Is Bora Bora worth diving? I don't want to haul all our dive gear if i don't have to

[Mike]

We will be there for ~10 days. I see there are 4 dive operators there, but not many listed dive sites.

Thanks in advance,
Bruce

Quality of diving is subjective. however, I will say do not haul all your gear there no matter what. How are you even going to do it with the weight limit restrictions of the puddle jumper you have to take from Tahiti to Bora Bora? I'd take mask, fins, snorkel and dive computer, then you've got your snorkel gear with you which you will want to do anyways.

 

[anenomefishman]

Quality of diving is subjective. however, I will say do not haul all your gear there no matter what. How are you even going to do it with the weight limit restrictions of the puddle jumper you have to take from Tahiti to Bora Bora? I'd take mask, fins, snorkel and dive computer, then you've got your snorkel gear with you which you will want to do anyways.

we have been many places with puddle jumpers to final destination with all of our dive gear. the only penalty is they charge you by the lb or the kg for luggage weight overage. the aircraft we scheduled on from PPT to BOB is an ATR 72, one of the larger turboprobs (68 passengers). for example last trip we flew from PLS to SLX (salt cay, turks and caicos) on a 9 passenger C402 aircraft and had no problems.

we for sure will at least take our snorkle gear, UW cameras, and regs (with dive computers).

 

[wico6768]

we have been many places with puddle jumpers to final destination with all of our dive gear. the only penalty is they charge you by the lb or the kg for luggage weight overage. the aircraft we scheduled on from PPT to BOB is an ATR 72, one of the larger turboprobs (68 passengers). for example last trip we flew from PLS to SLX (salt cay, turks and caicos) on a 9 passenger C402 aircraft and had no problems.

we for sure will at least take our snorkle gear, UW cameras, and regs (with dive computers).

Honestly, the overweight fees for the inter island flights in French Polynesia aren't bad at all. You're right, they charge by the kg, and it's pretty inexpensive compared to what fees we see here even just for an extra bag, or now, for the first bag.

We had 8 flights between us, along with both of our dive bags, and the over weight for all 8 flights combined was about $150. We take our stuff, because we prefer to use only our gear but we also go to the atolls and stay over 2 weeks so dive quite a bit.

Bora Bora is nice, not spectacular, not bad, and I think a couple days of 2 dives each will probably get you enough, maybe a third day. That said, I wouldn't be able to go to FP and not dive at all.

We didn't see any shark feeding on any of our dives, and we did see a Manta, quite a bit of coral actually, and black tips of course, and enjoyed it. It's definitely not the same as atoll diving, but we enjoyed it for what it is.

It is easy, relaxing diving, and of the locations you can go in FP, if you are using rental gear on Bora, it should be in really good condition.

Air Tahiti Nui (if you take them and not air france) from LA to Papeete gives you a dive bag for free, if you show your dive card. If you each have a bag, then you each need to show a card. We take our camera gear with us as carry on, and check the dive gear

There's plenty else to do on Bora as well as dive too, the lagoon really is beautiful. ARe you set on the full 10 nights in Bora? Often, people split that 5/5 or something similar and go to two places and an island/atoll split makes for a nice combination. EIther way, have a great time!

 

[1erCRU]

Air Tahiti allows 20kgs/person on Y class fares, 50kgs on Z class fares, 5kgs extra for divers presenting a C-card at the counter in PPT. You'll have to due the math on the value of airfares and your loading.

Diving in BB is not very exciting, what it is however, is warm and clear and it's there if you are, other than that it's really not a divers location. Over the last 25 years the island has been so over developed, along with a number of cyclones hits that lots of the lagoon is thrashed. South shore of Taurere, one of the worlds best drift/snorkel/dives was nearly totally wipe out. You'll likely want to snorkel a couple times a day in lieu of diving, that gear would be worth bringing.

 

[Cali_diver]

We had all of our gear, extra clothes and camera equipment and didn't have to pay a dime on Air Tahiti to Fakarava. Just tell them it is dive gear.

 

[drbill]

I have never dived Bora Bora, only Moorea. However, personally, I can't imagine traveling there without doing a few dives. Your mileage may vary. I wouldn't take all my gear if I went... I'd just take the personal stuff like my reg and rent the rest.

 

[marine9]

Just returned from 11 days in Bora Bora, dove with "Bora Diving Center" and really enjoyed myself.
Granted I only made eight dives, but all very nice. Heavy on the larger Marine life - Manta, Eagle and
Sting Ray; reef and lemon sharks, etc. Correct, viz is reduced within the lagoon as opposed to much better
viz outside the lagoon. On the Manta dive we saw well over a dozen of them, in fact seven at one time together.
Can't say enough about "Bora Diving Center" - great people and no cattle boat! I'll be returning, but may hit
some of the other islands as well next time.

 

[scoobajay]

Hi Bruce,

My husband and I got back yesterday from our 9 day dive trip in Bora Bora. We hauled both of our regulators, BC's, wetsuits, masks, and fins. We knew that BB wasn't world renowned for diving but figured it couldn't be that bad considering how beautiful the water is here. Here was our experience:

On our first day, the divemaster said we'd be doing a really easy dive so he could get an idea of our skill level, so when it was completely boring, we thought we knew why. Then, we did the second dive. It consisted of dropping in to about 50' and swimming 30' above a dead reef for 40 minutes against a current. When we reached the "end of the reef" there was a school of fish. My husband and I kept looking at eachother like "what are we doing??"

The next day of diving went on the same way. We dove the third day and did see a lot of mantas, but we ended up cancelling all of our remaining dives. Visibility was never more than 50' or so. There are no large or colorful coral structures. You will see a few sharks and lots of fish schools. There is a specific Manta dive as well. If that's your thing, you might like it. For us, it was not worth the time, effort, and money to dive in Bora Bora.

 

[drbill]

As a marine biologist, I can be happy diving sites that are pretty trashed. Not saying Bora Bora is (no personal experience). If I dive such an area, I try to recreate the ecosystem and understand what the impacts are that led to its decline. Of course that is not why many divers dive and I understand that.

 

[Wingy]

A cyclone was the main cause of the coral devastation. I enjoy checking out things underwater from a geomorphic viewpoint too. Why the reef is not returning as quickly as say thailand after the tsunami I do not know but I am going to throw a guess out there. Without the long established atoll to protect the new coral growth and the volume of water exchanged in and out of the lagoons id hazard a guess a lot of the coral spawn is getting washed out of the passes and the existing coral isnt getting much protection but being tumbled regularly by the exchange. JMO.