Bora Bora---Patrick or Christophe

[gerena]

Just when I think I have it---things change!!! A few weeks ago I contacted Christophe of Reef Discovery and was determined to take his excursion. He said he could pick us up at 8:45 a.m. But I also wanted to do the Island Tour by Le Truck. In investigating his website, I notice there is one at 1:30.

But I was also interested in Patrick's tour for April 27 but gave up on that because there seemed to be no interest for that date.

 

But just to make sure I contacted Patrick yesterday and this was his response.

"Very sorry, I was not able to arrange your tour on bora bora, but if there is any last minute changes, I will inform you

What is your last day before departure? Just in case.

Here is my best rate for the 3 of you, since it is slow this month, 85USD /PP, so snorkeling in a coral garden, rays feeding & shark watching, from 9:00 to 11:30.

If I have more people, last minutes, then I will add in the list, if not, it will be just the 3 of you"

 

He misunderstood me and did correct with him, but still not sure---the 3 people I was referring to were the ones here on CC and not anybody I knew who had booked with him. I think MightyQuinn is booked the week before. Wow, one day on Bora Bora is not enough for all I want to do!

 

Someone on Fodor's blogs had mentioned that the best site in Bora Bora was the "Coral Garden, off Tupitipiti Point on Motu Piti Aau. Is the same coral garden that Patrick and Christophe take you to?

 

So you see I have a conflict with time for Patrick, Christophe and perhaps LeTruck. Has anyone been with BOTH Christophe and Patrick? Christophe's is 3 1/2hours for about the same price.

 

Any input?

 

I am so pleased with this forum---I have used it extensively on previous cruises and I don't know what I would have done without it. Of course I continued to post on them after I got back.

 

My husband said we would only be going here once---but I told him about the PG flu!!!! So who knows. We have some other places on our bucket list!!!

[Wendy The Wanderer]

The Polynesian flu is a killer, for sure. Figuratively, of course!

 

Can't comment on the excursions, since I've always stuck with those done through the ship. But remember, you can't do everything. And there's that lovely, empty, motu that the ship will take you to, of an afternoon, while anchored in BB. Beautiful sand, lovely water, some snorkeling (although I would say advanced, since you have a current to deal with, and coral is not close to shore.)

[Ahab10]

Yes, the coral garden is the same. We enjoyed Patricks tour because it included a great beach barbecue, snorkeling, and the sharks and ray's for one reasonable price. here's some underwater pics of the garden.:D

[trav25]

Can only comment on Patrick's tour. At the end of our fabulous cruise we all decided that Patrick's 3/4 day excursion was the highlight of our trip.

[Emdee]

Trav did you do Marc's tour on Huahine? If you did how did it compare with Patrick.

Thanks

Miriam

[trav25]

In Huahine we went on the Sacred Sites and Legendary Places. Loved it!! Done by an anthropologist. People who went snorkeling here, diving on Fakarava and Rangiroa, snorkeling on the other islands were the ones who went with us on Patrick's tour in Bora Bora and said that the snorkeling on Patricks tour was the best of the trip.

[MightyQuinn]

Here is my best rate for the 3 of you, since it is slow this month, 85USD /PP, so snorkeling in a coral garden, rays feeding & shark watching, from 9:00 to 11:30. If I have more people, last minutes, then I will add in the list, if not, it will be just the 3 of you"

Hi Gerena. You have an excellent quote from Patrick! Since our RC is so quiet, I think you should snag the date and try to "sell" it to others once on-board. DH and I may be interested in doing the tour again, but we are also considering other options. FYI - a past cruiser reported on the Pacific Islands forum that, in their opinion, if you miss Patrick's tour on Bora Bora, you miss the essence of Bora Bora. Kinda says it all. You can find other comparative comments on Trip Advisor.

[Emdee]

Mighty ,

IMO the "essence" of FP is something you get from the gauguinnes while on the PG. Others dont have that opportunity so have to get it from other sources.

 

That being said I have never taken Patrick's tour. I know everyone loves it though.

[Ahab10]

In Huahine we went on the Sacred Sites and Legendary Places. Loved it!! Done by an anthropologist. People who went snorkeling here, diving on Fakarava and Rangiroa, snorkeling on the other islands were the ones who went with us on Patrick's tour in Bora Bora and said that the snorkeling on Patricks tour was the best of the trip.

