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Dive Review of The Six Passengers/Pension Bounty in
French Polynesia/Rangiroa

The Six Passengers/Pension Bounty: "Wild diving in Rangiroa", Jul, 2016,

by Lindsay Battles, CA, US (Reviewer Reviewer 6 reports with 6 Helpful votes). Report 9291 has 2 Helpful votes.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 4 stars Food 5 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity 5 stars
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 4 stars
Beginners 3 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments We spent six days diving diving with Six Passengers. All of our guides were safety-conscious, knowledgeable about the dives sites and fun to spend time with. We saw at least a few sharks on every dive (typically many more), tons of Napoleon wrasse, and had several unforgettable encounters with wild dolphins. The condition of the coral varies - it's great in some places, broken in others.

Rangiroa diving is no joke. Decompression diving is routine. Depending on the dive profile, dives can be up to 160 feet deep (often that's where the sharks are), and the incoming currents are swift. Six Passengers kept us safe and taught us how to better navigate these conditions. Even if you have great air consumption, consider the large capacity, steel tanks for incoming current dives (dives into the lagoon). These sometimes challenging dives are more relaxing with a surplus of air (and if you have a touchy dive computer, it will thank you for the added margin of safety).

Because French Polynesia uses the CMAS system, you want at least PADI Rescue certification. Rescue divers are limited to 160. PADI OW and AOW are limited to 95 feet, regardless of whether you have the deep diver specialty.

The dive shop itself is very comfortable - lots of lounge spaces overlooking the lagoon. Fabulous place to spend a surface interval. The dive boat could be crowded at times, but this wasn't a problem because the boat rides were very short (and dive groups limited to 6 or fewer)

Pension Bounty: Pension Bounty is a lovely property. Excellent hospitality and value. We especially loved our host's gourmet meals. The lagoon is a short walk away (3 minutes), but the beach near Bounty is very narrow (not much space to lay out even a beach towel). Though would have preferred to be directly on the lagoon, we would return to Bounty with no hesitation.

To enjoy the lagoon, you will have to (try to) use the beach at the neighboring resort, Kia Ora. This worked out fine for us, but we would not bank on such good luck if we were to return. [FWIW, we spent a lot of time at Kia Ora. Kia Ora has gorgeous bungalows overlooking the lagoon, some with hot tubs, plus a phenomenal infinity pool and over-water bar -- big resorts are not typically our style, but we would make an exception for Kia Ora if we were to return]
Websites The Six Passengers   Pension Bounty

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 101-250 dives
Where else diving Komodo, Bali, Fakarava, Red Sea, Caribbean (Turks & Caicos, Roatan, Cozumel, Cayman, BVI), Zanzibar, California, Spain
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, windy, rainy, cloudy, 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 no
Enforced diving restrictions No more than 10-12 minutes decompression time. CMAS depth limits.
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? N/A

What I Saw

Sharks Lots Mantas None
Dolphins Schools Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 3 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters N/A Large Fish 5 stars
Large Pelagics 4 stars

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]
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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