After diving Rangiroa we went to Fakarava. First dove for 8 days in the North Pass and then 4 days in the South. In the North we were diving with Fakarava Diving Centre and they were fantastic!!! It's run by Serge and Carrine, a lovely Swiss couple. It's a very small operation, Serge does the dives and Carrine stays on the boat. They only take 5 divers on every trip which leaves lots of space on their lovely boat and makes for great diving. Serge is absolutely fantastic to dive with, has a great manner about him, knows the pass inside out and is just plain fab. If you are diving the North Pass try and get in with Serge and Carrine!!! The diving was fantastic. With incoming current you dive the Pass where there were lots of sharks and lots and lots of fish. Just mindblowing. If the current is outgoing, you dive just outside the pass and usually play with Mantas!!! We had lots of Mantas almost on each dive there. And with so few divers, it's a private show. Just spectacular!!!! On two dives we also got to dive with spinner dolphins!!!! And the coral is beautiful and colourful too!
The South Pass was not as exciting as we expected it to be. The Tetamanu Village is gorgeous and definitely feels like the end of the world so staying there is really amazing but the diving was slighly disappointing. Yes, you get the sharks in the pass, but there were no more than the North Pass and if the current was outgoing then diving was nowhere near as fab as diving outside the North Pass. And I have to say that the dive centre at Tetamanu Village isn't nearly as good as Serge and Carrine whether you're comparing dive masters, equipment, boats, organisation or anything.... Still though, a stay down there is definitely worth it for the beauty of the place but I would spend less time there and more diving the North Pass.
The South Pass was not as exciting as we expected it to be. The Tetamanu Village is gorgeous and definitely feels like the end of the world so staying there is really amazing but the diving was slighly disappointing. Yes, you get the sharks in the pass, but there were no more than the North Pass and if the current was outgoing then diving was nowhere near as fab as diving outside the North Pass. And I have to say that the dive centre at Tetamanu Village isn't nearly as good as Serge and Carrine whether you're comparing dive masters, equipment, boats, organisation or anything.... Still though, a stay down there is definitely worth it for the beauty of the place but I would spend less time there and more diving the North Pass.
