Is Bora Bora worth diving? I don't want to haul all our dive gear if i don't have to

[1erCRU]

Bora Bora is a small example of how sites change can dramatically (usually for the worse) in very short period; no matter the cause, fishing, pollution, major storms, geologic or political events. It might be wise for all divers to adapt a "window" approach to the their dream trip(s). If the window is open today don't count on it next year. The world is very dynamic and things change.

I've been fortunate to dive some beautiful, magic sites which are sadly now only existent in my memory, some will come back but may take decades, those windows are closed for me.

I really wanted to dive the WW2 wrecks in Rabaul, but the volcano closed that window for me. I really want dive Socotra Island, but pirates make that too dangerous to try, Bikini now no ops on the island, the list goes on.

 

[kerrycorcoran]

This was some very good information. The wife has been kicking around the idea of a Bora Bora trip and I was open to the destination as right now I'm all about making bubbles. Either way I am sure we'll end up going, just know now that I don't necessarily need to lug my gear with.

 

[anenomefishman]

Honestly, the overweight fees for the inter island flights in French Polynesia aren't bad at all. You're right, they charge by the kg, and it's pretty inexpensive compared to what fees we see here even just for an extra bag, or now, for the first bag.

We had 8 flights between us, along with both of our dive bags, and the over weight for all 8 flights combined was about $150. We take our stuff, because we prefer to use only our gear but we also go to the atolls and stay over 2 weeks so dive quite a bit.

Bora Bora is nice, not spectacular, not bad, and I think a couple days of 2 dives each will probably get you enough, maybe a third day. That said, I wouldn't be able to go to FP and not dive at all.

We didn't see any shark feeding on any of our dives, and we did see a Manta, quite a bit of coral actually, and black tips of course, and enjoyed it. It's definitely not the same as atoll diving, but we enjoyed it for what it is.

It is easy, relaxing diving, and of the locations you can go in FP, if you are using rental gear on Bora, it should be in really good condition.

Air Tahiti Nui (if you take them and not air france) from LA to Papeete gives you a dive bag for free, if you show your dive card. If you each have a bag, then you each need to show a card. We take our camera gear with us as carry on, and check the dive gear

There's plenty else to do on Bora as well as dive too, the lagoon really is beautiful. ARe you set on the full 10 nights in Bora? Often, people split that 5/5 or something similar and go to two places and an island/atoll split makes for a nice combination. EIther way, have a great time!

thanks for tip. we used air tahiti nui dive gear allowance, so we did not have to pay for scuba baggage. that worked well. diving was pretty mediocre overall, lots of black tips, lemon sharks, and some mantas. vis not real hot, maybe 70 ft at best where lemon sharks/black tips were and 30-35 ft where mantas were. we dove with topdive. made a total of 4 dives in bora bora.

 

[anenomefishman]

Hi Bruce,

My husband and I got back yesterday from our 9 day dive trip in Bora Bora. We hauled both of our regulators, BC's, wetsuits, masks, and fins. We knew that BB wasn't world renowned for diving but figured it couldn't be that bad considering how beautiful the water is here. Here was our experience:

On our first day, the divemaster said we'd be doing a really easy dive so he could get an idea of our skill level, so when it was completely boring, we thought we knew why. Then, we did the second dive. It consisted of dropping in to about 50' and swimming 30' above a dead reef for 40 minutes against a current. When we reached the "end of the reef" there was a school of fish. My husband and I kept looking at eachother like "what are we doing??"

The next day of diving went on the same way. We dove the third day and did see a lot of mantas, but we ended up cancelling all of our remaining dives. Visibility was never more than 50' or so. There are no large or colorful coral structures. You will see a few sharks and lots of fish schools. There is a specific Manta dive as well. If that's your thing, you might like it. For us, it was not worth the time, effort, and money to dive in Bora Bora.

we saw many black tip sharks, lemon sharks, stingrays, and some mantas and eagle rays. here is a manta ray pic for you. the vis was really crappy, so excuse poor pic, but this is the best one i got of mantas.



Bruce.

 

[anenomefishman]

Bora Bora is a small example of how sites change can dramatically (usually for the worse) in very short period; no matter the cause, fishing, pollution, major storms, geologic or political events. It might be wise for all divers to adapt a "window" approach to the their dream trip(s). If the window is open today don't count on it next year. The world is very dynamic and things change.

I've been fortunate to dive some beautiful, magic sites which are sadly now only existent in my memory, some will come back but may take decades, those windows are closed for me.

I really wanted to dive the WW2 wrecks in Rabaul, but the volcano closed that window for me. I really want dive Socotra Island, but pirates make that too dangerous to try, Bikini now no ops on the island, the list goes on.

there are some very good WWII wrecks to dive on Truk, if you have not checked that out yet.