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snorkeling on 14 night cruise

astrocat

By astrocat,
in Paul Gauguin Cruises

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astrocat

astrocat

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Kia orana! We are booked on a 14 nighter later this year (December) - it will be our third PG cruise and I am very excited.

 

Relevant ports of call are: Fakarava, Fatu Hiva, HIva Oa, Tahuata, Nuku Hiva, Huahine, Bora Bora, Moorea. (I'm not counting the motu b/c I know what's there and can alternate snorkeling with sipping cocktails from a coconut.)

 

I have already reached out to Christoph and Reef Discovery for Bora Bora, are there other off the ship recommendations for snorkeling?

 

Or any other don't miss excursions at the other venues.    Thank you! 

 

 

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MrRandal

MrRandal

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Pure Snorkeling with Reef Discovery is a Paul Gauguin excursion now, which can be booked when excursions open up with your cruise. You may be able to book them separately, but that's not normally the case once a vendor becomes a Paul Gauguin vendor. Also, while you can sip cocktails and snorkel at Motu Mahana, the snorkeling there is pretty poor, and if that's all you did in Taha'a you would be missing one of the best snorkeling adventures of your entire cruise, the Drift Snorkel in Taha'a. The vendor picks you up from the marina deck and takes you to the snorkel area, you spend 3 hours drift snorkeling with the current in a huge, incredible coral garden, see some of the most pristine coral in the world, and then the vendor drops you off at Motu Mahana just in time for lunch. It's one of my favorite excursions the ship offers, although I have been out with Pure Snorkeling on 5 different occasions, both before and after they were PG vendors. All of their captains/guides are amazing.

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elmaexec

elmaexec

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We spent 8 days in Moorea last year. There are a couple of motus off the northwest side of the island with very nice snorkeling between them. You can rent a small motorized boat from Tip Nautic located on the beach behind Hotel Les Tipaniers. You can take that out to the motu and also to the sand bank where the sharks and rays congregate. There are buoys to tie off to there and being on your own, you can spend as much time as you’d like. The price is very reasonable. You can do 4 hours for just over $100 total at today’s exchange rate. 
 

Another option is to arrange lunch at Coco Beach which is on one of the motus. They charge just $5 to pick you up at a pier ( there’s one next to the Intercontinental and another at Les Tipaniers). You pay for lunch on the beach and are free to stay at the motu as long as you’d like. 

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Wendy The Wanderer

Wendy The Wanderer

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I can concur that the area around Les Tipaniers is an area where many snorkel tours go.  We've stayed at the hotel twice, plus we've taken ship's excursions that go to that area (sting rays.)  I've also done the ship's tour sailing on a catamaran and snorkeling on Moorea.  I must say that the snorkeling is not what it was 20 years ago, sadly, in the Societies. On Fakarava I just did a bit of snorkeling from the side of the road, nothing special, but something, but I'm sure you can do better than that--the Blue Lagoon is well-known, but the problem often is, are you there long enough to do it.

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EPTCB

EPTCB

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Posted (edited)
On 10/3/2022 at 2:58 PM, MrRandal said:

....the Drift Snorkel in Taha'a. The vendor picks you up from the marina deck and takes you to the snorkel area, you spend 3 hours drift snorkeling with the current in a huge, incredible coral garden, see some of the most pristine coral in the world, and then the vendor drops you off at Motu Mahana just in time for lunch..."

 

We usually like to maximize our time on the motu but are thinking of doing this tour next year. It sounds like you can do the drift snorkel repeatedly as much as tour time allows. Is this correct?

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MrRandal

MrRandal

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9 hours ago, EPTCB said:

We usually like to maximize our time on the motu but are thinking of doing this tour next year. It sounds like you can do the drift snorkel repeatedly as much as tour time allows. Is this correct?

We did the drift snorkel on our first 2 cruises, and each time we "drifted" 3 separate times. The drift snorkel is usually a group of ten with 2 guides, one at the front of the line another at the end. The actual drift area is between 2 motus, perhaps 300 yards long, 150 or so yards wide. Your boat anchors at the end, then you walk up to the start of the drift area in your water shoes carrying your flippers and snorkeling gear, you then change into your snorkel gear and enter the water. The lead guide floats your shoes with him/her, and you change back into your shoes at the end and repeat. On our last cruise, in September, we actually went to a different area, which was much larger, with a milder current, and we only had time for two trips, although we spent every bit as much time in the water, and the coral garden was every bit as spectacular as the original spot. At this time the original drift area was not deep enough in many areas to safely drift. This has been a challenge with the excursion for years, you need to be a strong enough swimmer to swim around the coral that is too close to the surface to swim over it. But oh so worth the effort.

Edited by MrRandal
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Retired2016Cruiser

Retired2016Cruiser

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56 minutes ago, astrocat said:

Progress being made: planning on a Pinnacle 3 hr snorkel at Fakarava, Reef Discovery at Bora Bora and drift snorkel at Tahaa. Exciting! 

Sounds great! For the Fakarava Pinnacle snorkel, are you booking thru Paul Gauguin or on your own? We reserved  the Tahaa drift snorkel in time, but Fakarava Pinnacles was full when we called. Hoping we can book on ship or find another option. 

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astrocat

astrocat

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2 hours ago, Retired2016Cruiser said:

Sounds great! For the Fakarava Pinnacle snorkel, are you booking thru Paul Gauguin or on your own? We reserved  the Tahaa drift snorkel in time, but Fakarava Pinnacles was full when we called. Hoping we can book on ship or find another option. 

I’ve put in a request for fakarava via the ship today. We are sailing in December so fingers crossed! Which cruise are you on? 

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Retired2016Cruiser

Retired2016Cruiser

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16 hours ago, astrocat said:

I’ve put in a request for fakarava via the ship today. We are sailing in December so fingers crossed! Which cruise are you on? 

