Back from amazing days in the FP and I want to share my diving experience with you.
Bora Bora:
Very simple dive sites, after a while they get Boring Boring. Went to Anau 2 times, one with good visibility where we saw the mantas and another with "milky" condition where the mantas were harder to see but the low viz created an ethereal experience. Went twice at Toopua Iti where at first we saw 8 spotted eagle rays doing their show, and the next time just 2 rays but on a frenzy quick swim. Dove 4 times Tapu, visibility is great (50m+) but you see one black tip here, one lemon shark there and that's it. Wife snorkeled with me both at Anau and Tapu and she had fun with marine life and "supervising" me.
In Bora Bora I dove with Top Dive which unfortunately did not meet safety standards I am used to. There were no O2 analyzers for ENX mixes and many people dove with what guides said to be approximately 32% ENX.
Rangiroa:
The topside in Bora Bora is amazing, but the marine life in Rangi is unbeliveable! I had only time for 6 dives and in hindsight I wish I had cut my Bora Bora time shorter to spend more time in Rangi! First dive in Avatoru pass we started to hear whales on the descent but no sight of them, started seeing Silver tips, black tips, grey sharks, Manta Rays, and by mid dive 2 humpback silhouettes on the deep blue... To finish I saw some more black and white tips, some jack fishes and went back to surface as a happy diver. 2nd dive we did a Tiputa Pass Drifiting, where I could see hundreds of Black Tips, greys and white tips, several tunas, and still the humpback whales whistles (but no seeing this time) another amazing dive. Later in the afternoon we went to Tiputa for a Sunset dive where we could see dozens of Black tips, surgeonfishes reproducing, and Napoleon Maori Wrasses eating eggs and all mayhem they could cause.
The next day, I had a fist dive that was terrible - poor gas management on my side with the strong currents we got close to the drop off - and not much marine activity this time. When we got back to the 6 Passengers HQ some buddies saw my disappointing face and said they would ask the next guide to maximize the possibility of dolphin encounter. We descent for the second dive of the day and started to hear dolphins, after a while my group saw and started to swim towards them, I was the last of the group (taking pictures and videos) and then I saw (and took pictures of) a great Hammerhead - that I had been dreaming for months - and later dolphins started to play with us. Our guide had "some talk" with our group after the dive because some people of our group did not follow the rules to play with dolphins that were explained to us before the dive. My last dive in Rangi was again very good, with lots of marine life and things going on: this time dolphins were hunting zooming through us and did not want to play. I saw more than I expected to see in such a short time. I really liked the professionalism and safety standards of the 6 Passangers operation.
Non diving wife had fun snorkeling the Pass and the Aquarium, she was amazed by the sheer amount of unicorn fishes and sharks that she could see even snorkeling!
Fakarava:
We stayed 3 nights in Fakarava Sud in the Tetamanu Village. Unfortunately the weather did not collaborate (big swell with strong south winds) and the boat ride was pretty rough. The next day I dove 2 times the Tomakohua pass with outgoing current and while visibility was not at its best, I could notices how pristine corals are in Fakarava and the amount of sharks in the place is truly amazing. The next day we dove again the pass on outgoing current but this time through a different route and viz was much better and I could see the dozens of sharks lined up in the current for their breakfast. In the afternoon we went for the famous Wall of Sharks, started the descent listening to whales whistles but could not see it/them, dive was deeper than I was expecting and shark activity was not at its peak. Finally finished with an amazing night dive surrounded by several sharks. Fakarava is indeed sharkland!
Wife got bored there. In hindsight we should have stayed the whole Tuamotu period in Rangiroa, as I believe the diving is more diverse in terms of marine life, I would have had an extra day of diving and my wife would have more activities. In Fakarava we did not even have cell phone connection, the instructors living there said that they some times spend weeks with no internet. It is a remote place and that's why is good for some people while bad for others. I loved the place and would gladly be back, but wife probably would not mind going back, though she said she loved Rangi.
Tetamanu Diving Center (Eleuthera) was very professional and is a very short trip to the pass, but not Nitrox (apparently everywhere in Fakarava).
