Dive Review of Dive Spirit in
French Polynesia/Fakarava Atoll

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Dive Spirit: "A Dive operation in Transition", Oct, 2021, by Blake Hottle, CA, US ( Sr. Reviewer 9 reports with 8 Helpful votes). Report 11803 has 2 Helpful votes.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food	N/A
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	I hate giving bad reviews, but this place demands it. For so many reasons. Not so much as a "Hi, how ya doin?" upon arrival should have been a warning that this was not going to go well. 3 guys running the joint, two of them super bossy and obviously not liking their jobs. Everything was hurry, hurry, hurry. A complete departure from the fun, accommodating companies we had been diving with the previous three weeks in French Polynesia. Something was just plain off about this place. We were harshly told to hurry to the boat, we could deal with weights while on board. Uh, OK, that should work. But then, on the 15 minute ride to the pass, despite repeated requests to help with weights, three of our group of 7 had no weights! Scramble ensues, weights figured out, with stern lectures that we were using too much weight, and that they, with 30 years of diving knew best.. (I should add that our average age was 50, with decades of diving each) The diving briefing in broken English was done while underway, never mind that it was almost impossible to hear the dive master over the scream of two 150 HP outboards on the open inflatable. With the pass conditions deemed "not good" we dove a section of the outer reef. Why this section, I will never know, because I have never seen so much dead, black, slime covered coral anywhere. (Subsequent dives with another much better operator on the atoll proved that there is plenty of healthy coral in this area) How this place can stay in business is a real head scratcher. We were told days later by some locals that this operation has been "in transition"- "for the past for years" (smile) This being a very small island, everyone knows everyone, so talking bad about your neighbors doesn't work well.. But the knowing nod when we shared our experience with other locals spoke very loudly indeed. To be completely fair, I should add that we were told by locals that the manager was temporary and the business was for sale. I wish them the best. They have lots of opportunity for improvement.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	Bay Islands Honduras, Bonaire, Hawaii, Virgin Islands, Belize, Oregon, Washington, Southern California, Raja Ampat, Bali, Alor, Sulawesi
Closest Airport	Fakarava	Getting There	inter-island flight from Papeete, Tahiti
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, rainy	Seas	calm
Water Temp	80-80°F / 27-27°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	60-65 Ft/ 18-20 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	stay with the guide
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	no
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	None	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	no special tanks or anything like that

Report currently has 2 Helpful votes

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Dive Review of Dive Spirit in French Polynesia/Fakarava Atoll

Dive Spirit: "A Dive operation in Transition", Oct, 2021,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Dive Spirit in
French Polynesia/Fakarava Atoll