Dive Review of Yaka Plongee, Dive Spirit/Raira Lagon, Havaiki in
French Polynesia/Rangiroa, Fakarava

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Yaka Plongee, Dive Spirit/Raira Lagon, Havaiki, Mar, 2013, by M. B., VA, US ( Reviewer 4 reports with 2 Helpful votes). Report 7316.
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
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Buy your plane ticket 9 months in advance - mine went up 500 bucks 6 months in advance and I am told this is pretty standard. Don't need to pay more than $900 from LA to Tahiti unless you wait. And topside, spend some time on Tahiti - it is wonderful. Rent a car and drive around it. Stay on Tahiti Iti for a couple of nights. I hear the dive operation on Nuku Hiva has closed, so at the moment there is no way to go there and snorkel with the dolphins. But I still wish I had planned on staying longer than the 17 days I did stay, to go to the Marquesas. Yaka Plongee's website is www.yakaplongeerangiroa.com; dive spirit is www.divespirit.com. the form would not allow me to put these 2 websites in the box. Raira Lagon on Rangiroa was fabulous, but if you want somewhere it is never hot because the wind is always blowing, stay at Relais de Josephine. At least eat once at their restaurant on the pass and watch the dolphins breach every evening at sunset. Havaiki was lovely but overpriced - they are one of the few places to stay on Fakarava so they have the ability to charge whatever they want. And Fakarava is HOT - even if you normally don't want A/C, like I never do, you might want it here. Also, Havaiki's regular bungalows only have one window, and though it faces the lagoon you can't really see out from the bed as it is a small and high window - those bungalows are pretty small. If you have the money, trade up if you like to see out easily. The food at both places was so good I gained weight on this trip where normally I would lose. The diving was wonderful, and the divemasters the best, especially Mathias and Arianne from Dive Spirit on Fakarava. Lots of sharks and even though Manta season was over I still got to see one. I was so glad I was diving with Yaka Plongee and Dive Spirit rather than the large companies on both islands. I could not have asked for more attentive divemasters or more safety conscious divemasters, and small groups instead of crowds. And though I am a newbie (only 90 dives) they were very kind and helpful. Most operators seem to do 2 dives a day in the morning; surface intervals are spent on land and afternoons are for chilling, or maybe one extra afternoon dive depending on weather, tide, and current direction. Boat rides are short. Except if you stay in the north of Fakarava and go to dive the south pass, which I heartily recommend you do not miss if weather permits. I have only snorkeled in Fiji and the Galapagos before, so this was my first Pacific diving, but from all that snorkeling I did have an idea, and I think the coral health and fish and critter life was as healthy and abundant as anything you would see in the best of the Pacific. Just be aware, for anyone who wants to stay in a Sheraton and for everyone to speak English - this is French Polynesia and most people speak French. They will be very nice to you if you try though. But dive briefings are in French, and then English, and most people discussing the dives afterwards are doing it in French. If you don't speak French well, you had best be comfortable having a nice cup of tea and lying in a hammock looking out at the ocean afterward, and not feeling bad because you can't participate in the post dive convo. And these are tiny islands, with thankfully local hotels and guesthouses - there is not a horrifying American resort in sight. Rangiroa and Fakarava are not Bora Bora. So if you want the Sheraton, go elsewhere. Like Bora Bora.
Websites	Raira Lagon, Havaiki
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	51-100 dives
Where else diving	Utila, Tobago, Saba, BVI, Mexico, Fla Keys, Central Florida, Turks and Caicos,
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	dry	Seas	calm, currents
Water Temp	78-83°F / 26-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	150-150 Ft/ 46-46 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	stay with group and divemaster
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	1 or 2
Dolphins	Schools	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	Boats are zodiacs. Still, plenty of care taken, just no on boat facilities.

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Dive Review of Yaka Plongee, Dive Spirit/Raira Lagon, Havaiki in French Polynesia/Rangiroa, Fakarava

Yaka Plongee, Dive Spirit/Raira Lagon, Havaiki, Mar, 2013,

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 Yaka Plongee, Dive Spirit/Raira Lagon, Havaiki in
French Polynesia/Rangiroa, Fakarava