Need private guide for drift snorkel

[travelgirl913]

Hello All,

 

I was wondering if anyone had contact information for a guide to hire to take us through the coral gardens drift snorkel? We heard it is much more dangerou sto go in a group.

 

Thank you,

Judith

[land lover]

you have got my curiosity up........I have been reading your other thread and its posts with interest...and added my opition.... but I really don't think the number of people will make a difference it is not as if you all jump in the h20 at the same time.......the current and your carelessness is what will hit you into coral..I know from personal experience, fire coral gashed both of my elbows back in April

I turned by back to signal my family and the current smashed me into it.:eek:

 

However, I would like to know If a private guide is availble so I hope this thread gets some action:)

[laurieb]

both times we have done this, on Raiatea, 7 is the most people at one time we have seen. A good tour operator is right there with you to make sure that everyone stays ontrack. even when Princess has two boats worth of people, they do not all go at the same time.

[travelgirl913]

Thanks Laurie. Good to know everyone doesn't go at once. Some of these posts have had me scared!! I feel better knowing only a few go at a time.

[land lover]

Laurie,

 

So describe the pass.....from your other posts you have stated you need to be a strong swimmer..is this so you can stay in the "pass"....I mean my vision is that there is greater clearance in a certain area(pass) and this is where you want to stay....please give more details.....

 

Also how do you swim...do you just let the current take you and keep your arms at your side and only readjust when necessary........?Do you go single file?

 

Can you stop along the way(I would guess not but curious)...how long does it take?

 

You said you did it only once your DH went back for seconds why?

 

Thanks for the info...........

 

L:) ri

 

P.S.Have appreciated you past posts always informative.

[laurieb]

I will do my best to describe. when you get to the pass, shich is next to the Le Tahaa resort motu, you will walk up to the ocean side of a small motu. when we arrived at the ocean end of the motu, the beginneing of the drift snorkel, we gave our water shoes to our tour guide, Tony from west coast tours, who carried them back for us in a bag. we put on our fins, which you do need for this, and our masks/ snorkels. not really much of an opportunity to adjust your mask once you enter the pass, so be sure to stick your face in the water as you enter. once we enterd the pass, the current started moving us right away. most of the pass is fairly wide, but with the strong current we had, it did move me very close to the coral on each side, so I did have to use my fins to kick me out of the way. the only time I really had to use my hands was when Tony would stop to see how everyone was doing. You MUST keep your face down in the water to see where you are going. very important. There is a ton to see, we sow huge anemones and beautiful clown fish, and lots of colorful clams.

it is single file, again, very important to keep an eye on the person in front of you. the current carries you, but there is some maneuvering involved, at least when we went. sometimes the current is very gentle, it just wasn't when we went. I didn't get any cuts, but I was very careful to stay right behind Tony. I did end up closer to shore than the rest of the group, and had to again maneuver my way through quite a bit of coral to rejoin.

Jim went back to get more pics, but it was just a bit too stressful for me, although I would do it again- to do it twice in a row. there really isn't anyplace to stop and stand, until youget to the end of the pass. I would definitely recommend this , but I feel you need to be a strong swimmer for this particular place. we did a drift snorkel with Marc's on Huahine, it was very gentle!

[land lover]

How long would you say it took?

 

So it is possible to take photos or does Jim just live dangerously?

 

Thanks so much again,

 

L:) ri

[sprinkles]

I'll add a few things to what Laurie said. We did this with Bruno's tour in March. Bruno's English is not very good and really all he said on his tour was that if you were a strong swimmer you could go with him to do the pass, otherwise he suggested just snorkeling around the boat. He had us wear our water shoes and did not really give any instructions. There were six of us who went with him and before you knew it, people were off on different courses and couldn't get over to where he was. He told us that you could touch the coral and not hurt it, as well as put your foot on it for leverage (if your skin scraped against it, that's when you got cut). Anyway, part of the problem with our group was that people were freaking out and not keeping up with Bruno, DH and I stayed right on his tail and did everything he did and did NOT get hurt. He did stop a few times in open areas were we took pictures and he showed us things. Unfortunately out of the other four, one stepped on some kind of urchin and ended up with spines in his foot and could not even wear a shoe for a couple of days. Another one got cut up so bad (tons of cuts and massive swelling) he ended up having to have a permanent IV line put in by the ship's DR. and go to the infirmary two or three times a day for intravenous (sp) antibiotics.

 

I don't know if the current was exceptionally strong when we went or not, but even DH and I were scared at first. That being said it was the most AMAZING thing I have ever seen. I would guess that it took about 20 minutes to go through the whole pass (once we had walked up and got into the water).

 

Tammy

[land lover]

The more info the better...we are planning to go on the one with princess I don't want to be out here all day with Bruno... people get hurt when they are tired and I figure at that point in our cruise the energy will be limited......

 

also I want to slip in some horseback riding....and I figure booking with princess I should be back on time...I know I will miss the childrens program since riding is until 5:15...but my DH can tell me about it...............

 

Needless to say I would prefer not to have coral cuts if I am going riding.....

 

Thanks again for the invaluable info.....L:) ri

[travelgirl913]

Princess' drift snorkel tour actually says for experienced snorkers only. Let's hope if everyone is experienced snorkeling they won't be freaked out and will be able to follow along and no on will get cut.

 

I leave in 1 week!! Will let you know how it goes upon my return.

 

Thanks for everyone's help.

 

Judith

[laurieb]

the children will dance again with the adults at the evening program.