Bora Bora:
Very simple dive sites, after a while they get Boring Boring. Went to Anau 2 times, one with good visibility where we saw the mantas and another with "milky" condition where the mantas were harder to see but the low viz created an ethereal experience. Went twice at Toopua Iti where at first we saw 8 spotted eagle rays doing their show, and the next time just 2 rays but on a frenzy quick swim. Dove 4 times Tapu, visibility is great (50m+) but you see one black tip here, one lemon shark there and that's it. Wife snorkeled with me both at Anau and Tapu and she had fun with marine life and "supervising" me.
In Bora Bora I dove with Top Dive which unfortunately did not meet safety standards I am used to. There were no O2 analyzers for ENX mixes and many people dove with what guides said to be approximately 32% ENX.
Rangiroa:
The topside in Bora Bora is amazing, but the marine life in Rangi is unbeliveable! I had only time for 6 dives and in hindsight I wish I had cut my Bora Bora time shorter to spend more time in Rangi! First dive in Avatoru pass we started to hear whales on the descent but no sight of them, started seeing Silver tips, black tips, grey sharks, Manta Rays, and by mid dive 2 humpback silhouettes on the deep blue... To finish I saw some more black and white tips, some jack fishes and went back to surface as a happy diver. 2nd dive we did a Tiputa Pass Drifiting, where I could see hundreds of Black Tips, greys and white tips, several tunas, and still the humpback whales whistles (but no seeing this time) another amazing dive. Later in the afternoon we went to Tiputa for a Sunset dive where we could see dozens of Black tips, surgeonfishes reproducing, and Napoleon Maori Wrasses eating eggs and all mayhem they could cause.
The next day, I had a fist dive that was terrible - poor gas management on my side with the strong currents we got close to the drop off - and not much marine activity this time. When we got back to the 6 Passengers HQ some buddies saw my disappointing face and said they would ask the next guide to maximize the possibility of dolphin encounter. We descent for the second dive of the day and started to hear dolphins, after a while my group saw and started to swim towards them, I was the last of the group (taking pictures and videos) and then I saw (and took pictures of) a great Hammerhead - that I had been dreaming for months - and later dolphins started to play with us. Our guide had "some talk" with our group after the dive because some people of our group did not follow the rules to play with dolphins that were explained to us before the dive. My last dive in Rangi was again very good, with lots of marine life and things going on: this time dolphins were hunting zooming through us and did not want to play. I saw more than I expected to see in such a short time. I really liked the professionalism and safety standards of the 6 Passangers operation.
Non diving wife had fun snorkeling the Pass and the Aquarium, she was amazed by the sheer amount of unicorn fishes and sharks that she could see even snorkeling!
Fakarava:
We stayed 3 nights in Fakarava Sud in the Tetamanu Village. Unfortunately the weather did not collaborate (big swell with strong south winds) and the boat ride was pretty rough. The next day I dove 2 times the Tomakohua pass with outgoing current and while visibility was not at its best, I could notices how pristine corals are in Fakarava and the amount of sharks in the place is truly amazing. The next day we dove again the pass on outgoing current but this time through a different route and viz was much better and I could see the dozens of sharks lined up in the current for their breakfast. In the afternoon we went for the famous Wall of Sharks, started the descent listening to whales whistles but could not see it/them, dive was deeper than I was expecting and shark activity was not at its peak. Finally finished with an amazing night dive surrounded by several sharks. Fakarava is indeed sharkland!
Wife got bored there. In hindsight we should have stayed the whole Tuamotu period in Rangiroa, as I believe the diving is more diverse in terms of marine life, I would have had an extra day of diving and my wife would have more activities. In Fakarava we did not even have cell phone connection, the instructors living there said that they some times spend weeks with no internet. It is a remote place and that's why is good for some people while bad for others. I loved the place and would gladly be back, but wife probably would not mind going back, though she said she loved Rangi.
Tetamanu Diving Center (Eleuthera) was very professional and is a very short trip to the pass, but not Nitrox (apparently everywhere in Fakarava).
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