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Scuba Forum / Scuba Locations / July 2004Need Help Choosing a South Pacific Dive location
Hello, I have some time off and am considering going diving in the S. Pacific. Here are the locations that are available to me due to airline requirements: Tonga Norfolk Isl New Caledonia Fiji Tonga Cook Islands Rarotonga Apia (not sure where that is) I might be able toget to Vanuatu also.. but not sure. Im an advanced diver with about 50 dives under my belt. Ive basically just done Oz, Thailand, Florida and Brazil. Nothing major in the Carribean, but since Im over here on this side of the world, Id like to check out the S. Pacific. Im not sure if these places are better seen on a live aboard, or since im on the island anyway, I can just do day dives. Im not looking to spend thousands on accomodation, just have some good diving and maybe feel like I really enjoyed what I saw and the time I spent there. Any advice would be appreciated. I already booked temporarily a flight to Tonga, but after reading some of the posts about Tonga, Im inclined to change it to one of the other destinations. Ok. Looking forward to any advice Regards John Fiji wins "hands-down" this time of year, in my opinion. I've made over 13 trips to Fiji over the years. I made two trips to Tonga. Va V'au is a pretty place -- fjiords and palm trees. The diving is not bad...I would rate it a step down from Fiji though. Not as much coral in Va V'au. Also the infrastructure -- roads, et al ....are poor and are made of ground coral....so all of the taxi drivers have hacking coughs. I felt very sorry for them...clouds of fine coral cust. The country is rather run down. New Caledonia....I've been there twice. The place is wrecked with all of the strife they've had there ....French colonial masters vs. the indigenous Melanesian population. There's some good diving at the Ille des Pins, a pretty destination with talcom-lie powder sand. Again, we're talking about a French island group -- I don't think serious divers go to Nouvelle Caldeonia and very few Aussies or Kiwis go there even though efforts have been made to sell the islands to tourists from Australia and NZ. I like the French, but some think they are rather "frosty" to outsiders and the native people (melanesians) look very angry because their hopes for independence have been thwarted. And there's that big nickel mine there. Vanuatu....land of coral and ashes......(ashes from active volcanoes--after all this is the subduction zone and seizmically active) I've been there 5/6 times. Not much of interest to dive beyond "Santo" and the famous wreck of the US luxury liner. Efforts have been made to sell charter diving there but don't seem to get anywhere. Natives are not too friendly. Appia...that's the country of Westsern Samoa....forget about it. No reefs there. Interesting island where Robert Louis Stevenson is burried and the movie "Return to Paradise" was filmed there many years ago. Aggie Grey was near 90 when I stayed at her famous inn (Appia) and she appeared and threw a lei around my neck as I was greeted upon arrival-- she was reportedly the original "Bloody Mary." I felt that I had been covered with glory. She's dead now. Norfolk Island -- that is relatively cold water...a former penal colony of a thousand horrors and the home of that odd looking pine. I've never been there but curious about it (half way bet'n Australia and NZ). Probably not many flights there ...so you would be stuck for several days before you could get out. Roratonga...some report the diving to be poor. No dive charter diving groups ever go there. That must say something. Roratonga and Aituti-taki or whatever it is called are structly for NZ tourists and scuba diving of any consequence is low anyone's horizon. in your list, you neglected the Solomons. Uepi might be a good place for you to visit. Just walk right out by the main dock and jump in (a pass in the reef makes this a wonderful sight and no need for boat transport). Also, Ghizo might be a good place to finish off your trip. Some good diving there. The hotel in Ghizo has A/C but Uepi does not, but there is a breeze -- most of the time. You also missed mention of PNG. Max Benjamin's place on New Brittain had good diving with many beautiful corals, elephants ear and a lot of exotic things you wouldn't see anywhere else. Max has some beautiful diving up there that is not boat charter based. I don't any of his cabins have A/C. > Hello, > [quoted text clipped - 33 lines] > Regards > John > Vanuatu....land of coral and ashes......