 

YUp, I'll second that.;)

Edited April 2, 2011 by Ahab10

[gerena]

Patrick could not confirm because no one else had listed with him. So just to be sure, we've signed up with Christophe of Reef Discovery. I'm sure it will be fine---he gets great reviews on Trip Advisor and we may go to the same places--without the other specials that Patrick might have had. But I wanted a sure thing.

[trav25]

Since Patrick doesn't ask you for money ahead of time, book with him and see how many people show. 6 people didn't show when we went so one boat only had for but he charged us the same as if everyone showed. Really, it was the highlight.

[Texed]

We have been with Patrick three times. It's a blast. :)

[astrocat]

We have just got back from the 2 April sailing of PG and did Christophe's tour (morning departure) in Bora Bora and all I can say is that it was one of the real highlights of the entire trip. He knows his area so very well and we had a wonderful wonderful time. The rays and the Coral Garden were sights never to be forgotten. Have a wonderful trip!

[south seas sue]

The first time we took a private excursion in Bora Bora we used Damien, a very friendly Frenchman who also takes people out in his boat for wonderful snorkel trips. I believe his website is www.boraboraphotolagoon.com. He is a great photographer, and will give you photos to keep - that is his specialty. No roast pig picnic, but if you want great snorkeling and photography, contact Damien. He gets good reviews on Trip Advisor as well.

[rsmfly]

Just got back from the 5/7 sailing and we had a group of 8 on Patrick's tour. I'll try to be objective, but our experience seems to mirror some of the more recent negative comments about Patrick's tour.

 

First, communication with Patrick by email and coordinating the excursion was great. We added 2 more to our group the day ahead, and Patrick was quick to respond back that it was okay and that the price would go down as a result. I had figured that we would not have him for the tour, and that was verified by him the day ahead of time as he said that he was going to be out with a French TV crew all day.

 

Now for the tour. Pick up was on time at 0900, the boat was as advertised. The guide was not one of the "regular" cousins and spoke very little English beyond the "script". Quick trip out for the stingray snorkeling, which was fantastic. Amazing experience.

 

Off to the site to swim with the black tip sharks. Ehh, pretty nice but way too long here. More on that later.

 

Continue trip around the island to the picnic. You do circumnavigate the entire island by the end of the day, which was nice.

 

Now, the area where the picnic is was where things went downhill. No running water in the disgusting toilets. No preparations prior to our arrival had been made, so the guide had to do everything from collecting wood for the bbq to preparing the food for cooking. There were 2 or 3 other "family" members around that hung out in the treeline and stared at us. The table in the water had a broken umbrella and there was some trash on the beach.

 

The lunch was good, lobster, chicken, fish, fruit, etc.. But it took up a lot of the day because no preparations had been made beforehand and we were left to wander the small area for quite some time before eating. We were hustled off the island after eating as another of Patrick's boats needed to dock with more visitors.

 

We all thought that there was supposed to be one more snorkeling stop at a coral garden, but our guide was not able to explain why we were not as we continued straight back to the dock. Well, via a stop at the Hilton to drop off a couple who was on our excursion but not off the ship. That added some time.

 

We were back by 2:30, but we all felt that too much time was spent with the sharks (deep water, not much to see beyond the sharks swimming lazily around the boat) and especially at the motu.

 

Overall it was a good trip, but we felt as a group that Patrick needs to be a little more hands on to make sure his product is consistent and worthy of the considerable praise that led us to his tour in the first place.

[Ashryn]

Thanks for the review rmsfly. We have booked Patrick's for June. Hopefully Patrick also reads these reviews and takes note.

[Ahab10]

Thanks for the review rmsfly. We have booked Patrick's for June. Hopefully Patrick also reads these reviews and takes note.

 

I don't think he does, but you should tell him of your concerns via e-mail.;)

[greatlyblessed]

Having read afew reviews with issues with Patrick's tours, we have just booked with Christophe's. Friends have just returned and raved about Christophe. Will report back when we return.

[MightyQuinn]

On our recent trip, we took tours with both Patrick (4x4 Safari with Lagoon Excursion) and Christophe (Reef Discovery). While they were different tours, the water components were similar - both circle the lagoon and take passengers to specific snorkeling spots. For a variety of reasons, we much preferred our half-day with Christophe. If we returned to BB, we would take another tour with Christophe but we wouldn't consider Patrick again. YMMV.

