Scuba hints for Tahiti Windstar

[corbes]

I'm booked in Nov to do a week on the Windstar Tahiti. I'm a Divemaster so of course aim to fit in as much diving as possible! Does anyone have any hints as to whether to do all the diving as arranged by Windstar, or attempt to book your own excursions through an onshore provider? Would love any info on which dive to skip and which not to! Are the second dives of the day any good? Thanks!

[goldendaze]

We did the Wind Star Tahiti trip last November and had agreat time. We booked all our dives through Windstar, they offer a discount on a 6 dive package but you must sign up for all 6 dives the first day. You don't have to pick which dives right away but must commit to 6 to get the discounted price. We mostly did the morning dives. They reserve the pm dives for beginners but allow anyone if there is space - it varies from trip to trip how many divers are aboard. At times it was just my husband & I with the divemaster. We enjoyed the lemon shark feeding and the manta ray dive - saw lots. Windstar uses an outside operator for the manta dive.

 

The week we went the Windstar dive operators took digital photos with a Sony 5 megapixal camera throughout the trip an then burned a CD and sold it for $30 to anyone who wanted it. They managed to get everyone in it who dove throughout the week. It was a nice souvenier. We brought our Cannon S400 with Cannon's underwater housing with us. It takes great photos and movie clips.

 

You will have a great time! Enjoy.

[corbes]

Thanks for the hints Goldendaze. Do you remember who were the watersports co-ordinators for your trip - were they any good? Also the 6 dive package - do you remember how much this is (just doing some comparison expenses). One other thing - did you do all the dives every morning? Or does the 6 dive package just cover 2 tanks for 3 days or something? Many thanks!!

[goldendaze]

Corbes,

 

Our water sports co-ordinaters were Dave & Diane, a nice young couple from New Zealand. The 6 tank dive package was around $360. They offered a 1 tank a.m. and a 1 tank p.m. dive. You could sign up for any dive you want but the afternoon dives had priority to the beginner divers/discover scuba and certs could dive the p.m. if there were openings. They used a local dive operator for the Manta Ray dive, otherwise it was a Wind Star dive.

[Patrice and Rick]

;) Hi

 

We are sailing Windstar through Tahiti on the November 12th trip, anyone else going then? We are planning on getting certified before we go rather than take a cruise course. Of course we are in St Lucie County FL so that plan might change if Frances hits us as predicted. But can't see going to paradise and not diving it!

[SotosandSonia]

I did all the Windstar dives on that cruise some years back. They are pretty good. The one I thought was the best was the shark feed.

I'm booked in Nov to do a week on the Windstar Tahiti. I'm a Divemaster so of course aim to fit in as much diving as possible! Does anyone have any hints as to whether to do all the diving as arranged by Windstar, or attempt to book your own excursions through an onshore provider? Would love any info on which dive to skip and which not to! Are the second dives of the day any good? Thanks!

[rickcohen2]

Windstar was in FP when we cruised there. I used the same local operator at each Island called Top Dive. They were very good and safe.

 

I have also, on Windstar trips, been down with the on-board instructors. They too were safe, but perhaps a bit less familiar with the local sights.

[Frugger]

Just got back from this cruise yesterday. They had 5 dives which were offered thru the Windstar scuba program. It's $70 per dive or you can sign up for the 5 dive package for a flat rate of $300. If there is room in the Discover Scuba dives you can do these dives the same day as your certified dive for only $50.00.

 

The certified dives leave at 8:15AM normally (1 dive was at 7:45AM) and you usually get back to the ship around 9:30. The Discover Scuba dives leave at 10:15AM. The only down side to this is that if you go diving then you miss the shore excursions.

There is also a night dive offered through a local dive shop in Bora Bora as a shore excursion. I didn't do it but another couple did and said it was one of the best dives they have ever done. Depth was about 25-40ft.

[Lylealiberman]

Anyone going on this trip? Divers?

 

What where the conditions on previous trips? Temp? Vis?

 

Are there any sites that are better then others?

 

I am planning on bringing my own gear, how is the equipment they offer such as the fins?

 

Any other suggestions or warnings?

 

Thanks.

[corbes]

Hi Lylealiberman, I'm on the Nov 26 cruise, I'll be taking my own gear too. Hoping a 3mm full length suit should do the trick. Love to hear from anyone who's been as to what thickness wetsuit anyone wore? Thanks!

[SB_Travlr]

Hi, Lylea and Corbes

We (DH et moi) will also be on Windstar on 11/26. A few other CC folks also, I think, from an earlier post...