(ashes from active > volcanoes--after all this is the subduction zone and seizmically active) > I've been there 5/6 times. Not much of interest to dive beyond "Santo" > and the famous wreck of the US luxury liner. Efforts have been made to > sell charter diving there but don't seem to get anywhere. Natives are not > too friendly. I have to disagree. Vanuatu is one of the friendliest places I've ever been. Everyone says hello to you as you pass them in the streets. Not sure the President Coolidge is a good idea for someone with 50 dives though. Jason  Signaturehttp://www.scuba-addict.co.uk/ for Australian trip reports including New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia I would say that the natives are extremely shy to the point of unfriendliness. You've only made one trip there, right? As I say, I've made 5/6 including visits to other islands in that group as well, including the one with the Yasur volcano (can't recall the name of it right now). Climbing up on the side of that thing (active volcano) with fumeroles and sulphur in the air and seeing the magma down at the bottom was rather frightening. > > Vanuatu....land of coral and ashes......(ashes from active > > volcanoes--after all this is the subduction zone and seizmically active) [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > http://www.scuba-addict.co.uk/ for Australian trip reports including > New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia I forgot to mention that Tahiti is a possibility. Im only limited because I have to fly with Air NZ. They dont fly to the Solomons I think. I believe you have only Solomon air, but I could be wrong. So sounds like your overall recommendation would be Fiji. What else is there to do there? Is it sort of like Cancun or some resort type city or are there locals who live there too. Thanks John > Fiji wins "hands-down" this time of year, in my opinion. I've made over > 13 trips to Fiji over the years. [quoted text clipped - 94 lines] > > Regards > > John John, Fiji is a prime Dive destination with color and culture. There are variety of islands to choose from. PNG and Solomons come close second but more virigin reefs and Malaria is definitely a problem there. If you interested in some high drift diving along the channels then head to Tahiti (Manihi, Tikahoe, Fakarava are very good). Don't waste your time in Carribean as they are very weak when compared to the above. Davis > Hello, > [quoted text clipped - 33 lines] > Regards > John > Hello, > [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] > Regards > John Hi John. Apia is the capital of Western Samoa. Rarotonga is the main island of the Cooks. My personal pick would be Fiji for the corals. http://www.fijidive.com/ Second choice would be Rarotonga because it is such a beautiful place. There are some wrecks dives, and accommodation is plentiful and cheap. http://www.thedivecentre-rarotonga.com/ hth Brian > Hi John. > Apia is the capital of Western Samoa. [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > hth > Brian HI Brian, I guess like most opinions YMMV, but as a dive destination. It obviously depends on what your main priority is. If it is mainly diving, I would not return to Raro is a dive 'destination'. I would go back for a holiday and do a few dives, but not go bezerk diving there. I spent my honeymoon there in April. I am kiwi - Have only dived Most of New Zealand (Temperate stuff poor knights, Coromandel, Fiordland, Stewart Island etc) Malaysia (tioman), and Rarotonga but would not recommend Raro in terms of Diving. Great Honeymoon destination,culture and cruisy lifestyle, pretty lagoon etc [you can feel the blood pressure dropping when you wake up on the first morning]. But would suggest the Diving is far from being in the top destinations for diving only (but still well worth getting in the 26-29deg water!). Send email for some pics of the diving there if you like John if you do go there, I dived with both Pacific Divers and Cook Island Divers and found Cook Island Divers the better operation (albeit more expensive) as the sites were not the same as the other operators and the boats more comfy. From other Divers I have talked to about diving in the south Pacific, Fiji, PNG, Samoa in that order. I know it is not on your list but..... My personal hankering is for the Solomoms (by liveaboard). If all you want to do is dive that is... Safety has been an issue - but as far as I know not at them moment. Again YMMV Cheers Troy (snip)> > John if you do go there, I dived with both Pacific Divers and Cook Island > Divers and found Cook Island Divers the better operation (albeit more > expensive) as the sites were not the same as the other operators and the > boats more comfy. This surprises me. Unless Cook Island Divers has changed their policy, they only did one tank in the morning and one tank in the afternoon, most inconvenient. Any divers that wanted a two-tank am dive, were out of luck. Whereas Pacific Divers had two-tanks available, both in the morning and again in the afternoon. Pacific Divers was a smaller shop than Cook Island, and so a bit more homey, but I certainly wouldn't hve said that Cook Island Divers were a better operation. Bigger