Do excursions start from the pier on land or from the ship if booked through PG?

Do all excursions start from the pier on land or do they start the tour right from the ship if booked through PG? What are your experiences with the sunset catamaran on Bora Bora? We are considering this tour at the moment for some sunset photos for my collection and wanted to hear your thoughts.

Do all excursions start from the pier on land or do they start the tour right from the ship if booked through PG? What are your experiences with the sunset catamaran on Bora Bora? We are considering this tour at the moment for some sunset photos for my collection and wanted to hear your thoughts.

With rare exception the excursions both ship and private start from the dock at the tender drop off point.

As far as Sunset cat excursion typically it's good, but there is no way to predict the weather ... but it is a good time for nice weather. Remember sunset photos from a moving platform can be tricky. IS and VR though helpful can be fooled when your moving constantly. As we say ... better to have some grain than a blurred photo ;)

With rare exception the excursions both ship and private start from the dock at the tender drop off point.

 

As far as Sunset cat excursion typically it's good, but there is no way to predict the weather ... but it is a good time for nice weather. Remember sunset photos from a moving platform can be tricky. IS and VR though helpful can be fooled when your moving constantly. As we say ... better to have some grain than a blurred photo ;)

What company does PG use so I can gather some information on them? I have a canon powershot x2 and a fujifilm water camera will these be able to handle the motion of the catamaran to get sunset shots? Having good Bora Bora sunset pictures is very important to me and I hope to be able to frame a few.

What company does PG use so I can gather some information on them? I have a canon powershot x2 and a fujifilm water camera will these be able to handle the motion of the catamaran to get sunset shots? Having good Bora Bora sunset pictures is very important to me and I hope to be able to frame a few.

Have no idea which company, things change in FP so it's possible the vendor changes from time to time.

As far as the camera is concerned I have no idea ........ 100's of cameras out there, I have no idea of the specs of each. I just know my cameras would pull it off easily ;)

Tip ... your going to want to use a high f/stop, meaning the equivalent of F/11 - F/20 on a full frame camera. That said when you ask a camera to do that and shoot at a safe shutter speed you usually need a camera that will work well at a higher ISO. Figure ISO of 800 minimum. My camera will shoot all evening long in the 2500 - 3200 ISO range I'll have very little noise and the noise I do have is manageable. This is why the best sunset photos are usually multiple frames or HDR which takes several different exposures but you must be on a tripod and not moving. this gives you an exposure on the sun and the shadows, another words keeps you from ending up with only Silhouettes. When you try and pull out the shadows you introducing grain, usually no big deal for social media snaps but for large prints to hang on the wall it's a big deal. Can you get lucky now and then? Sure but money shots are not by luck, they are done by planning for the subject and knowing you have equipment that can pull it off. When you use a tripod you can use a low shutter speed which gives you more flexibility with your F/stop and ISO ;)

Couple of asides regarding Tahitian sunsets. First, they are quick, hardly any lingering twilight due equator location; plus they are earlier than many are used to. I am sure you will add some great Bora Bora sunset shots to your collection but also encourage you to try for some sunrises. The best atmospheric photos we have taken over many trips in FP have turned out to be those during the sun rising.

Have a super trip and; please, share your photos when you return.

What company does PG use so I can gather some information on them? I have a canon powershot x2 and a fujifilm water camera will these be able to handle the motion of the catamaran to get sunset shots? Having good Bora Bora sunset pictures is very important to me and I hope to be able to frame a few.

I did check the stats on your camera, very similar stats as my Sony RX10. Here is a sunset picture taken with my Sony RX10 on a moving Paul Gauguin. I shot this manually in RAW at full frame equivalent of 25mm, 1/250, f/11, ISO-200. So there you go, good starting numbers ;)

I did need to drag out the shadows around the deck chairs in post processing but as this was a moving ship there was no way to go tripod and do multiple exposures which does give better results but to answer your original question, yes you can pull off some sunset photos on the catamaran. Hope the starting numbers are of help.

Your ticket will tell you where the meeting spots are. Either on land or in the Grand Salon. I have had both.