Great!  You were smart to  get your request in early (after 2 previously scheduled cruises were cancelled due to covid, I guess I didn't really believe we were going to get to go...so waited too long to  reserve this excursion.  But, I plan to check once we board) We are on 10/19 🙂 Can't wait!!!

 

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elmaexec

elmaexec

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2 hours ago, Retired2016Cruiser said:

Great!  You were smart to  get your request in early (after 2 previously scheduled cruises were cancelled due to covid, I guess I didn't really believe we were going to get to go...so waited too long to  reserve this excursion.  But, I plan to check once we board) We are on 10/19 🙂 Can't wait!!!

 

We have a tentative tour with Ato Lissant in Fakarava. It’s us$120/person and it’s all day including Blue Lagoon, snorkel locations in the lagoon, and lunch. We need three more for the tour to go. If you’re interested, contact Ato at fakaravaexplorer@hotmail.com

 

edit: should have made clear we are on the 10/19 cruise as well. 

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Retired2016Cruiser

Retired2016Cruiser

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7 hours ago, elmaexec said:

We have a tentative tour with Ato Lissant in Fakarava. It’s us$120/person and it’s all day including Blue Lagoon, snorkel locations in the lagoon, and lunch. We need three more for the tour to go. If you’re interested, contact Ato at fakaravaexplorer@hotmail.com

 

edit: should have made clear we are on the 10/19 cruise as well. 

Thank you! I saw that in the Roll Call and considered it, but not sure we want to be on that long of a snorkel tour (or a particularly long boat ride).  But it does sound like a great tour, so haven't ruled it out.  A couple of questions: Which Paul Guaguin tour does this compare to?  I didn't see the "blue lagoon" specifically mentioned (but may have missed it),  Also, do you know how long of a boat ride it would be to the blue lagoon (e.g.,, how much time on boat vs. snorkeling)?  I apologize if the answers are obvious, but I had trouble finding the details. Looking forward to meeting you on the ship!

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elmaexec

elmaexec

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14 hours ago, Retired2016Cruiser said:

Thank you! I saw that in the Roll Call and considered it, but not sure we want to be on that long of a snorkel tour (or a particularly long boat ride).  But it does sound like a great tour, so haven't ruled it out.  A couple of questions: Which Paul Guaguin tour does this compare to?  I didn't see the "blue lagoon" specifically mentioned (but may have missed it),  Also, do you know how long of a boat ride it would be to the blue lagoon (e.g.,, how much time on boat vs. snorkeling)?  I apologize if the answers are obvious, but I had trouble finding the details. Looking forward to meeting you on the ship!

PG calls it by its official name, which escapes me right now - something with a “T”?  But it’s the blue lagoon. Essentially, Ato’s tour combines that one together with the snorkel tour. The boat ride to the blue lagoon isn’t that long. I believe it’s 30-40 minutes. 

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elmaexec

elmaexec

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14 hours ago, Retired2016Cruiser said:

Thank you! I saw that in the Roll Call and considered it, but not sure we want to be on that long of a snorkel tour (or a particularly long boat ride).  But it does sound like a great tour, so haven't ruled it out.  A couple of questions: Which Paul Guaguin tour does this compare to?  I didn't see the "blue lagoon" specifically mentioned (but may have missed it),  Also, do you know how long of a boat ride it would be to the blue lagoon (e.g.,, how much time on boat vs. snorkeling)?  I apologize if the answers are obvious, but I had trouble finding the details. Looking forward to meeting you on the ship!

Oh, and looking forward to meeting you too!  We’re Jenny and Alvin Meyer traveling with our adult daughter. 

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  • 2 months later...
Phantom_Celery

Phantom_Celery

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On 10/6/2022 at 1:25 PM, elmaexec said:

We spent 8 days in Moorea last year. There are a couple of motus off the northwest side of the island with very nice snorkeling between them. You can rent a small motorized boat from Tip Nautic located on the beach behind Hotel Les Tipaniers. You can take that out to the motu and also to the sand bank where the sharks and rays congregate. There are buoys to tie off to there and being on your own, you can spend as much time as you’d like. The price is very reasonable. You can do 4 hours for just over $100 total at today’s exchange rate.

 

This sounds really amazing, but is it really necessary to rent a boat to get to those 2 motus from Plage Tipaniers? It looks like an easy swim (esp with fins) if there's beach access by foot. Is there something preventing just swimming over (assuming average swimming ability)?

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astrocat

astrocat

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23 hours ago, Phantom_Celery said:

Were you able to go on this excursion? How was it?

Hi Phantom, yes I did all 3 of those - plus 6 Passengers at Rangiroa, and a totally independent one at Huahine --  they were all excellent.

 

*** there was a bit of sea at Fakarava, and Rangiroa - you do need to be a confident swimmer/ snorkeler.

 

*** to get on the ships list for Fakarava, I contacted the ship through my TA ahead of time to make sure I was on the list, rather than waiting for embarkation  day. 

 

*** Bora Bora - Reef Discovery (not booked through the ship, I did it separately as the company offers a longer half day excursion which is BRILLIANT). Highly recommend, it was my 3rd time with them.  

 

*** Tahaa - stunning drift snorkel through the ship,  and quite easy at the newer location. 

 

Also see my 'just off the boat' post which describes these a bit more, plus a very pleasant one at Huahine in the Coral City.  Hope this helps. Astrocat 

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bfamily9

bfamily9

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I have a severe dental open bite which keeps me from clamping down on the mask. Can I get a personal bite insert for snorkel masks? Is there a universal fitting or will I have to buy the complete mask? I am a novice snorkeler, so I really don't want to buy the mask, as I may never use it again.

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