Samoa, Rarotonga, Cairns, Whangarei or Noumea and diving

I will be arriving into Australia for about 7 days in Feb. I wouldm't mind visiting a friend in Auckland for a day and dive somewhere with this great USD exchange rate....

I know I don't have much time

I have a few options -
1. Just go again to Cairns and dive on the liveaboard I did 2x already. It was very nice both times and really enjoyed it and recommend it.
2. Go to Whangarei (WRE) and dive Poor Knights Islands. That should be also good for a stopover in Auckland to see a friend.
3. Go to Samoa (APW). Dive there. Not sure where to stay. I'm on a budget but then again I like my 5* accommodations. Looks like diving would run about 350USD for 8 tanks or so.
4. Go to Rarotonga (RAR). Same as #3 plans.
5. Go to Noumea (NOU) Same as #3 plans, but since the cost is in euros, it might be a but more expensive. But there seems to be branded hotels there.....

Any recommendations? I have from 6th to 12th of Feb to get back to Sydney..

We had a one day stop at Rarotonga on our cruise in October. I liked the island and the people, but the diving was similar to the rest of the diving we did in the Society Islands -- lots of dead coral, lots of crown of thorns starfish, not a huge amount of reef fish. I wouldn't make a specific trip to dive there again, myself.

Can you get to Rangiroa? The diving there was awesome.

I dont believe so.
The options given is what I can use my airlines miles for a free ticket (except Cairns)
I also heard Cairns during that time is not very good, is that true?
As I look at it, I can go to Poor Knights Islands for about 3 days or head over to Samoa for 3 days or so also.

the diving at the poor knights is amazing and right now ... well its no different.
the blue water has come through. visbility has been reported as 15-20m

but then everybody knows i am biased about the amazing diving in my backyard.

Just my quick 2 cents worth, don't bother wasting your time or money on Noumea. The diving there is very average and besides that you deserve to be amazed if the dive operators even bother turning up for your booked "excursion". The shortage of good diving is reflected in the low numbers of operators available there.
Considering that the trip over to Noumea would wipe out at least 2 days of your time (allowing for de-gas before flying) you could do far better without leaving Australia.
Same time considerations would need to be allowed for N.Z. or Cook Islands dives.

As I said, just my 2 cents worth based on my own experiences.

Greg
AUSTRALIA

I just did a weekend trip out of brisbane. Got to see a bit of the city too which was nice.

I don't know anything about Samoa, Raritonga or Noumea, but if you've already done the liveaboard in Cairns twice, I'd do the Poor Knights. Were you intending to fly to Whangerei from Auckland? If so, it's probably not worth the hassle. It would probably take you less than three hours to drive from Auckland all the way to Tutukaka.