Dive Review of TOPdive/Raimiti in
French Polynesia/Fakarava - South (Tetemanu)

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TOPdive/Raimiti: "Holy Fakarava! (South)", Nov, 2016, by Lindsay Battles, CA, US ( Reviewer 6 reports with 6 Helpful votes). Report 9288 has 2 Helpful votes.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Spectacular diving. Fakarava's south pass has the highest known concentration of reef sharks in the world. In July and August, there are between 700-900 reef sharks. We were hoping to see a "wall" of sharks but what we found was a dense tunnel, with sharks at every level of the water column -- plus pristine reefs teeming with fish and silkies in the blue. South Fakarava diving is not as challenging as N. Fakarava or Rangiroa. There are currents, but very manageable for divers with some experience. Whereas decompression diving was common in N. Fakarava, there did not seem to be a need for it in the south. Max depth on most dives was about 80 feet (due to the topography). We stayed at Raimiti, which is a 25 minute boat transfer away from the dive sites: I can imagine few places in the world more remote, or more magical, than Raimiti. Raimiti is exceptionally beautiful and full of delightful surprises (some of which we would rather not spoil in this review -- just go). The only downside was a few mosquitoes, but they were a small price to pay. We originally booked with Eleuthera but they couldn't/wouldn't arrange a transfer from Raimiti, almost wrecking our dive plans. We re-booked with TopDive at the last minute and were very pleased with their reliability and prompt response to emails. Regardless of which operater you use, book, confirm and re-confirm dive reservations well in advance (including the transfer). We met several people who were unable to dive due to miscommunications with dive operators. Also, there may be only one transfer to/from Raimiti each day, and this transfer is often in the morning, meaning that it's not always possible to dive on the last day. If we could do anything differently, we would have planned to stay another day. Top Dive provided amazing service - incredibly knowledgeable dives + comfortable boat.
Websites	TOPdive Raimiti
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Komodo, Bali, Rangiroa, Red Sea, Caribbean (Turks & Caicos, Roatan, Cozumel, Cayman, BVI), Zanzibar, California, Spain
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, rainy, dry	Seas	calm, choppy, currents
Water Temp	83-85°F / 28-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	100-200 Ft/ 30-61 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	?
Enforced diving restrictions	Dives were restricted only by air consumption.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	None	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters	N/A	Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]

Report currently has 2 Helpful votes

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Dive Review of TOPdive/Raimiti in French Polynesia/Fakarava - South (Tetemanu)

TOPdive/Raimiti: "Holy Fakarava! (South)", Nov, 2016,

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 TOPdive/Raimiti in
French Polynesia/Fakarava - South (Tetemanu)