Here are some pictures of our latest trip on the French Polynesia Master. Soon we will receive some underwater pictures and videos so keep an eye on us! Master Liveaboards | Facebook
Anyone got info on the French Polynesia Master liveaboard, launching 2016?
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And this is what the French Polynesia Master looks like:
Come and join us soon to enjoy this beautiful boat and wonderful diving in French Polynesia!
Come and join us soon to enjoy this beautiful boat and wonderful diving in French Polynesia!
I recently returned from my first voyage aboard French Polynesian Master, having traveled aboard for her Tuamotos itinerary sailing from Fakarava to Rangiroa this past March 22nd thru April 1st.
As the main thrust of this thread has been when and if the FPM would be in service, I’ll start by stating that in this regard the Master Fleet has delivered the vessel that they have been promising and promoting. I believe that the cruise I was on was their 8th or 9th voyage, and that kinks in the ship and her systems that were reported earlier seem to have been fully resolved.
FPM seems to be very sturdily built, but as we never encountered any large seas, I can’t attest to how well she rides in rough conditions. She may be advertised as a “luxury” vessel, but I’d be more likely to describe her as very comfortably utilitarian. Rather than displaying lots of polished wood, carpeting, and rustic “charm,” FPM shows lots of steel, hefty fittings, linoleum floors and rugged table tops. Industrial chic if you will. I’ve no qualms about any of this, and she seems very well suited to her task. Safety equipment is well placed, highly visible, appears to be very well maintained, and unlike many ships and boats that I’ve been aboard, I found no sharp edges lying in wait to lacerate water-soaked skin. An impressive number of electrical outlets are available virtually anywhere you might care to access one, and there are also many USB charging stations aboard.
Air conditioning worked consistently well throughout the Master, and the user adjustable thermostat in my cabin worked perfectly, the best A/C system that I can recall on any live aboard boat. Lack of hot water was never an issue for me in either the en-suite head, dive deck showers, or two communal heads on the dive deck. (I don’t have much hair, so as the need for extensive shampooing is not on my agenda, I take relatively brief showers. If you’re blessed with flowing locks, your results may vary.) There was never a specific call to conserve fresh water, and pressure was better than I have at home.
The bed in the amidship’s position in cabin 5 is the cushiest that I can ever recall on any dive boat. Pillows were likewise delightful, and linens were always clean and soft.
Meals may have been constantly as good as any I’ve ever had on a live-aboard. If I’ve had better, I can’t recall when or where, and I do like food so I’m tempted to use the word “never” though I try to avoid the term. Once you figure out how to use the spiffy machine, fresh coffee is available 24 hours a day. One slight bit of nit picking: It might be nice to have a modest supply of small chocolates or other sugary candies lying about. Much as I enjoy having a fresh orange at any time of the day or night, a simple Hershey’s Kiss can relieve a severe craving. However, when you take into consideration the extremely demanding task of provisioning FPM in this location, it’s hard to fault them with any slight in this regard.
All common areas and cabins were kept in meticulous condition for the duration of my cruise.
I had the opportunity to spend at least a tiny amount of time with and speak with every member of the large crew, (a total of 23 souls), with two exceptions; one of the two sous chefs who I presume was always busy either doing prep work or cleaning up from the previous meal, and the chief engineer, and as all systems aboard seemed to be in working order, I presume that he was too busy making this so to have time to shoot the breeze with every passenger. These two folks aside, I found every member of the crew to be at the very least polite, personable, and efficient, and some were dazzlingly effective, charming, and all sorts of wonderful.
Cylinders were new aluminum 80’s, with a few 100’s available for a moderate uncharge. Nitrox is available at a reasonable uncharge, though coming off of banks, the only fills offered are at 32%. All fills that I received were at or near 3,000 PSI/200 BAR, and within a few percentage points of 32% or 33% O2. FPM supplied reliable and consistent service throughout the trip in this regard, and there was never a delay in the dive schedule due to a wait for tank fills.
The spacious dive deck offers each diver a personal station with adequate storage in bins below the tank racks/benches. A large tank on the port side just aft of the benches serves as a gear and wetsuit rinse station, while another pair of rinse tanks located at the stern are designated specifically for cameras.