does not always mean better. And there ya go, more expensive and less convenience as to when you want to dive. At a location like the Raro, a two tank in the am, gives you all afternoon, to hike, sunbathe, sitesee, whatever you want to do to make the most of the vacation. While Raro wasn't the best diving I've ever done, it certainly wasn't the worst either. Some of the sites weren't all that they could be, especially over on the west side and the wrecks, I surely could have missed. But sites like Sand River and Matavura Wall, were good. We saw white tips on most every dive and on many of the dives, there was a plethora of reef fish at around 30-40', and we hung out at the top of the coral formation with them. It was very enjoyable. Raro is a good destination for an all around vacation, that includes some diving. (snip) > (snip)> > around 30-40', and we hung out at the top of the coral formation with them. [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > (snip) Another thing I'll add about your remark that Cook Island Divers took you to better/different dive sites. This is interesting and I believe merely a perception on your part. It is the tide, the wind and the currents that generally dictates what side of the island the boats launch from for the day and which sites they may go to. It was a rare day that Cook Islands boats, and every other op for that matter, weren't launching from the same launch area. I dove almost every day of a 14 day holiday, sometime 4 dives a day. It wasn't so bad. Heck, it was a lot better than Koh Tao, Thailand. ;^) >> (snip)> >> around 30-40', and we hung out at the top of the coral formation with [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >> >> (snip) I agree with your statement about a good all round destination. As you will notice my global diving experience is not overly broad, I just felt it was good diving, nothing stunning (apart from the wicked Vis!). > Another thing I'll add about your remark that Cook Island Divers took you > to [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > boats, and every other op for that matter, weren't launching from the same > launch area. My 'perception'- about the number dives per day and where we dived: Cook Is do 2 in AM one PM. I dived with them twice in the afternoon [as it fit in with my honeymooning schedule :) ]. Once it was just me and the DM, we dived one side of island (west side I think), [half a dozen coral bommies] to 28 metres and were only limited by the air in my tank (times were limited with Pacific - sometimes to 45mins, so that they could back to dock and have enough surface interval/no deco time b/w morning and afternoon trips). That afternoon I never saw another operator, and talked to other divers who were on the other side of the island with other operators doing the dives below (sand river etc). I dived the [very broken up] wrecks, sand river[no sharks spotted:)], paradise the one at the end of the airport runway, (Ngatangiia? and/or Black rock?) with pacific Divers (eight dives in total). I in fact took your recommendation on this group about who to dive with and was mostly happy at first with Pacific while I dealt with Thomas their son (who was/is running the show as Graham his father was back in NZ, apparently quite Ill :(.) Another aspect that was frustrating with Pacific was that after talking to Christina, who after telling me they do 2 times 2 dives per day started not doing afternoon dives [not for weather] because she was doing lagoon training dives. They showed (to me) a lack of hands on deck and therefore the ability to live up to the expectation of 2 in the am two in the PM, which I agree is more flexible for most divers. I feel rude and am honestly not somebody to complain much, but whilst Christina warrants special mention. Whilst she makes the cookies and baking that blow your mind during surface intervals, her customer service skills are somewhat lacking. When I am diving I don't expect the people taking us diving to be so short and abrupt to the point of rudeness. I watched plenty of people arrive at the shop and enquire about diving and based on her response walk away with screwed up faces. Based on your experience Chilly the above was obviously not 'standard' but warrants mention all the same. I will read trip reports I just think that peoples' experiences can (and do) differ for one reason or another. > happy at first with Pacific while I dealt with Thomas their son (who was/is > running the show as Graham his father was back in NZ, apparently quite Ill [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > the ability to live up to the expectation of 2 in the am two in the PM, > which I agree is more flexible for most divers. That is indeed unfortunate. > I feel rude and am honestly not somebody to complain much, but whilst > Christina warrants special mention. Whilst she makes