French Polynesia - Best And Worst Times To Go?

[wico6768]

We got every year, mid to late march through early april, and we go to Rangiroa now

We've been to bora bora, huahine, tahaa, moorea, fakarava, tikehau

Now, we go to rangiroa

I loved the lagoon in bora bora, worth seeing to see the lagoon, diving is not stellar there

We have had iffy weather in march, but generally it rains a bit then stops. This year was awesome! It's our anniversary, that's when we go. We stay in a pension and we love it. if we could live there we would.

Diving is amazing, and viz generally spectacular there (rangiroa)
Been there many times, never had a 'storm' as such. It's our favorite place ever, and we will keep going back year after year after year. And, do it in March.

 

[Worldwide Dive and Sail]

Have a look to this infographic showing you the French Polynesia diving calendar !

 

[nwflyboy]

Bumping this (my) old thread for an update...

We are now focusing on the Tuamotus - definitely Rangiroa and Fakarava, perhaps one more island, but definitely the Tuamotus.

For a variety of reasons, we are considering a trip in December. We would have a little more than 2 weeks there, not including travel time. I know that's the "rainy season" (of course, this makes me chuckle, as I live in Seattle, where we get our share of rain...much colder than any that ever falls in French Polynesia).

My question is: how rainy is the rainy season generally - what should one expect? The Tuamotus are described as "the sunniest" of French Polynesia. In their rainy season, do they typically get an occasional, brief passing shower, or several days in a row of uninterrupted, hard, driving rain? Since it's the South Pacific, I'm guessing that (unless you get real unlucky and a cyclone blows through) even in the rainy season, you probably get more sunny days than cloudy/rainy days over any week you're there (and that on "rainy days" it's generally not raining hard all day - that has generally been my experience elsewhere in the tropical Indo-Pacific). Is that about right? How about visibility impacts during the rainy season there?

Basically, I'm trying to get a sense of how much the experience would be "compromised" due to weather during that time of year (December). I'm OK with "a little". If it's more likely to be very rainy for extended stretches (and significantly worse dive conditions), then I would probably reconsider.

Thanks for your input.

 

[Boiler_81]

I can't answer the weather question but I can say you made great choices for islands. Here is a trip report I did a few years ago on those two islands. Trip report for Rangiroa and Fakarava in French Polynesia It's rather long. If there is one thing you should take from it is to make sure your certifications are up to the French standards and they recognize the card. To go on most dives, you will need Advanced PLUS Rescue in the North American system.

I had an SEI card which is equivalent to CMAS 3 star. That card should have allowed me to do any dive. However, the operators did not recognize it as such. When I returned to the US, I had SEI to issue me a CMAS 3 star card. I'm ready to go for my next trip.

 

[Wingy]

I spent the entire month of January in FP a few years ago - in the Societies they had apparently had rain every day until christmas day where the Tuomotos had apparently a lot less rain through december that year. In the month I was there I had one rainy day on Moorea which resulted in a bit of brown run off in opunohu bay and one massive 6 hour long very intense electrical storm in Rangiroa

- diving was great - boatman wasnt too happy - above image taken from verandah at Pension Teina E Marie. Paul Allen's Octopus is sitting just out there but has disappeared into the rain.

I am CMAS certified and as Boiler has mentioned, you will get far better bang for your buck diving with a CMAS operator. Hit up Rangiroa Plongee for excellent diving and service.

 

[nwflyboy]

Oh, boy - I've never heard of CMAS certification before. PADI, NAUI, SSI...ah, les Francaise... I see I have something to sort out before making firm plans. Thanks for the heads-up, I would never have thought of this. I will look for a separate thread on PADI-to-CMAS equivalencies and what's really needed.

 

[Wingy]

CMAS ** will be fine

 

[Boiler_81]

CMAS ** will be fine

Agree, that is what I was told. The problem I had was SEI is the old YMCA in the USA. They issue SEI cards and are the only agency in the US who can issue a CMAS card. My SEI card was equivalent to a CMAS 3 Star.

The dive shops did not understand the equivalency. They recognized it as a CMAS 1 star. They told me if I had a rescue card they would equate my card with 2 star.

You will be fine with a PADI advanced plus a rescue card. If you have not taken rescue, either take it with PADI before you go or find an SEI instructor SEI Diving and get your additional training from them. This way you will have a CMAS card and there will be no questions.

 

[nwflyboy]

Me and the wife have basic PADI OW (although I've been diving about 30 years, with many hundreds of dives - I stopped bothering to log any years ago as I saw no reason to do so). So...in order to smooth things in FP, I need to add PADI AOW and then Rescue?

 

[Boiler_81]

Me and the wife have basic PADI OW (although I've been diving about 30 years, with many hundreds of dives - I stopped bothering to log any years ago as I saw no reason to do so). So...in order to smooth things in FP, I need to add PADI AOW and then Rescue?

That is my understanding or get a CMAS card from SEI. In order to confirm, you may want to contact the dive centers in FP.