Rangiroa, Fakarava, or both?

[jameseg]

My wife and I are looking at French Polynesia as a potential destination for a dive trip this winter. I'd read a lot about Rangiroa being one of the top dive areas in the region, and more recently heard about Fakarava. I'm interested in your opinions about whether one is better than the other, or if they're sufficiently different that it would make sense to try to visit both. The idea of minimizing travel time and hassle appeals to me, so leaning towards just one.

My wife is advanced certified, with just under 200 dives. I'm rescue, with about 250 dives. We've both done some drift diving, in Thailand and the West Palm Beach area.

Would also welcome any other recommendations on dive ops, hotels, etc.

Thanks!
James

 

[Big-blue]

hello Jameseg,

Both destinations are amazing, and really complementary. In rangiroa is more much easy to see big ( like tiger or hammerhead sharks) because the pass is shorter and the contentration of fish and depredators are in a "short" aerea. In fakarava you have the most amazing reef, and the pass is just crazy ( the largest pass in french polinesia), the diversity is bigger than rangiroa ( fuane and flore). You have to know that the best conditions to do fakarava north pass is in slack tide , easy conditions with big concentration of sharks. To know this point contact your dive shop in fakarava , you ask them about the schedule of the tide during your dates and then they will tell you if during your time in the island you will have the oportunity to do this kind of dive. in fakarava you can see also big sharks but the probability is less than rangiroa, however in fakarava you can see manta rays quite easy.
In rangiroa they don't have schedule about the tides but they are very close to the pass and they decide in the last minute what kind of dive they will do ( just 5 minutes by boat).

About the currents…the dive shops will check you before to bring you in the pass ( rangiroa or fakarava are the same) with strong current, you can take a look with one of my post about french rules and diving ( post : "information about french polinesia" ).

ABout the dives shops I can not tell you where to go, because I work in the diving industry in french polinesia so I want to be fair.

About the hotels…In French polinesia , we have " pensions" and hotels. In rangiroa you have two hotels and a lot of pensions, it's depends your budget, but for me the best is to go in a pension because is more much friendly and relax and cheaper than the hotel. For me, one of the best is relais josephine because you are very close to the pass so in the afternoon time you can see the dolphins jumping just in your terrace, drinking a nice cocktail, and she cooks very well. and the rooms are clean and nice. Other options can be raira lagoon or tevahine dream.

In fakarava, the most standing pension is Havaiki ( AA, hot water, ) with a beatifull pleace and beach,but if is too expensive for you , the others pensions have very nice beaches also, beautifull dishes with fresh fish, kayaks, bicycles, local bungalows ( simple but nice).
Fakarava is more nice and clean than rangiroa, and also more wild and nature.

About how many days to spend in each place….I think that if your trip is for dive and dive and dive, the best option for me is : 4-5 days diving rangiroa, 4-5 days diving in the north pass of fakarava and 2-3 nights in fakarava south ( tetamanu village is the best option, expensive , yes but the best option).

If you need more information feel free to contact me in private message

 

[diver 85]

James, we're heading to Rangiroa in a little over a week----had originally both places, Rangi & Fakarava, in our sights but----got such a great deal @ Kia Ora(on Rangi) we just let Fakarava pass(would have been over twice as expensive to get both in)..........Will spend all 8 days there instead of splitting 4+ & 4+, hope we have not made a huge mistake....But,--without making it to Fakarava, we'll never know...We decided we can be happy(lol----esp money wise) with enjoying 1 small piece of paradise, vs 2.....

PS...wife was/got a little leary of the possible 'primitive' accomodations we might have to opt out for in Faka., doesn't have to have luxury, but still the great deal($$$) @ Kia Ora & less traveling made OUR decision an easy one....Will be able to let you know in a couple weeks how 'it was'...

 

[mmmbelows]

Hi James, I didn't catch how long your trip is, which I think is really important. I think because of travelling and the need to have an off gas day with each time you travel by plane, if you're only going for a week I'd recommend only going to one or the other. The passes are dived a variety of ways and the conditions and dives change so you can easily dive the pass 6 or 7 days in a row and it won't get repetitive.

Really hard to give you advice on where to stay without knowing your budget and desires. The pensions are going to be like B&Bs, the Kia Ora can be quite luxurious with private walled compound rooms with private pools to beach front bungalows to the ultimate luxury of over water bungalows. Typically a shockingly dramatic difference in price between pensions and resorts.

