Kenswing Posted March 13, 2013 #1 Share Posted March 13, 2013 We're doing the 10 day cruise on the Pacific Princess next April. This is what I have so far. Please help fill in the blanks.. :D We are decent swimmers but admittedly not experienced snorkelers. That's why I don't have Bruno's L'excursion on the list.. Thanks for any advice/tips/experiences Tahiti - Roulottes and Market Huahine - Huahine Nautique - Marc's Combo Motu picnic and 4x4 tour Rangiroa - Raiatea - Bora Bora (Day1) - Maohi Nui (Patrick's) Lagoon, snorkel, lunch and 4x4 Tour Bora Bora (Day2) - Moorea - Albert's ATV and Jet Ski Combo Tahiti - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tikiintahiti Posted March 14, 2013 #2 Share Posted March 14, 2013 (edited) Tahiti - Roulottes and Market Huahine - Huahine Nautique - Marc's Combo Motu picnic and 4x4 tour Rangiroa - visit the Blue Lagoon - terevaexcursions@mail.pf Raiatea - visit the cultural sites as this is the hub of Polynesia culture Bora Bora (Day1) - Maohi Nui (Patrick's) Lagoon, snorkel, lunch and 4x4 Tour Bora Bora (Day2) - skiff rental on Bora Bora: La Plage: laplage.bora@hotmail.com Moorea - Albert's ATV and Jet Ski Combo Tahiti - Patrick's tour, no not the guy from Bora Bora. This is an inland tour of the valleys and waterfalls. http://www.papeete.com/patrick/index.html Edited March 14, 2013 by Tikiintahiti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenswing Posted March 14, 2013 Author #3 Share Posted March 14, 2013 Thanks again, Tiki.. Have you thought of applying for a job with the Polynesian Tourism Bureau? :p Can you elaborate on the skiff rental in Bora Bora? Do we just rent a boat and explore on our own? And are there any tours that we have already picked that you would change? Thanks again, Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tikiintahiti Posted March 14, 2013 #4 Share Posted March 14, 2013 Your choices are fine. The skiff is on your own, About $200 bucks for the day. It has a 7 - 10 horsepower moter and has shade cover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noodle Posted March 14, 2013 #5 Share Posted March 14, 2013 Tiki would you recommend Marc's combo tour over the regular snorkeling and motu picnic? If so why? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tikiintahiti Posted March 14, 2013 #6 Share Posted March 14, 2013 I've done both, personally I like the lagoon tour over the combo. If I recall when we took the combo we were late getting to the BBQ and missed out on some of the goodies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noodle Posted March 15, 2013 #7 Share Posted March 15, 2013 Hmmm, not sure i want to risk missing any goodies. I live for goodies. Thanks Tiki for sharing your experience once again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tikiintahiti Posted March 15, 2013 #8 Share Posted March 15, 2013 The first time we did the combo and yes we missed out on goodies. Since then we have taken Marc's about 3 times for the lagoon tour, we love it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenswing Posted March 15, 2013 Author #9 Share Posted March 15, 2013 No goodie missing allowed.. I'll move them along if need be.. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsSmith91739 Posted March 16, 2013 #10 Share Posted March 16, 2013 I've done both, personally I like the lagoon tour over the combo. If I recall when we took the combo we were late getting to the BBQ and missed out on some of the goodies. what would the goodies be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tikiintahiti Posted March 17, 2013 #11 Share Posted March 17, 2013 Grub & booze Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsSmith91739 Posted March 17, 2013 #12 Share Posted March 17, 2013 OK good to know. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenswing Posted March 17, 2013 Author #13 Share Posted March 17, 2013 Grub & booze LOL.. Or to be a little more specific.. From Marc's email.. Meet the others at the picnic at the motu for chicken and fish on the barbeque and salads. Local music with the captains. Tables and chairs in the water or on the beach depending on the weather. Open bar (Water, local juices, Hinano beer and rum punch) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tikiintahiti Posted March 17, 2013 #14 Share Posted March 17, 2013 Well I was correct. The chairs in the water and the music were still there but the grub and booze had already been pillaged :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s1kmad3 Posted December 27, 2013 #15 Share Posted December 27, 2013 Your choices are fine. The skiff is on your own, About $200 bucks for the day. It has a 7 - 10 horsepower moter and has shade cover. Tikiintahiti, have you done the pontoon rental? if so which do you prefer? is 4 hrs enough time or just do the full day? Thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tikiintahiti Posted December 27, 2013 #16 Share Posted December 27, 2013 I've only rented the skiff. 4 hours is enough time to enjoy the snorkeling behind the Sofitel Motu and where the manta rays hang out. 4 hours is also enough if all you want to do is circle the island from the lagoon vantage point but isn't enough time to circle the island and stop at 4 great snorkeling locations plus you might want to pull up and take in lunch at one of the fun eateries around the island. Hope that answers your question Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingPeg Posted December 27, 2013 #17 Share Posted December 27, 2013 I've only rented the skiff. 4 hours is enough time to enjoy the snorkeling behind the Sofitel Motu and where the manta rays hang out. 4 hours is also enough if all you want to do is circle the island from the lagoon vantage point but isn't enough time to circle the island and stop at 4 great snorkeling locations plus you might want to pull up and take in lunch at one of the fun eateries around the island. Hope that answers your question Help! I am having an awful time getting in touch with Patrick from http://www.papeete.com/patrick/index.html. I am taking over the tour from some one else for April 2014 for 2 vehicles and I can not get any reply from him. What is the best way to contact? I went through the website and patrickaventure@mail.pf no luck with either. Is he still doing tours? