French Polynesia - Advice Please

[Hutch12]

Hi All,

My wife and I intend to take a 2 week trip to French Polynesia over New Year and in to January. I have several questions but all help and advice is welcome and appreciated.

We do like a good mix of diving but really enjoy palegics especially lots of sharks, (the large schools of sharks is one of the main reasons we are looking at FP) and good corals however macro is also welcome.


Time of year - is January a sensible time to go to FP, including weather, dive conditions etc?


Places to dive - we have identified 4/5 possible places to visit during our trip, but have decided to limit this to only 2/3 to give ourselves enough time to enjoy each place and to cut down on time wasted traveling.

Is this about right? Is 3/4 days in 3 places more advisable than say 5 days in 2 places? Alternatively do people do 2 days in 5 places?

Thoughts please on;

Rangiora
Fakarava (North, South or both)
Bora Bora
Moorea
Tahiti

How long in these places and what can we expect to see on dives?

Recommendations on Dive Opps in these places?

Initially our preference would be a Liveaboard covering multiple places with 4 dives a day, but we can't seem to find any? We have seen the dive "cruises" but these are not we are looking for.

My next question is less important but worth asking all the same; as we plan to be in FP over New Year's Eve, is there anywhere in the places mentioned that we we should try to get to for NYE over others? We are not looking for massive bars or clubs but maybe some place with a couple of bars or restaurants or some place with other people instead of spending NYE alone in a quiet villa / beach hut.


Understand that there a lot of questions here and that much is down to personal taste and opinion, but that is the benefit of SB.......


Thanks in advance.........

 

[Wingy]

Personally I spent the month of January in FP - Bora Bora is not a dive destination there is a really good french guy who you can book via the lovely lady Robyn who books tours for the cruise shippers down at Viapete or your hotel will book Topdive who tend to be the cattleboat of BB. The two mainly dived spots there are reasonable, lots of lemon sharks and a couple of mantas, nothing amazing.

Rangiroa is where you will find pelargics and big currents if you are lucky. To the best of my knowledge there is no liveaboards in the area other than the Paul Gaugin which is more a cruise ship than a dive boat though diving is possible from the PG. I personally LOVE rangiroa the most of all the FP islands i visited. Check out youtube and you will see some amazing clips. The people there are lovely and simply enjoy their ocean and land and its a blissful downtime dive destination guaranteed to blow your mind.

Fakarava i missed due to plane delays although i have heard amazing things about it and that is where you will find soft corals where Rangi is rocky passes.

Mooreas diving was pretty average after Rangiroa - maybe thats the tip, do Moorea and BB first then head to Rangi and Fakarava and spend your last couple of days in Tahiti. I dived a spot called coral gardens with a local friend there and another spot that had a polynesian name I wont even begin to try and pronounce.

Id do the 4 days 3 dives a day option if you have a little less time and Id recommend Pension Tiena and Marie on Rangiroa for good basic accomodation so you can throw caution to the wind and blow the budget if you want an overwater bungalow on Bora Bora - as everyone should NYE rates for hotels on BB may be pretty exorbitant It WILL rain most days in January, but, if you are a diver you will get wet anyway and its still warm. There are no real nightclubs anywhere in FP other than in downtown Papeete (there are a few areas of papeete where I wouldnt recommend walking around at night) but you could probably class Bloody Marys on Bora Bora as the place to spend NYE as it will be raging.

There is still a sale on internal airfairs with air tahiti onto Rangi and Fakarava I believe. Everyone basically flies between islands. You wont regret it and you will get your hearts fill of sharky action. Have fun!

 

[drbill]

I only dove Moorea when I was there and was thrilled with the number of sharks... just wish I'd been traveling with my camera. However, I've heard even greater things about Rangiroa and would love to head back there with my HD video rig.

 

[Mike]

Rangiora
Fakarava (North, South or both)
Bora Bora
Moorea
Tahiti

How long in these places and what can we expect to see on dives?

Recommendations on Dive Opps in these places?..

Rangiroa and Fakarava are the top destinations for experienced divers. I think you'll find Bora Bora, Moorea and Tahiti pretty good if you didn't dive the other two, and much more touristy than the other two.

Rangiroa and Fakarava are about diving the passes, the openings to the lagoons formed by the ring of Motus, based on incoming our outgoing tides. Sharks, sharks and more sharks.

Youtube is your friend. There is a great video made by a documentary guy about the diving in Rangiroa, he does it on a rebreather and goes down to 300 ft and the swarms of sharks he finds are unbelievable, but the rest of the footage is in the more accomodating depths and it gives you a great idea of the diving.

Heading to Rangiroa at the end of the month, will report back my experiences.

 

[scubajunky17]

If your only looking at two diving destinations. Rangiroa and Fakarava was easily some of / the best diving I have ever done in my life, but nowhere else in my life have I come out of the water totally satisfied with every dive and feeling like I could or should pinch myself just to check that it wasn;t all a dream. I heard January you have a great chance of weeing giant hammerheads feeding on eagle rays ! I think pretty much anytime is a good time to be there but try and check that ytou are there for the big tied and the full moons, no moons etc.

 

[marine9]

Thanks to all!
Planning on going next year, looking forward to it.

 

[ronscuba]

Moorea first for topside photography and activities. The mountains are beautiful. You're going to Tahiti after all, have to experience the topside beauty. Get an overwater bungalow at Moorea Sofitel for fantastic snorkeling right off your balcony. After the Moorea snorkeling has wet your appetite, Rangiroa for diving.

 

[marine9]

Thanks!

 

[Shasta_man]

You can get the overwater bungalow in Rangiroa as well. Very cool and worth every extraordinary cent though it ruins you for future hotel room value.

Don't go down and look at the passes first before going in. It looks a little hairy from shore, but it's great when you dive it.

Don't bother looking places for NYE because there aren't any except the major hotels unless you are on Tahiti itself. FP isn't a party place.

 

[marine9]

Thanks as well!