Camera work areas were also reasonably spacious, shielded from the elements, and offered generous storage drawers and charging outlets.
All dives are performed from the FPM’s small fleet of RIBs, (rigid hulled inflatable boats), and passengers never have to move their rigs after their initial set up. The crew lugs them to and from the RIBs. The only time that a guest must attend to their gear is after each fill when every diver is responsible for checking their O2 percentage, securing their first stage to the tank valve, and checking tank pressure.
Diving, as is frequently the case when dealing with Neptune, Mother Nature, blind chance, and pure luck, was a mixed bag. Some dives yielded a virtual plethora of the sights and creatures that the ships company had hoped to see, and others were less satisfying. As you may be aware, much of the diving in the area relies on having an incoming current to yield the most action, best visibility, and thus the most gratifying dives. Alas, nobody that I know of can control the tides, so dives were made during a mix of incoming and outgoing conditions.
According to the captain, there had recently been a very strong, sustained series of storms near Rangiroa. As a result of these storms much of the coral reef that we dived on the outside of the lagoons at Rangiroa and Apataki consisted mostly of rubble, a major contrast to some of the vast swaths of health hard coral gardens that we’d seen nearer Fakarava. Aside from moving their entire operation, there’s nothing that the FPM folks can do to remedy this.
Here’s where things started to go off the rails: According to all of the information that both the booking agent and Master Liveaboards provided prior to the trip, divers with rescue certifications, (or their equivalent), and higher would be restricted to a maximum depth of 40 meters on all dives, while those with a certification lower than rescue diver, (including those with deep diver specialty certifications), would be restricted to a maximum depth of 30 meters. This was also the information that was posted on the Master’s website at least up until the day I left home and started to make my way to French Polynesia. While I did not at all like these limits, my traveling companion and I assented to the strictures specified by Master Livaboards, made our payments, purchased our airfare, and began our journey. It was only after boarding the FPM that we were informed that these rules were no longer in effect. The new rules stated that the maximum depth limit for all divers regardless of their experience or training would be 29 meters.
I was more than a bit disappointed, dismayed, and upset by this previously unannounced change in FPM’s advertised procedures, but it was upon reading their new, updated waiver form, (which was presented to us for the first time upon boarding the boat), and more “new” protocols were made apparent, that I became disgusted. There would be no solo diving, and even more insidious, there would be no buddy diving. According to the new FPM regulations all divers must be accompanied at all times by one of the boats’ guides, and assigned groups must stay together, regardless of anyone’s status, ability, situational awareness, and etc. That meant that if any individual in a group got low on air, ran out of no deco time, got tired or cold, became bored, had a gear problem, flooded a camera, couldn’t clear, got separated from the group, or whatever else, the entire group had to end the dive, and surface beneath the guide’s SMB. According to the cruise director, it’s forbidden for anyone without a “French certificate” to deploy an SMB except in the case of an emergency. (The veracity of this statement was met with only marginal suspicion and sarcastic cynicism as on the first dive everyone had to demonstrate their ability to deploy a marker. The unfamiliarity of some of the ships’ company with the manner of performing this task nearly led to a pair of actual emergencies as a few of our companions found themselves dragged to the surface at an unsafe speed when they failed to allow their reels or spools to unwind at a sufficient rate.)
Now, perhaps there are a good many divers who would appreciate the “enhanced diver care” that the new FPM protocols outline. However, I consider these “features” to be overwhelmingly restrictive to my own goals, as they fully ignore my skill level, experience, capability, training, and personal responsibility. My traveling companion and I were absolutely furious to have these strictures foisted upon us at the last minute. The rules imposed by FPM had substantial and deleterious effects on the goals that my companion and I had hoped to achieve during our visit to the Tuamotos archipelago.
Had the management of Master Liveaboards presented these diving protocols in advertising, on their website, and in pre-departure communications, that would have been just fine, though I would not have considered booking this trip. However, by subjecting us to their new strictures without informing us in advance, my companion and I felt cheated of the opportunity that had been advertised, that we had agreed to, and paid for. Though I found all other aspects of the operation to be more than satisfactory, (and they were in fact for the most part delightful), the omission of these details about the aspect of the entire venture that I consider of paramount importance, the diving, was unacceptable.