the cookies and [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > watched plenty of people arrive at the shop and enquire about diving and > based on her response walk away with screwed up faces. In fairness, I must acknowledge that Christina can be abrupt from time to time. However, at these current times, I'm sure that it has been exacerbated by the current situation and her worries over Graham. > Based on your experience Chilly the above was obviously not 'standard' but > warrants mention all the same. I will read trip reports I just think that > peoples' experiences can (and do) differ for one reason or another. True enough. And in accordance, Greg at Cook Islands warrants the same kind of special mention. He was exceedingly rude as well and sent me away with a screwed up face. :^) > In fairness, I must acknowledge that Christina can be abrupt from time to > time. However, at these current times, I'm sure that it has been > exacerbated by the current situation and her worries over Graham. No doubt - not good for business though. I got to know Thomas quite well and he was friendly and helpful. He even did help me out by replacing an HP O-ring that decided to give way. >> Based on your experience Chilly the above was obviously not 'standard' >> but [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > a > screwed up face. :^) Hey, Greg did the same to me early on in my stay (I burned around there one morning on the scooter when the bride was in bed crook after island night - hoping to get on a dive in the PM (after Christina had cancelled an afternoon dive to do the lagoon thing) and enquired as to costs etc. I was not happy when he said that with your own gear it was 70$, without gear 70$ per dive. After a brief exchange of sorry but that is policy - we cost more, ranted about the other operators be cut price and low quality I walked away with the :V( face on, and sitting around with the bride frustrated at not diving. I ONLY dived with Cook Is another day as a last resort (when losing out again on Pacific PM dives). MY experience was better than the other dives I had done there with Pacific. Great boats (better ride, more room, could stand up while under way, (unlike pacific) Only boat at the dive site, less restricted dive time, oh did I mention the free homebrewed beer afterwards? Greg turned out to be quite a likeable guy (maybe that was just the beer?:). I know what My choice would be next time. I would be prepared to pay the premium now for a better (be it perceived or actual) experience.... > > In fairness, I must acknowledge that Christina can be abrupt from time to > > time. However, at these current times, I'm sure that it has been [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > he was friendly and helpful. He even did help me out by replacing an HP > O-ring that decided to give way. I've only spoken with Thomas over the phone, but not actually met him. As I understand it, he is good guy and I'm willing to assume that he has a sense of humor like that of his parents. Not that you got to see Christina's, apparently and of course, Graham wasn't there for you to see his. > >> Based on your experience Chilly the above was obviously not 'standard' > > a [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > walked away with the :V( face on, and sitting around with the bride > frustrated at not diving. I can't even remember what my specific conversation with him was about. I just remember that I couldn't have been more surprised that he was that much of an a.shole. He did not know that I was diving with anyone else, so it wasn't that. Like you I'd gone by intentionally to check out the shop, the boats, the schedule but I was also looking to purchase a particular reef fish guide. I never mentioned diving with anyone else. He was beyond rude. I just thought him a plain nasty a.shole. > I ONLY dived with Cook Is another day as a last resort (when losing out > again on Pacific PM dives). MY experience was better than the other dives > I had done there with Pacific. Great boats (better ride, more room, could > stand up while under way, (unlike pacific) I certainly can't argue with what you say about their boats. However, in the defense of Pacific in this regard, Cook Islands was (at that time) the only op with those kinds of boats. Everyone else was using the boats that were the same as Pacific's. I did dive with one other operator my first day. They had the same boats as Pacific, only not in as good a condition as the Pacific boats. Further, I was given to understand that the boats used by most of the ops were like that because they were also the emergency rescue team for boating accidents in the area. In other words, those were the kind of boats that the island needed for quick response. >Only boat at the dive site, Intereting. In every one of my dives with Pacific, we were the only boat at the dive