An Unusual Dive in Rangiroa

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Reef Fish - 11 Dec 2004 01:02 GMT

Rangiroa has long been over-rated for its shark diving.

I have consistently found more sharks diving in Moorea or Bora Bora
than the few times I've dived in Rangiroa.

But in the dive this morning, I did not see ANY shark -- which is
not only unusual for Rangiroa, but in the entire French Polynesia!
I have dived in at least 20 of the French Polynesian islands, and
this was the first time I did not see a shark!

I suspect the reason was that we were taken to a wall which did
NOT have any swift current and usually the faster the current the
more sharks. The Tahitian Princess cruise ship was anchored about
200 feet from the Tahitian Aggressor -- it was probably waiting for
divers for the coming week of diving.

The dive boat went through some 4-6 foot swells to get to the
dropoff point of a mild drift on the wall. We saw large school of
barracudas and a huge school of snappers, but not a single shark.
The only photos I managed to take were several on a large turtle,
since my photo-range was only about 4-5 feet. ;)

At the END of the dive, when the boat was heading back to the shop,
we saw wings flapping wildly on the surface nearby. Upon closer
examination, the surface display turned out to be two spotted eagle
rays MATING! That was the other "unusual" on this unusual
sharkless dive.

When I dived Rangiroa on the Tahiti Aggressor, it was disappointing
too, compared to many other dives that week. Thus, this morning was
probably the LAST TIME I'll ever dive Rangiroa.

If I want to see sharks in the French Polynesia, and LOTS of sharks,
Moorea and Bora Bora (and even Raiatea) never failed. And for
hammerheads, dive the "hammerhead watch" site of Nuku Hiva in the
Marquesas group of islands.

-- Bob.

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Reef Fish - 13 Dec 2004 08:08 GMT

> Rangiroa has long been over-rated for its shark diving.
>
> I have consistently found more sharks diving in Moorea or Bora Bora
> than the few times I've dived in Rangiroa.

< snip >

> If I want to see sharks in the French Polynesia, and LOTS of sharks,
> Moorea and Bora Bora (and even Raiatea) never failed.

And so it proved, once again, the correctness of the statement above.

We booked for only a 1-tank afternoon dive with Bora Diving Center
because the morning dive was the manta dive inside the cove which
we did before and was unimpressed.

We were with one of the three boats -- 6 divers in the boat with
tank rack for 12. DM Michel recognized me immediately from the
several dives we did together, including one three months ago.

The dive boat was equipped with a 225 HP outboard, which zipped
us to the dive site in only 15 minutes. DM Michel was a one-man-
band this time -- boat captain, DM, and deck hand!

I wondered momentarily what happens if the boat broke its tie
on the mooring and drifted away. Then I realized the shore was
only a short swim away, and if the boat didn't return within an
hour of the expected time, I am sure the shop would know where
to look for the lost divers. :-)

The sharks were there as soon as the boat stopped, conditioned
to some visits that come with chum. But there was no chum this
time, and they were there anyway, just in case.

They were all blacktips and greg reef sharks this time. No
lemon. But they were plentiful, easily two dozen, returning
a couple of times during the dive. Sue and I both took pics
of the sharks and their ramoras within an arm's length.

One of the divers who had never dived with sharks before
sucked his tank dry in about 30 minutes and was taken by the
DM back to the boat. Michel had said we could dive an hour
when the dive began, and so I stayed until my film ran out
while Sue was the last to return because her digital camera
could take over 100 pix. My dive logged 52 minutes, max
depth 75 fsw, and a toasty warm 83F, with 100+ feet vis.
All in all, it was a very good dive, typical of Bora Bora.

-- Bob.

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