As the main thrust of this thread has been when and if the FPM would be in service, I’ll start by stating that in this regard the Master Fleet has delivered the vessel that they have been promising and promoting. I believe that the cruise I was on was their 8th or 9th voyage, and that kinks in the ship and her systems that were reported earlier seem to have been fully resolved.
FPM seems to be very sturdily built, but as we never encountered any large seas, I can’t attest to how well she rides in rough conditions. She may be advertised as a “luxury” vessel, but I’d be more likely to describe her as very comfortably utilitarian. Rather than displaying lots of polished wood, carpeting, and rustic “charm,” FPM shows lots of steel, hefty fittings, linoleum floors and rugged table tops. Industrial chic if you will. I’ve no qualms about any of this, and she seems very well suited to her task. Safety equipment is well placed, highly visible, appears to be very well maintained, and unlike many ships and boats that I’ve been aboard, I found no sharp edges lying in wait to lacerate water-soaked skin. An impressive number of electrical outlets are available virtually anywhere you might care to access one, and there are also many USB charging stations aboard.
Air conditioning worked consistently well throughout the Master, and the user adjustable thermostat in my cabin worked perfectly, the best A/C system that I can recall on any live aboard boat. Lack of hot water was never an issue for me in either the en-suite head, dive deck showers, or two communal heads on the dive deck. (I don’t have much hair, so as the need for extensive shampooing is not on my agenda, I take relatively brief showers. If you’re blessed with flowing locks, your results may vary.) There was never a specific call to conserve fresh water, and pressure was better than I have at home.
The bed in the amidship’s position in cabin 5 is the cushiest that I can ever recall on any dive boat. Pillows were likewise delightful, and linens were always clean and soft.
Meals may have been constantly as good as any I’ve ever had on a live-aboard. If I’ve had better, I can’t recall when or where, and I do like food so I’m tempted to use the word “never” though I try to avoid the term. Once you figure out how to use the spiffy machine, fresh coffee is available 24 hours a day. One slight bit of nit picking: It might be nice to have a modest supply of small chocolates or other sugary candies lying about. Much as I enjoy having a fresh orange at any time of the day or night, a simple Hershey’s Kiss can relieve a severe craving. However, when you take into consideration the extremely demanding task of provisioning FPM in this location, it’s hard to fault them with any slight in this regard.
All common areas and cabins were kept in meticulous condition for the duration of my cruise.
I had the opportunity to spend at least a tiny amount of time with and speak with every member of the large crew, (a total of 23 souls), with two exceptions; one of the two sous chefs who I presume was always busy either doing prep work or cleaning up from the previous meal, and the chief engineer, and as all systems aboard seemed to be in working order, I presume that he was too busy making this so to have time to shoot the breeze with every passenger. These two folks aside, I found every member of the crew to be at the very least polite, personable, and efficient, and some were dazzlingly effective, charming, and all sorts of wonderful.
Cylinders were new aluminum 80’s, with a few 100’s available for a moderate uncharge. Nitrox is available at a reasonable uncharge, though coming off of banks, the only fills offered are at 32%. All fills that I received were at or near 3,000 PSI/200 BAR, and within a few percentage points of 32% or 33% O2. FPM supplied reliable and consistent service throughout the trip in this regard, and there was never a delay in the dive schedule due to a wait for tank fills.
The spacious dive deck offers each diver a personal station with adequate storage in bins below the tank racks/benches. A large tank on the port side just aft of the benches serves as a gear and wetsuit rinse station, while another pair of rinse tanks located at the stern are designated specifically for cameras.
Camera work areas were also reasonably spacious, shielded from the elements, and offered generous storage drawers and charging outlets.
All dives are performed from the FPM’s small fleet of RIBs, (rigid hulled inflatable boats), and passengers never have to move their rigs after their initial set up. The crew lugs them to and from the RIBs. The only time that a guest must attend to their gear is after each fill when every diver is responsible for checking their O2 percentage, securing their first stage to the tank valve, and checking tank pressure.
Diving, as is frequently the case when dealing with Neptune, Mother Nature, blind chance, and pure luck, was a mixed bag. Some dives yielded a virtual plethora of the sights and creatures that the ships company had hoped to see, and others were less satisfying. As you may be aware, much of the diving in the area relies on having an incoming current to yield the most action, best visibility, and thus the most gratifying dives. Alas, nobody that I know of can control the tides, so dives were made during a mix of incoming and outgoing conditions.