 

Can't help with dive info -- we snorkel, but I am thinking about doing the intro to diving with the Windstar instructors. (We take our own masks and snorkels, but not fins in the interest of packing as light as possible.)

 

Perhaps we could all get together for a drink, maybe sailing day or the day after? :) We're flying from LAX on Monday 11/22, and will be on Taha'a for 2 nights before the cruise starts. I think we get back to PPT around 5 pm, so will be boarding soon after that. We're very much looking forward to the trip -- weather there is not that great at the moment, :( judging from the webcams. But there's time for it to change...

[Frugger]

The ship carries 3mm shorties which I found to be fine in the 81F water even at 75ft. Brought my own fins, booties, dive computer, regulator, backup depth/air gauges, mask and snorkel. If you bring a dive gear bag they will store it for you down in the equipment room of the sports platform which they lock at night.

 

One of the sports instructors was wearing a full 3mm suit with gloves and hood but she said she just likes to be nice and cozy.

 

As for gear they carry Sherwood regs and BC's. I brought my own reg but opted to not bring my own BC which is a ScubaPro with Air2. They were fine with me using my own reg and even hooked up the power inflator hose for their BC to it. Took some getting used to having an Octo instead of Air2. Nice thing about the dives is that they prep your equipment for you and then rinse it down after the dives. Make sure they give you enough weight as I never did have enough on the 5 dives that I did. The one dive that I didn't do that other people raved about is the night dive offered I think in Bora Bora as a shore excursion with a local operator.

 

Be prepared as on the first full day on the ship in the morning they want all divers to meet at the pool and demonstrate that they can do a reg recovery and mask clearing underwater in the pool. Don't have to take your mask completely off, but they want you to fill it up half way.

 

Vis was usually 150+ and water was 80/81. This was 3 weeks ago.

[Lylealiberman]

Thanks for the responses. Sher & I are coming in from NY via LA on Friday. We leave LA around 12:25 and arrive around 7:00 pm. Anyone else on these flights? Has anyone flown via Nui before? How are the seats in coach? Anyone go Business class? Comments?

 

 

Interesting that most use a 3mm. I've gone to Bonaire a couple of times which has similar temps & vis and always used a Polartech. I was cold only after the 3rd or 4th dive that day. Guess it's just me. I have mixed feelings about using their BC's since I'm used to my Duo Air inflator but I'm definitely bringing my reg., computer and mask.

 

 

Has anyone done an underwater photography out there?

 

 

Frugger: If I read your post correctly, you brought your Air2 inflater/2nd and they put it on their BC? Please confirm, if so, that's great and may be a good option for me too. As for the checkout in the pool; I was aware of that and have been in touch with the dive group. They request C-card & log books. I've logged around 92 dives but cannot find my logs. Seems to have been lost in the move.

 

 

Sebayn: A drink sounds like a plan to me, maybe 2! The first night out works for us, anyone else? Try scuba, it’s well worth the time & money.

 

 

Corbes: Thanks for the note. Looks like we should all have a good time. Pray for good weather although I understand that the seasons are against us.

 

 

Lyle

[SB_Travlr]

Hi Lyle -- we are also flying ATN, for the first time. From what I've read around the CC board and also on FlyerTalk (yes, I'm addicted to forums!) folks give them pretty high marks. Reasonable food, nice staff, pretty good seats with seatback screens to keep you entertained with movies etc. :)

 

I believe that if Biz class seats are available, you can do that at checkin for about $600 each. Personally, I'd rather use those $$ for living large when we're in FP!

 

I called ATN last week to make our seat reservations, and the CS rep emphasized that checkin time in LA is 3 hours before departure. Seems really early to me, much earlier than, say, JFK for a flight to Europe. But we'll be in LA the night before, so no biggie-- we didn't want to take a chance on any bad weather issues. (Though on a lovely fall day like today, bad weather seems way far off. One can hope...)

 

And the Tahiti web cam this morning shows blue skies, at last. :cool: That's more like it! Saw a lovely full moon last night over CT, and thought -- next full moon, we'll be in FP, sailing. Sounds pretty good to me. :D :D :D

[Frugger]

I didn't bring my Air2 with me, but they did disconnect the BCD inflator from their 2nd and connect it to my 2nd. I used their Octo and BCD.Sebayn and everyone else traveling through LAX - Make sure you are at the airport 3 hours before your flight. You need to have your checked luggage screened before you can check in for your flight and there are a lot of intl flights leaving terminal 4 on Sundays. I got to the airport 2 hours before departure and it took an hour just to get the bags screened. Check in desk is supposed to close an hour before depature so make sure you have enough time. Luckily the ATN check in desk is right next to TSA bag screening. Becuase we were cutting is so close they took us to the front of the line for the secondary screening. That line looked to be about 30 - 40 minutes and then it takes a good 10 minutes to walk to the gate.

