Posted by TerryJ on February 12, 2003 at 08:23:25:
In Reply to: Diving Fiji vs. Tahiti/Bora Bora posted by Rachel on February 11, 2003 at 16:28:43:
I travelled to Bora Bora, and Raiatea last summer. Manta ray diving within the lagoon on BB is very popular, although I gave it a miss due to a bloom of stinging plankton. Plus, diving outside the lagoon on the reefs fringing the island is much more scenic. I dove with TopDive (check out topdive.com) and found them to be a first class operation: excellent dive boat, good rental gear, and a divemaster/guide without attitude issues. Plus, we only had ~5 divers on a two tank trip, so no cattleboat syndrome. We dove Miri Miri (aka The White Valley-- I have no idea why the name) and another spot very near one of the main lagoon entrances. Both spots were quite beautiful, visibility 100'+ at both, with a fair number of sharks in evidence. The sharks were, as, always, tremendously impressive, but not intimidating. The foregoing having been said, I was not unduly impressed with the abundance of fish life on BB; if you're looking for a nice place to dive as a supplementary activity to your trip, then BB is great, but you may want to consider another destination if diving is to be a prime reason for going. If I was planning a dive-centric trip to the Pacific, I'd probably look seriously at Palau, Yap, or Borneo. Can provide some additional information on diving on Raiatea if you're interested. And if anybody out there has any experience diving in Tonga generally, and Vavau specifically, I'd love to hear about it.