site. >less > restricted dive time, oh did I mention the free homebrewed beer afterwards? No, you didn't. I can see that help color your decision. ;^) > Greg turned out to be quite a likeable guy (maybe that was just the > beer?:). Based on my experience with him, that would be my guess. > I know what My choice would be next time. I would be prepared to > pay the premium now for a better (be it perceived or actual) experience.... Well, I sure am sorry that your experience with Pacific wasn't as good as mine was . . .but then the circumstances were different too. They had two boats running when I was there and the more junior people were on the other boat. Our boat did not have restricted dive times. I understand that there are one or two new ops on the island. Maybe they are good? Well I think I've narrowed it down to Fiji or Maybe Solomons. I also saw an int eresting article on Truk Island, but not sure if there's much more to that place that wreck diving. Maybe someone would care to comment. My next question is what kind of $$ are we talking for a liveaboard to the Solomons and for Fiji can I get to all the divesites via local/day dives or do I need to do a live aboard. It looks like the main Fijian island is quite large, it might be tough to get everywhere. Also any suggestions as far as what city to stay in? Is Suva an attractive city? Thanks again guys for all your help. John > Hello, > [quoted text clipped - 33 lines] > Regards > John Hi John, have you considered Papua new guinea?? Amazing diving - We went to Madang and had a ball! Corals magnificent, Water warm and critters plentiful. Good viz too! Going back next year. Trip report on my website www.DivingTheBlue.com HTH Tim Whats the rough price of the PNG package.. Iwas trying to get to somewhere that I can use airmiles to save $$, but PNG sounds great! Ian > > Hello, > > [quoted text clipped - 42 lines] > HTH > Tim Ian/john The png package from Australia cost: AUS$2200 with dive adventures. This was flights from Sydney -> Moresby -> Madang (return) and accommodation and diving with the shop. I am afraid I don't have a breakdown of individual components. HTH Tack > Whats the rough price of the PNG package.. Iwas trying to get to > somewhere that I can use airmiles to save $$, but PNG sounds great! [quoted text clipped - 47 lines] > > HTH > > Tim I've been to half the locations on your list and several live-aboards in the SP. With only 50 dives, I'd highly suggest doing land-based. On world class live-aboards you'd be doing 4 to 5 dives per day, all computer based, and lots of deep stuff. I highly recommend Dan Grenier's Crystal Divers. He has a jet boat that goes out where the live-aboards go and the diving is great. Dan can help you find a super deal on Air Fiji to/from the States. Here is his link http://www.crystaldivers.com > Hello, > [quoted text clipped - 33 lines] > Regards > John news <news@rideste.org> pounded away at his keyboard resulting in: :With only 50 dives, I'd highly suggest doing land-based. On world class :live-aboards you'd be doing 4 to 5 dives per day, all computer based, :and lots of deep stuff. So? Dan Bracuk If at first you don't succeed, you run the risk of failure. The Best of rec.scuba http://www.pathcom.com/~bracuk/RecScuba/ > news <news@rideste.org> pounded away at his keyboard resulting in: > :With only 50 dives, I'd highly suggest doing land-based. On world class [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! > -----== Over 100,000 Newsgroups - 19 Different Servers! =----- I would not recommend to a friend that he/she go on any of the world class liveaboards in the SP with only 50 dives experience. I had to save a newbie two years ago who ran out of air at 60ft and he was also in serious deco [40 minutes], because he wasn't paying attention to his computer. We had spent considerable time at 100/120 ft prior to that. news <news@rideste.org> pounded away at his keyboard resulting in: :I would not recommend to a friend that he/she go on any of the world :class liveaboards in the SP with only 50 dives experience. I might. Depends on what you mean by world class and SP. Dan Bracuk If at first you don't succeed, you run the risk of failure. The Best of rec.scuba http://www.pathcom.com/~bracuk/RecScuba/ > I would not recommend to a friend that he/she go on any of the world > class liveaboards in the SP with only 50 dives experience. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > attention to his computer. We had spent considerable time at 100/120 ft > prior to that. Yeah. Stick to a land based op. Bad things (or stupidity) couldn't possibly happen that way. SignatureSteve The above can be construed as personal opinion in the absence of a reasonable belief that it was intended as a statement of fact. If you want a reply to reach me, remove the SPAMTRAP from the address. |
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