According to the captain, there had recently been a very strong, sustained series of storms near Rangiroa. As a result of these storms much of the coral reef that we dived on the outside of the lagoons at Rangiroa and Apataki consisted mostly of rubble, a major contrast to some of the vast swaths of health hard coral gardens that we’d seen nearer Fakarava. Aside from moving their entire operation, there’s nothing that the FPM folks can do to remedy this.
Here’s where things started to go off the rails: According to all of the information that both the booking agent and Master Liveaboards provided prior to the trip, divers with rescue certifications, (or their equivalent), and higher would be restricted to a maximum depth of 40 meters on all dives, while those with a certification lower than rescue diver, (including those with deep diver specialty certifications), would be restricted to a maximum depth of 30 meters. This was also the information that was posted on the Master’s website at least up until the day I left home and started to make my way to French Polynesia. While I did not at all like these limits, my traveling companion and I assented to the strictures specified by Master Livaboards, made our payments, purchased our airfare, and began our journey. It was only after boarding the FPM that we were informed that these rules were no longer in effect. The new rules stated that the maximum depth limit for all divers regardless of their experience or training would be 29 meters.
I was more than a bit disappointed, dismayed, and upset by this previously unannounced change in FPM’s advertised procedures, but it was upon reading their new, updated waiver form, (which was presented to us for the first time upon boarding the boat), and more “new” protocols were made apparent, that I became disgusted. There would be no solo diving, and even more insidious, there would be no buddy diving. According to the new FPM regulations all divers must be accompanied at all times by one of the boats’ guides, and assigned groups must stay together, regardless of anyone’s status, ability, situational awareness, and etc. That meant that if any individual in a group got low on air, ran out of no deco time, got tired or cold, became bored, had a gear problem, flooded a camera, couldn’t clear, got separated from the group, or whatever else, the entire group had to end the dive, and surface beneath the guide’s SMB. According to the cruise director, it’s forbidden for anyone without a “French certificate” to deploy an SMB except in the case of an emergency. (The veracity of this statement was met with only marginal suspicion and sarcastic cynicism as on the first dive everyone had to demonstrate their ability to deploy a marker. The unfamiliarity of some of the ships’ company with the manner of performing this task nearly led to a pair of actual emergencies as a few of our companions found themselves dragged to the surface at an unsafe speed when they failed to allow their reels or spools to unwind at a sufficient rate.)
Now, perhaps there are a good many divers who would appreciate the “enhanced diver care” that the new FPM protocols outline. However, I consider these “features” to be overwhelmingly restrictive to my own goals, as they fully ignore my skill level, experience, capability, training, and personal responsibility. My traveling companion and I were absolutely furious to have these strictures foisted upon us at the last minute. The rules imposed by FPM had substantial and deleterious effects on the goals that my companion and I had hoped to achieve during our visit to the Tuamotos archipelago.
Had the management of Master Liveaboards presented these diving protocols in advertising, on their website, and in pre-departure communications, that would have been just fine, though I would not have considered booking this trip. However, by subjecting us to their new strictures without informing us in advance, my companion and I felt cheated of the opportunity that had been advertised, that we had agreed to, and paid for. Though I found all other aspects of the operation to be more than satisfactory, (and they were in fact for the most part delightful), the omission of these details about the aspect of the entire venture that I consider of paramount importance, the diving, was unacceptable.
That is too bad.... hopefully they at least grouped you in accordance to skill level. I would be curious to know if these were rules specific to FPM or rules that all ops have to abide by in FP. I remember there being weird quirky rules when we were there too.
Did you get to actually dive the passes (Fakarava and Rangi) or did they claim to not time it right with the currents?
Did you get to actually dive the passes (Fakarava and Rangi) or did they claim to not time it right with the currents?
I don’t know what “official” regulations are dictated by the powers that be throughout FP. The strictures that I noted in my earlier post relate only to the diving whilst using FPM's services. Prior to joining the FPM cruise, my compatriot and I dived for a few days in FP and had the opportunity to make a series of dives utilizing a guide, diving as an independent buddy team, and diving solo.