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tikiintahiti Posted December 27, 2013 #18 Share Posted December 27, 2013 Many families in FP take a week or 2 off during the holidays. A few others also pointed out they had a tough time contacting him. Give it a bit of time and if you don't have a response soon after the 1st of the year I would punt ....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thyme2go Posted December 27, 2013 #19 Share Posted December 27, 2013 (edited) An update on boat rentals on Bora Bora...........we were there a short time ago and really looked forward to that day. HOWEVER, there are some things we wish we would have known. 1.) You cannot motor into the Manta area as that is a restricted area. You can only be in that part of the lagoon if you have a guide with you. You are limited to going by all the OWB's on the back side of Bora Bora. A lot like viewing subdivisions in major cities! There are other area's of interest around Bora Bora. They identify those areas on a map, then erase them before you leave which makes it difficult to remember except for the bare minimum route which is permanent on the map. 2.) If you are content to motor around in the boat (they have 6 hp motors so you will not set a fast pace), you will be fine. Estimated 4 hours around the island. (We couldn't shake the picture of Tom Hanks in Splash on his way to Cape Cod.) The boats are small and with two people onboard you need to be aware of balancing the boat.......yes, they are that small that tipping could occur, especially if you want to snorkel or go out over the side. Yes, you can get a 15 hp motor with a boat license, but you pay more and it's the same boat as the 6 hp rental. Rental prices are higher than mentioned previously.....closer to $250-$260 for 6 hp motor and all day rental. 3.) Unless you are a gymnast, do not assume you can get in and out of the boat to snorkel/swim. The ladder is less than a foot wide and hauling yourself out of the water with that small a ladder and next to the propeller makes it difficult. Even my agile spouse had a hard time hauling out of the water. (The snorkeling is magnificent, though we did very limited snorkeling after we found this out) 4.) The anchor is to be used in sand only.....but drags in any kind of breeze on the water. It is very short so you are limited to using it in shallow water which is a limitation. One of us stayed on board in order to make sure we didn't drag into the coral. No buoy line and no buoys to tie up to as you motor around. 5.) In hindsight, had we known the limitations outweighed the advantages we wouldn't have done this. There are local tours for $80 at the dock and that would have saved us money, given us more snorkeling opportunities and would have better met our wishes on Bora Bora. 6.) I grew up in boat country so was really looking forward to this day. It didn't turn out as great as we hoped. Your mileage may vary, but thought I'd share our experience. The owner is nice, but he was swamped when we were there so we spent a lot of time waiting to get the boat. Edited December 27, 2013 by thyme2go word choices Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tikiintahiti Posted December 27, 2013 #20 Share Posted December 27, 2013 Sad your day didn't measure up. I've rented before and had no problems with tying off to buoys. I would agree it can be a bit of a task to get in and out of the boat. I'm 59 and over weight and I still managed to do it but it was a bit of a task. Never been charged that amount. Last time it was $215 USD for all day, $145 for 4 hours USD. Maybe they are getting more business with the way I recommend this :p and the prices went up. As I always state, things can change quickly in FP, unless I was over there every month there will be some differences that I'm not aware of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tikiintahiti Posted December 27, 2013 #21 Share Posted December 27, 2013 I've emailed the vendor to ask about the tie off at the manta ray location. If things have changed I want to know so the information given to others is as accurate as it can be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thyme2go Posted December 28, 2013 #22 Share Posted December 28, 2013 We had an email from Isabelle saying we could tie off at buoys, but when we got there we were told by Frank, that no you cannot as we could only use the anchor. Manta area was strictly off limit's. That was one of the 'problem's'......what we were told online and what we were told in person were two different things. We assumed that may have been a translation issue. When were you there last? $215 to $250-$260 is quite a jump...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thyme2go Posted December 28, 2013 #23 Share Posted December 28, 2013 We had an email from Isabelle saying we could tie off at buoys, but when we got there we were told by Frank, that no you cannot as we could only use the anchor. Manta area was strictly off limit's. That was one of the 'problem's'......what we were told online and what we were told in person were two different things. We assumed that may have been a translation issue. When were you there last? $215 to $250-$260 is quite a jump...... Oops, got away from the keyboard. Good for you to check it out. I'm curious what you will hear as well. That was basically our problem.....what we had received in email was different from what we were told when we signed out the boat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swimgirl1 Posted February 16, 2014 #24 Share Posted February 16, 2014 Opionins on options to beaches, tours and snorkeling from Raiatea to Tahaa in 7 hour stop? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunbunny24 Posted February 18, 2014 #25 Share Posted February 18, 2014 Hi Tiliintahiti how is the best way to see the blue lagoon from Rangiroa? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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