[corbes]

Sebayn & Lylealiberman - first night sounds pretty good for a drink for us too.

 

Gear wise, I'll be travelling with the full dive kit. Means an extra bag to fly with, but I suppose helps with cutting down on the extra stuff one packs but never uses :-)

[SB_Travlr]

Frugger, thanks so much for the info about why checkin takes so long at LAX. We'll make sure to be there in plenty of time -- no big plans for that morning, beyond breakfast and maybe a walk in Marina del Rey or somewhere in that area.

 

So it sounds as if lyle, corbes and (from another thread) corbel-pat are all on the 11/26 sailing? wonder if there's anyone else who would like to meet up the first night?

 

And does anyone know how this works?-- it's not exactly like meeting under the clock at Waterloo Station! Should I stick a carnation behind my ear so you'll recgonize me? Don't think DH would be willing to do that... :)

[cobol-pat]

Hello Sebayn, Lyle, and Corbes,

 

Not sure how we could all recognize each other. DH and I might not be too hard to spot since we look like Mutt and Jeff. Bob is over 6ft tall and has red hair and I am just under 5ft tall with blonde hair that starts to look reddish if I have been in the sun. We are both mid fifties.

 

We are flying in to LA on Wed spending the night then on to Papeete on Thursday and staying at the Sheraton.

 

Really getting excited about this trip, can't wait!

[Lylealiberman]

Soon but not soon enough....

 

 

 

Frugger: Thanks for the input. Any dive sites better then others? Do you recall what fins they had? Bette yet, were they any good? Since you've been there, where's the best place on board to meet for a drink on the first night out?

 

 

 

Corbes: Not sure how much I'm bringing yet, still undecided about my BC only cause I like my combo inflator/2nd.

 

 

 

Sebayn: Where in CT? We're from Westchester.

 

 

 

cobol- pat: As for how to spot me; early 50's, 5'10", 185lbs, salt & pepper hair straight down in the front (on vacation ya know), moustache trimmed short for a good mask seal, and a very happy gleem in my eye! Warm water, no work, F.P and my gal, what could be better???!! Maybe I'll scare all of you and post a photo.

[SB_Travlr]

Hi Lyle and all

We live in Simsbury CT, not far from the MA state line. For recognizing us: we're Sonia and Alex, "young 60's" (age, not era!) -- me blonde, glasses, 5'6" 8-) ; DH is (as he says) growing through his hair! glasses, moustache 8-l). Oh, and those English accents will probably give us away, even though we've lived in CT for 30 years now! ;)

 

Haven't been on the Windstar, but the late lamented Windsong was her twin sister. As I remember, there is one small bar inside the main lounge, and one out on deck near the pool. Pool bar might be a good choice -- I'm certainly planning to be on deck for the sailaway, unless weather is bad... but I'm thinking positive.

 

For the divers, found this link way down on windstarcruises.com: http://www.windstarcruises.com/ioffers/windstar_Tahiti_scuba_program.htm

 

By the way, look for my other post on this W-star board about Papeete day room charges. :confused:

 

Not long now, and we'll be sailing!

[Lylealiberman]

Rain Rain Go Away! (Wind too...)

 

 

Hi Sebayn,

 

 

I know where Simsbury is, long ago and far away I used to work @ Coleco (original Cabbage Patch Kids) in W. Hartford. My VP & others lived in Simsbury. It was lovely then and I'm sure still is.

 

 

I think a drink as we sail would be great. On deck sounds even better.

 

 

As for the Day Room, I've heard & read nothing but bad things about it. Sherr & I are looking into spending a little more and getting a nice place. I don't think the Sheraton is a a good choice according to my daughter-in-law who was in Tahiti about 5 years ago. I'll let you know where we decide to book.

 

 

The weather... in a word it won't be great unless we get lucky. We are going at the start of the rainy season. December has the highest average monthly rainfall. : (( We are packing light rain gear. I'm OK with rain if need be but the winds will make it lousy to get to dive sites and around in general.

 

 

I just got a call from Sherr and she says the Meridian is a nice place to get a room according to her daughter. I'll look into it and post results.

 

 

Back to work.