Dive Review of French Polynesia Master in
French Polynesia

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French Polynesia Master: "Diving the Atoll Passes", Feb, 2019, by Robert DeFeo, NJ, US ( Contributor 19 reports with 7 Helpful votes). Report 10872 has 3 Helpful votes.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Professional and courteous operation. Crew was the standout of the trip. Diving was in atoll passes on incoming tides only. Other dives near the passes but not in them. Reasons given were best visibility on incoming tides and speed of currents. Pass dives were drop in and rock and roll following the divemaster. Reef hooks used and advised for these dives. You can hold with gloves but much easier with reef hooks. Sharks, sharks and more sharks in the passes. Mostly black-tip and grey reef sharks. One encounter with a school of dolphins---friendly too. Plenty of tropical fish and large schools. Corals healthy and in good shape. Beautiful scenary above water and below. Several outings to the atolls for surface time. Three dives only per day--mandated by law in French Polynesia. NITROX available (32%) and used by all the divers. Fills typically came in close to 3000 lbs but never over and sometimes at 2700. Wasn't an issue though as most dives ended due to time and not air remaining. Times typicalls 50 to 60 minutes. Boat in good shape, plenty of safety equipment and good protocols. Captain gives the safety briefings and walks you around the vessel while doing it. Nice touch. Would have given the huge and well appointed cabins a 5 rating if we had a mattress. Slept on box springs with high quality bedding. Asked about a mattress---didn't have one for our room onboard. Bit irritating given the price paid for the week. But we made do with it. Nice in-room bathrooms with integrated showers. Food--satisfactory but not great. Breakfast best meal of the day with to made eggs and other foods. Buffet line otherwise. Dinning area is way too congested--can't move and always bumping into someone. Some took their meals to the upper deck which had a great table chair layout and plenty of room. Travel between atolls at night and dive during the day. One late afternoon dive offered that the last group to enter the water experienced as a twilight dive...6 dive groups. One BBQ on the beach outing which was plenty of fun and very interesting...gorgeous sunsets/sunrises. Worth doing this trip---you'll have a good time.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Monterey, Channel Is, Sea of Cortez, Puget Sound, Caymans, Palau, Indonesia, Philippines, Truk, Fiji, Socorro Is, Texas lakes, Sonoma Coast, Big Island of Hawaii, Kauai, Niihau, Roatan, Maldives
Closest Airport	Papeete Faa'a'International	Getting There	LAX - PPT Direct Air Tahiti-Nui
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm
Water Temp	84-86°F / 29-30°C	Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility	100-150 Ft/ 30-46 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	30m depth; surface together
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	None
Dolphins	Schools	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	[None]

Report currently has 3 Helpful votes

Subscriber's Comments

By Sean Brady in NY, US at Apr 04, 2019 19:12 EST

What was the length of your trip? Was the boat packed? They were very pushy when I expressed interest and am not sure if I will pursue. At 3 dives a day how much time was your own or did they fill the time with tours of the Atols? They offer a few iterneries, how were the inter island flights? I know a lot of questions, but I scored a cheap flight for our anniversary snf looking to build it out to be the honey moon i wish I could have afforded.

By Sean Brady in NY, US at Apr 04, 2019 19:13 EST

By report author: Robert DeFeo in NJ, US at Apr 11, 2019 05:12 EST

Hi Sean, Trip was 7 days in length. Boat was full. Found entire crew helpful, courteous and great fun to be around. Plenty of time on your own. They offered two shore trips to the atolls. Three dives a day worked out fine for our group. The law prevents them from offering more in French Polynesia. Inter Island flights were well managed with no issues with bags but they do charge for extra weight which was done. Pack as light as possible paid up to $85 US for excess weight for two of us. They did a great job of moving us from and to the airports.

By Wendy Simon in CA, US at Jun 13, 2019 23:49 EST

Hi Robert, thank you for your report. What condition are the reefs in? Is there a lot of coral bleaching/rubble? Do you think it would be worth spending the time for the 10 night voyage?

By report author: Robert DeFeo in NJ, US at Jun 14, 2019 10:40 EST

Reefs were in great shape. Most of the dives are in the atoll channels. Saw no rubble or bleaching. Yes! 10-day trip would be very worthwhile!

By Wendy Simon in CA, US at Jun 14, 2019 17:32 EST

Thanks so much Robert, I really appreciate your feedback!

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Dive Review of French Polynesia Master in French Polynesia

French Polynesia Master: "Diving the Atoll Passes", Feb, 2019,

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):

Subscriber's Comments

Dive Review of French Polynesia Master in
French Polynesia