Boanire versus Hawaii, French Polynesia & Italy

[AstridWilson]

My Hawaii question got such a great response that I am going to elaborate. It will be our 30^th wedding anniversary in 2016 and my 10 year mark being Cancer free, so I wanted to go somewhere beyond the Caribbean. My top choices are Hawaii, French Polynesia (Rangiroa, Moorea etc..) or Italy (Amalfi Coast, Carpi, Ischia). If I asked on those individual forums, not sure I would get unbiased answers. I am asking on this forum as Bonaire is really only about diving and wind surfing and I loved it. I want to Dive and snorkel; my husband still loves snorkelling over diving.

I have 2 years to plan and loved the feedback I got on Hawaii. No I know that these places will be 2-3 times more than Cozumel and Bonaire.

 

[DeputyDan]

Send TSandM a private message about using this cruise line in the south pacific.

All Cruise Itineraries | Paul Gauguin Cruises

I have not used them - but have heard that they are not your - newly wed, over feed, and almost dead cruise line!

You may also look into the Scubaboard trip to the Philippines - I have done both Atlantis resorts and for a dive trip its a top notch experience!

This was not what you asked about - but anyhow!

 

[diverjen]

I don't really have direct experience, but will someday try to make it elsewhere, too - so I am very interested in the responses.

How much time are you wanting to do diving/snorkeling and how much time are you wanting to do other activities (hiking, sightseeing, shopping, dining). How important is wine and cuisine? I ask because at least on my radar those places all stand out as good places to do a vacation with some dives/snorkeling thrown in as opposed to a stand out dive/snorkel trip which would be more like Philippines, Fiji, Indonesia, Palau/Yap and PNG.

From my non-real-life research experience it sounds like of the three you mentioned French Polynesia would be the best for snorkeling and amazing remote beauty with less other vacation type things to do and more focus on underwater time.

 

[Wingy]

My personal choice - French Polynesia and PNG would spring to mind. FP is snorkelling inside lagoons and massive diving in the tuomotos at the passes, and its absolutely beautiful. Papua New Guinea is wild and mysterious and amazing both topside and underwater.

Hey its your anniversary and your cancer free milestone so why not do a combo of diving in the tuomotos and snorkelling and indulging in the society isles like bora bora. Enjoy where ever you choose

 

[AstridWilson]

Main focus for me is always the water. The reason, I did not list the Society Islands is we visited them right after I finished cancer treatment, chemo, radiation... treatment. We were not divers then, but snorkeled snorkeled snorkeled. Awesome vacation. I have also been to Italy, but not stayed on the Amalfi coast. Never been to Hawaii and FP is so very expensive. Have not thought about PNG yet, hmm thing now to consider.

 

[Mike]

You threw me with the Almalfi coast.

If you're referring to diving, out of everything you mentioned it's Rangiroa by a huge margin over all the rest. FP will be an awesome experience, on par with going to Italy, except it will be about the water. If you go to FP I hope you like sharks, because they are everywhere, all the time.

 

[drbill]

French Polynesia was one of my favorite dive destinations, primarily due to the abundance of sharks... and I only dove on Moorea. I've heard the outer islands are truly fantastic.

I actually wasn't too sure I was going to like Tahiti but met a Tahitian princess on my flight there from the Cook Islands. She convinced me I would have a great time and she was right. Unfortunately she already had a boyfriend!

 

[DiverVince]

The Amalfi Coast is a breathtakingly beautiful area of Italy. The scenery and food is wonderful. I am a diver but did not do any diving there so can't elaborate on that.

 

[shrkdive]

I have dove in Bonaire, Cozumel, Kaui, Maui and French Polynesia all within the last 2 years. Each have their pros and cons. I am actually going back to Bonaire next month and will be in Maui agian in October for another week of diving. I love Bonaire for the shore diving and easy boat rides. My wife actually enjoys Cozumel more for the drift and abundance of swimthroughs. We like Hawaii in the Winter because of the whales in the area. Two years ago in January we were in the area of humpbacks all week off the coast of Kaui. We also saw numberous large turtles We also spent 10 days last November in French Polynesia on the Paul Guaguin cruise ship. We took their longer 10 day trip that included diving not only in Moorea and Bora Bora but also went to Raingoria and Fakarava. Like others have said you will see so many sharks in French Polynesia. Raingoria and Fakarava were definitely better than Moorea & Bora Bora. If you go you must shoot the pass on the tide change. Beware it is the most expensive though.

 

[LiquidDivingAdventure]

Well not Hawaii or Polynesia, but I recently sent a couple for their anniversary to Wananavu Beach Resort in Fiji. They had nothing but raves about the service and the diving. One thing nice about Fiji, we get some good packages that include R/T airfare out of LAX.