It is my opinion that the crew of FPM did everything in their power to make as many dives as possible during optimal incoming currents and thus ensure that their clients enjoyed the greatest number of chances to experience the best that the region has to offer. The daily schedule was fluid so as to take optimum advantage of the changing tidal flow.
While operating from FPM, we dived both north and south passes at Fakarava, and at each location were afforded the opportunity to dive during both incoming and outgoing currents. All dives at Rangiroa were conducted at Tiputa Pass, and were again offered during both incoming and outgoing currents.
It is my opinion that the crew of FPM did everything in their power to make as many dives as possible during optimal incoming currents and thus ensure that their clients enjoyed the greatest number of chances to experience the best that the region has to offer. The daily schedule was fluid so as to take optimum advantage of the changing tidal flow.
While operating from FPM, we dived both north and south passes at Fakarava, and at each location were afforded the opportunity to dive during both incoming and outgoing currents. All dives at Rangiroa were conducted at Tiputa Pass, and were again offered during both incoming and outgoing currents.
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This is good to hear they were flexible. I can't imagine running the passes on an outgoing tide. That was a big no no with all ops when I was there.
Hmmmm, their website doesn't mention their new diving 'restrictions'. That is a shame as I understood some of the shark life was at depths below 30m... and given I'm pretty good on my air and get frustrated at short dives if diving with air hogs..
How big were your dive groups OceanEyes? I'd hope at least with those rules and regulations the dive groups are small?
I've booked a trip for Jan-Feb next year as the diving is supposed to be so stunning.. and at the price of the trip I'd ceratinly hope so.
*sigh* That's a shame
I'd been seriously considering this lob. But those kind of restrictions and policies are a complete dealbreaker for me. Such is life. Back to the drawing board.
Hi judyo1.
The cruise I was on catered to 25 guests, (which I believe is FPM’s capacity), divided into groups of 5 divers. Each group was assigned a guide so each RIB carried 6 divers, plus the driver and on occasion an additional deck hand.
There were a trio of RIBs in working order, so the groups would stagger their dives to ensure that a RIB was on-site and ready to recover each group as it surfaced. (I did not mention it in my initial posting, but each dive was restricted to a maximum time limit, usually 50 minutes. While not ideal for my own goals, ((I’d have much preferred a 75 minute limit,))accepting this limit is a reasonable practice as it allows for the RIBs to effectively service all of the groups, and I presume that most divers in any group would not regularly get much more than 50 minutes off of a tank. Again, the FPM’s parameters are designed to accommodate the weakest link in the chain).
If you’re traveling with a group of friends, then it should be no trouble at all for you to dive together. Otherwise, you’ll be subject to the luck of the draw, though I see no reason why, after a few days of diving and making new friends amongst the ship’s company, requests to juggle the groups should be reasonably refused.
While the 29 meter depth limit was not a major hinderance during the dives through the passes on incoming currents, (as the passes themselves rarely exceeded that depth), a more liberal depth limit on the dives along the outer reefs would have been much more preferable, and potentially more productive.
The cruise I was on catered to 25 guests, (which I believe is FPM’s capacity), divided into groups of 5 divers. Each group was assigned a guide so each RIB carried 6 divers, plus the driver and on occasion an additional deck hand.
There were a trio of RIBs in working order, so the groups would stagger their dives to ensure that a RIB was on-site and ready to recover each group as it surfaced. (I did not mention it in my initial posting, but each dive was restricted to a maximum time limit, usually 50 minutes. While not ideal for my own goals, ((I’d have much preferred a 75 minute limit,))accepting this limit is a reasonable practice as it allows for the RIBs to effectively service all of the groups, and I presume that most divers in any group would not regularly get much more than 50 minutes off of a tank. Again, the FPM’s parameters are designed to accommodate the weakest link in the chain).
If you’re traveling with a group of friends, then it should be no trouble at all for you to dive together. Otherwise, you’ll be subject to the luck of the draw, though I see no reason why, after a few days of diving and making new friends amongst the ship’s company, requests to juggle the groups should be reasonably refused.
While the 29 meter depth limit was not a major hinderance during the dives through the passes on incoming currents, (as the passes themselves rarely exceeded that depth), a more liberal depth limit on the dives along the outer reefs would have been much more preferable, and potentially more productive.
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