sjkoen

We rented manual with Avis - picked up in downtown Papeete and returned to the airport - we used car after the cruise. So glad we stayed for a while, you will enjoy having it. Driving wasn't difficult, sometimes I missed the exit and we had to go a bit before turning around, but never a problem. Our tour to Teahupoʻo and Te Pari was canceled, but we still drove down there and took a taxi boat to just the wave. Pretty cool even if just wave. Have fun!

@minidonuts85 Ledges 😀

@minidonuts85 I didn't realize you got sick - sorry! We did mantas and rays, mantas were pretty amazing. Rays were hiding from us😆. Moorea too - lots of turtles and little fishes - but also crown of thorns which is a bummer for the coral. Lucky you to begin dreaming of next trip, have fun planning.

@minidonuts85We did get dives in starting with Bora Bora stop (and I did Tahiti the morning after arrival and really liked), my favorite dive was an out and back off of Riatea (day of Motu Mahana) - lots of sharks at first, which I can take or leave, but the small fishes are what I like - lots of them and healthy coral and hearing whales. I get it about Cooks, and I'm really sad to have missed Raro. The lagoon was amazing for the color of the water, unreal. I was so excited on my last day in Tahiti to go get pics of the Picasso fish I ran in the water with my battery/SD card hatch open. The camera is still damaged, but I soaked the SD card in rubbing alcohol and just got these pics off of it. On way to 1 foot and on one foot. I think lagoon tour would be a good idea. An idea, not thru ship, but one place I was looking at was Sail Aitutaki - small hobbie cat sail tours. Looked pretty cool and with just you two a good honeymoon 😍 activity. I'll shut up after this! But there are flights from PPT to Raro. Or open jaw to Raro and pick up Paul Gauguin in PPT. Then you don't have to worry about the sea days - unless, you like the sea days.

We did! So sad to be done! I didn't take a pic of the dive sheet, but, I remember them. Huahine - did have dives on our trip, early AM and afternoon. Then, no dives in the Cooks. I saw other dive sheets that had them in Aitutaki and waitlisted in Raro - both outside providers. They told us they were having trouble with the outside contractors. We also had an outside contractor on Taha'a, but that's because the Marina team is needed on the Motu. The non-Cook sites matched the society itineraries. I'd check around on the Cook itinerary. I would not have missed it because I was lucky enough to hook up with a traveling swim club in Aitutaki and was able to participate in their swims from and to One Foot Island! They swam all week, I just joined the one day, attached map, did the yellow swims. Soooo much fun. But if I had wanted to dive there I would have been bummed. The trip to Cooks (according to some, not all, staff) is rough everytime. We had a rough trip, we didn't get sick, but a lot did. We also ended up skipping Raro because where the ship anchoring area is not protected and they were worried about weather (so many people just wanted a flat night) and tender loading safety. For a diving itinererary, take a look at their Crossing Oceana, Fiji to Bali and Singapore to Australia itineraries. My friend did the Bali one and said the diving is the best she's ever done and of coarse. Obviously the Tuamotus also, but that's advanced cert.

I thought you might like those! They are on the way to Belvedere Lookout in Moorea. 🐎🐴

We were 11 night Cook/Society and did two LA Veranda, two Le Grill and remainder L'etoile. We reserved right after diving reservations - agree with split up - diving can take a long time if people in front of you have questions - ones before us took an hour. So one person can at least hold a place in diving line. There was a chef's menu night where all restaraunts were had same menu - so check to see if they know that night before booking. It was an at sea day. My friends would have been bummed if that had been the La Veranda night. For me, being vegan, I preferred L'etoile menu, liked Le Grill location and casual atmosphere best, and didn't care for La Veranda (loved it for breakfast and lunch where you could sit outside) - but my friends liked the La Veranda dinners best. Have fun.

Wind must have been something! Tahiti wasn't great, but had saved last day for museum, so it worked out. United flight from PPT to SFO last night had some passengers who apparently almost didn't get out of Bora Bora in time for flight. And we waited a gate for a final batch of passengers. They were all happy to have made flight.

Just returned after a few days in Tahiti. The trip before ours was all rain. We had rain most of our time and rough seas for our trip to Society and Cook Islands (so much so, seasickness bags lined the hallway). The port day in Rarotonga was cancelled and moved to Riatea. The running joke was Aitutaki was a looong way to go for picnic. 😆 I would not have wanted to miss Aitutaki. The crew was amazing and guests made the best of things. I'm sure there was a lot of work to set things up on short notice. We appreciated the clear communication from the captain. We dove Motu Mahana day, but were really happy for everyone that it waited to rain until end of day. I've attached a pic of the seas on the crossing to Cooks (and some others to show the varied weather and the whale and baby that said HI to the tender), it doesn't really show how high the waves were - we could see splashes up to the Grand Salon. We never felt unsafe and it was incredibly sweet how helpful the dining room staff was in helping steady guests and carry their plates. I'm sure the Captain and bridge crew didn't sleep much on the crossings. VID_20230911_175808.mp4 20230915_170158.mp4 20230917_150632.mp4

Thanks! I am looking atbprivate with https://en.blueinvitation.com/ for same reasons and I'm worried about the impact of the chaoticness on the whales. How was ScubaTec? We dive with them tomorrow to get wet. 😀

I miss my tough! I used it into the ground over many, many years. Thanks for posting the pics.

Our official documents say 3:00 but I've seen 2:30 discussed. Want to board as early as possible for diving sign up. Guess we line up at 2:30 anyway. Once checknin and diving/tours booked, can you leave ship? Assuming I'm done early enough, I may have a quick something I want to run and pick up before boarding. Thanks.

They have removed one document from the web page. I know because I took snag-its when my friend and I were working through the forms. There were three total documents: 1) non-certified diver, 2) certified diver (PG diver questionnaire, PADI medical form - Form footer - PRODUCT NO. 10063 (Rev. 06/07) Ver. 2.01 -, boat release), and 3) certified and non-certified - multi-agency medical form (Diver Medical footer - DMSC 2020 10346 EN) The PADI-specific form within the combined PG document was replaced with the multi-agency Diver Medical. As the medical questions were redundant nothing substantive has changed, they have streamlined it into a single document. To me, the web text is clear "print the forms, review and complete them, have your doctor sign the Physician section then bring these aboard the cruise. The doctor on board will not be able to issue the medical certificate." and hasn't changed. For those of us who already have our forms signed, we just bring them all - we aren't missing anything. For those downloading now, it got a little simpler. I know the whole having a doctor review has been frustrating, but safety is everything in scuba diving and I'm pleased they require it.

Yeah for you! My dive log has a big hole of verified dives in it. And frankly the only reason I started getting them verified was a requirement for some volunteering. So, since I already have it, I'm taking my spreadsheet of unverified (70ish) dives and the actual pages from verified dives (30ish). Not really planning on advanced and I'm right onbthe cusp anyway - Huahine might be the only one that's advanced on my trip. Hope you have so much fun. I'll be living vicariously through you for now. 🌸

Thanks for the info, I'll need to check what SSI equivalents. And, thanks for the suggestion, I'll be bringing the latest UHMS diver medical form to my next annual visit for future, just in case.