[bethcooks4u]

I don't think he does, but you should tell him of your concerns via e-mail.;)

 

I emailed him and he said that that guide is no longer with him. Patrick said he was trying to help him out but he caused trouble, did damage to the boat and his company's reputation.

[Tikiintahiti]

I've taken Patrick's tour twice. Once was long ago and once was last year. Both times we had great snorkeling but the big difference was the location of the BBQ. This last time it was a a motu just west of the For Seasons resort. The lunch was ok but the location was murky water. You just didn't want to swim around the area where you were stuck at for 2 hours. The pig was a bit small for our large group, I think I got 2 mouthfuls that's it.

 

The guide who we have seen many times before on other lagoon cruises was ok, a bit rough in his use of 4 letter words and he loved to drink the whole time. I say this because the first time we took Patrick he was the tour guide though he had a few guys helping, it made a big difference. Patrick is good, some of his help when he isn't around does help his reputation.

[MightyQuinn]

We had Moreto for the motu picnic and lagoon snorkeling part of our all-day tour with Patrick. Moreto is a trusted cousin and is featured on his website as a senior guide. So he wasn't some fill-in temp guide. As I mentioned in my review, Moreto tries too hard to be cool and comes across as aloof and bored. When we arrived on the motu, he barked out orders as to where we could sit and where we could place our stuff. He offered us drinks from a cooler - help yourselves, I'm not your damn bartender! He remarked to the cooks preparing the food, loud enough so we could hear, that we're getting too much food for the price we pay. When the food was ready, he told us to eat quickly since we didn't have much time there. Let the magic begin ...

 

Then after way too much time at the motu, including waiting while Moreto transferred some of the group to shore for their 4x4 safari, we continued with the lagoon excursion. So much for hurry up and wait! We snorkeled at 3 different spots - black tip reef sharks, stingrays and coral garden. The sharks were great, the stingrays were disappointing and the coral garden was rushed. Moreto did absolutely no commentary on the circle lagoon excursion. Unless we asked a question about what we were seeing, we got no info. Nada. And even if we asked a question, he reluctantly gave us the bare minimum reply. He showed excitement just once - when he jumped onto the back of a lemon shark and rode it for a while. Hmm ...

 

Bottom line, our experience with the legendary Patrick was good but not great. We enjoyed the 4x4 safari way more than the lagoon excursion and motu picnic. It was a fun day but certainly not a trip highlight as many others have reported. Our half-day Reef Discovery with Christophe was hands-down better. As always YMMV.

[Tikiintahiti]

I've taken Patrick's tour twice. Once was long ago and once was last year. Both times we had great snorkeling but the big difference was the location of the BBQ. This last time it was a a motu just west of the Four Seasons resort. The lunch was ok but the location had murky water. You didn't want to swim around the area where you were stuck at for 2 hours. The pig was a bit small for our large group, I think I got 2 mouthfuls, that's it.

 

The guide, who we have seen many times before on other lagoon cruises was ok, a bit rough in his use of 4 letter words and he loved to drink the whole time. I say this because the first time we took Patrick he, meaning Patrick was the tour guide though he had a few guys helping, it made a big difference. Patrick is good, some of his help when he isn't around doesn't help his reputation.

[south seas sue]

Quinn, we had Moreto also when we took the 3/4 day tour last June. Partrick was supposed to lead us, but he had a French film crew in and Moreto was his substitute. Moreto was cooperative, cheerful, but not too talkative - he did play his uke a lot. When we got to the lunch site Patrick and his daughter were there, and the food was ready - (the film crew got postponed). Patrick was cleaning up the area, and our lunch was great - plenty of food, but then there were only 7 of us total.

 

I did not notice that Moreto had any kind of "attitude", but perhaps we caught him on a good day - anyway, even with Moreto substituting, it was a terrific day - started out rainy, but Moreto motored to another site with sun.......

 

:p

[sskills]

We have been with Patrick three times. It's a blast. :)

Texed - You seem to be the Patrick expert, so I'll direct this to you. I recently found the 6/18 PG cruise roll and have been monitoring....OK, lurking...the comments ever since. I e-mailed Patrick and he says he has space on 6/24 for the two of us. He is only accepting XFP now because the US$ keeps dropping. He quoted 16,000 XFP, or about $185 per person with the current exchange rate. That seems high based on the other PG excursions we've been looking at. You've been several times and have said it is the highlight of your trip. So, it's worth it, right? sskills (hope to meet you on the cruise)