 

[jameseg]

Thank you for the great responses so far.

mmmbelows, our trip will likely be about 9 or 10 days total, including travel time to/from Minnesota. So that leaves about 7 days for Rangiroa/Fakarava. Good point about off-gassing - I hadn't given that enough consideration in debating two locations. That would take out 2 dive days, and makes me lean further towards a single location.

My wife and I like clean accommodations and a good location, but aside from that don't need anything luxurious. I'd almost always take a helpful host/manager over 5 star amenities. Some of the pensions I've looked at on Rangiroa look terrific, such as the Relais Josephine mentioned by Big-blue.

diver 85 - would certainly appreciate a trip report if you're up for it. Enjoy your trip!

James

 

[mmmbelows]

Sounds like a nice pension is a perfect fit for you guys. I think we ate some meals at the Relais Josephine if memory serves if it is the one that sits on the pass with a big deck where you can watch the dolphins playing. Some people we met diving were staying at another pension toward the middle of the island, they invited us there for a birthday celebration dinner and the owners husband/wife of the pension put on a feast including fresh fish the husband had caught, they were wonderful and the night was wonderful, many of the dive staff from 6 passengers joined us and it was a lot of good french wine drinking into the night... good times on Rangiroa, you're in for a treat.

If your wife likes pearls there is a small pearl shop on Rangiroa run by a husband and wife, it's the real deal and the artistic work he does with jewelry is outstanding and the quality of the pearls are a bargain since you're so close to the source and there are no middle men in the way. My wife bought a couple of pieces and when we returned to the states we took them to a reputable jeweler in our home town for some unrelated questions and they were ga-ga over them, they were blown away by them. So if pearls are your wife's thing, you might want to look them up.

 

[Wingy]

Pension Tiena and Marie - closer to the pier, fantastic food - eating seems to be the family habit - trays of lobster for dinner. Love the place - and ditto to what mmmbelows said about the pearls. I bought a peacock pearl for about 50CPF and have had jewelers here offer me close to $1000 for it.

 

[wico6768]

All the advice sounds great, I'll throw in another pension to consider, because we love it, we love the owner/operator, he will take you pretty much wherever you want to go too, and the bungalows are beautiful (there are 5, 3 beach, 2 garden and the garden have lap pools) He is close to Avatoru, but all dive places will pick you up.

I second the pearls advice, or third it, as well!

Fakarava has a very nice place, it is their equivalent of resort I guess, but much smaller. The bungalows on the beach have AC, and frankly you need it because there is little breeze (due to placement and trees between ocean side and lagoon side there) and sunset, it gets hot. It is called Havaiki,a nd it is also a small working pearl farm.

If you make it to Fakarava sometime, it is a great option.

Breakfast and Dinner are included, and dinner has never disappointed. There, you sit at your own tables. (at tevahine dream, rangiroa, meals are at a round family style table in the main lounge area, and it's a pretty neat experience! people from all over the globe, with a heavy contingent of french of c ourse. Food is always excellent, and far too much to eat)

Fakarava is a beautiful atoll, very clean, the village on the north pass is very quaint and pretty, people friendly, and there is a nice snack shop that sits on the lagoon which is about a 5 minute bike ride from Havaiki. We go there often for the grilled mahi and/or mahi burger. There's also a snack shop that is on Havaiki, but it is more pricey and we like the ambience of the snack shop in the village. We also discovered that one of the markets sells ice (they freeze bottled waters) and so we got to have tahiti drink on ice a couple of days there. There are refrigerators in the rooms, but they are not cold, more like a cooler. The refrigerators in the bungalows in Rangiroa are cold,and actually have a small freezer portion. Very nice to have cold water!

Oh, Havaiki has a water cooler so you don't have to buy much of your own water, and Tevahine Dream gives water at breakfast and dinner as well.

Also, at Havaiki water shoes are not necessary in the lagoon, it is soft bottom and not full of crushed coral/rocks like you will find in Rangiroa. In Rangiroa, we usually go through a pair of water shoes by the time we leave. So we always bring a new pair along (only about 10-15 so no big deal)

Diving, we have never found it repetitive although yes, you are the same location (pass diving/near the pass/just outside or inside the pass, etc) each dive has been unique, every time.

Both in Rangiroa and Fakarava. I also don't like moving around if we are not there at least 5 nights, typically more than that, because you do lose a day traveling.