French Polynesia trip report - Bora Bora and Rangiroa - July/August 2010
Summary - Sell your soul to get to Rangiroa if you have to. Close encounters with sharks, dolphins, and large pelagics galore with incredible vis on essentially every dive. You'll have an even better time (and more opportunities for post-dive cameraderie with fellow divers) if you speak a little French, although we had no trouble getting by with just English.
Flights from LA to Papeete, Tahiti via Air Tahiti Nui
Flights from Papeete to Bora Bora and Rangiroa via Air Tahiti
No problems on either airline getting all equipment and baggage checked with no added fees. Weight restrictions on Air Tahiti to the outer islands (via ATR turboprop) were a bit stricter than the larger carriers, as to be expected. Although we tried to keep our weight to a minimum, we exceeded by several kg...luckily they did not charge us on any of our 3 flights.
Tahiti - Stayed at Manava Suites. Very nice, reasonably priced, nice view of Moorea looking West across the channel. Limited snorkeling in front of hotel, but still some neat stuff to look at. Did not dive on Tahiti, but we did see whales passing in front of the hotel in the distance and were close enough to the outer reef to hear waves breaking when larger sets came in.
Bora Bora - Stayed at Pearl Beach Resort. They have an in-house dive center, Blue Nui, which was well run and staffed by friendly folk who speak good English. Dive sites outside the fringing islands are on a sloping coral bottom with excellent visibility. A typhoon ~6 months ago had quite an impact on the coral, although it was not in the best shape to begin with. Still lots of fish, though, and saw lemon sharks and blacktips regularly. Inside the lagoon the visibility at our site was less than ideal, but we did still see mantas within touching distance on every dive there. Lots of cool coral formations (Agaricia, mushrooms, plating corals, etc.) in the lagoon. Everything there very expensive...$6 for a coke. Local beer is reasonably priced, though, and you can go to the store to get provisions and save a bit. Spectacular scenery and friendly people.
Rangiroa - Stayed at Le MaiTai (formerly Novotel). Essentially everything on the island is in the villages of Avatoru and Tiputa, although there is still not much there. They did not start to develop it at all until the 80's, and still has that "way off the beaten path" feel to it. Dove with Raie Manta Club dive shop...first and oldest on the island, run by world reknowned filmmaker/photographer, author, and conservationist Yves Lefevre. Quite a treat to hang out with this guy. On our first dive we saw 6 species of shark (grey reef, silvertip, whitetip, blacktip, nurse, great hammerhead), dolphins, Maori wrasse, turtles, an eagle ray, and countless fish species. The coral reef here is absolutely exquisite. Most of our dives were drifts that began outside in deep water and took us through the pass at high speed and spit us out in the shallow lagoon. I would estimate drift speeds on some of our dives approaching 6 knots or more. Its really quite a ride! The "wall of sharks" at the mouth of Tiputa pass is worth the trip alone. On every dive we heard dolphins, and 75% of the time they approached us to within touching distance. Really cool. Our last dive was a sunset dive at the pass, where we got to watch several species of surgeon fish spawning en masse, the sharks coming up from the depths to cruise the shallows, dogtooth tuna cruising by at close range, and some frisky dolphins keeping us company the whole time.
I cannot wait to go back to this place! They recommend visiting between November and March (peak Dec-Feb) to catch huge schools of eagle rays and hammerheads. They get frequent tiger sharks there as well, and occasionally the whales will show up. Can't say much for the macro-opportunities, as I was concentrating on bigger stuff at the time, but I know there are still some other things to shoot besides pelagics. Its no Raja Ampat, though, if thats what you are looking for.
And bring a dive computer! The cleaning station outside Tiputa pass where the sharks typically congregate is at about 130'. And it just gets sharkier from there...
Cheers,
Kirk
