler dive trip as we visited many islands.
Rangiroa
I did dive Rangiroa on the outside reefs due to the current being in the wrong direction in Tiputa pass. There seemed to be a lot of rubble on many parts of the reef and coral was not in good shape. I would hope that other areas of Rangiroa were better but I did not see it. Somewhat disappointing.
There were two large manta rays that came by the wall edge but I was closer in to the reef taking photos of fish to get good manta shots but I can now say I have seen them.
As we got closer to the pass entrance, we did get in washing machine currents so at one point I had to get a low as I possibly could to the bottom and use my arms as well as legs to get out of it. This was definitely more advanced diving.
Coming back through the Tiputa pass we had about 6 dolphins riding the bow wave. I tried to get still shots but had I been smarter about it I would have hit the video button. I just don’t shoot enough video to even remember it’s there. The SI was at the Six Passengers dive shop where they had water and I think some juice available. They did provide me with AL 100 tanks. I would dive with Six Passengers again.
The ship did try to provide me with steel 100 tanks but the valve thickness was too wide for my reg yoke so I dived with AL 80’s.
Bora Bora and Moorea
Most dives were on the outer reefs however we did dive the lagoon side in Moorea. The latter had low vis due to low currents. I did see Eagle Rays, pipefish, many other fish, and sharks though less than the outer reef side. We dove the outer reefs around Opunohu bay and between Opunohu and Cook’s bay.
The outer reefs at both seemed to have healthier and more coral than Rangiroa. Again it could have been the site we dove in Rangiroa that was poorer.
Most outer reef dives featured many sharks, mostly Black Tip reef sharks but many large Lemon sharks. At no time did any exhibit any aggressive behavior and many approached.
Large schools of fish, colorful fish, puffers, small crevice and bottom dwelling fish are to be found. I found the photography to be better in Moorea than Bora Bora but could have been the site and day as a difference.
Taha’a
We did stop at Taha’a but diving was cancelled due to lack of interest (not mine).
Photos
See the Flickr album - https://www.flickr.com/photos/144696783@N04/albums/72157678131411485
Initially I used a wide angle lens with a dome port and after enough landscape and targets too far away, I switched to a 12-50 mm zoom lens on my 4/3 camera. I did not try to do macro as the surge was a bit too much on the outer reefs.
