This October we have a 3 night prestay at BB Pearl and plan on enjoying the resort and the main island on our own. Then doing our excusions once on board the PG.

My hubby is not scuba certified, but has been diving before in carribean and hawaii through the hotel's program. He's thinking of doing the pool lesson and then the beginning dive. Anyone done this? I'm too chicken to go :rolleyes: .

Also thinking of both of us doing the following:

Bora Bora - waverunner first day and shark feeding/snorkel second day.

Moorea - 1st day rent a car and explore island and go over to the Sheraton for some snorkeling and lunch. 2nd day MAYBE the Aqua Blue underwater walk (if I'm not chicken!). I've been snorkeling many times, but unsure how I'd feel about this one!


What do you "guys" think? Am I missing anything? Is this too much to do?

As always, thanks for the help!

Babs

The waverunner depends on how windy it is. We did it on Bora Bora and found ourselves driving blind around 1/2 of the island because of high winds and ocean. We weren't in danger at all but didn't see the back side of the island. It was a great idea but would have, in retrospect, been better in Mo'orea when the weather was a little better. Marc may chime in on this one as he & Arlene went on the same day we did. Cheers, Anne

I am not a diver, but, the AquaBlue was something that I would totally do again. The fish and coral were amazing. My husband did "chicken" out - about 3 people didn't want to go down when we got to the spot. I was lucky, they let me have his time down below!

We did a back to back on the PG and did the Bora Bora wave runner twice. We thought it was the best excursion. Thought it was romantic, fun, beautiful....would do it again in a minute.

Babs,

We snorkel but do not scuba. We did meet another couple that did the pool lesson and beginner dives on board the PG. They had wanted to do certification at home in Colorado but she had experienced exercise induced asthma (for the first time in her life) about the same time and could not do the dive lessons at home. Once they were on the PG she had to go to the ship's doctor where she checked out fine and they did their lesson in the pool and then had some wonderful dives.

We did not do the "AquaBlue" but like "ChatKat" Kathy experienced, everyone we spoke with who did it loved the experience. One guy wrote in his trip report that it was his favorite excursion. If you wear glasses you can keep them on - your hair does not even get wet. We saw them doing that excursion when we were snorkeling in Moorea because the two excursions are done in the same area. Those "AquaBlue" participants only had about 3 to 6 feet of water above their heads so there really is nothing at all to be afraid of. I would guess only if you had a problem with claustrophobia or dislike of being slightly underwater would it be a problem.

Are you missing anything? Yes, if you are not planning on going over on the free tender to the motu on Bora Bora for at least part of one of your days there. Unlike Motu Mahana at Taha'a there are no umbrellas, chairs, rest rooms or buffet lunch but there is a large beautiful beach shaded by palm trees, scenic views in every direction, lagoon for swimming and snorkeling and a free full bar. On day 2 at Bora Bora it is a short tender ride away. You could go over am or pm depending on which part of the day your shark & ray feeding excursion will be. Friends of ours went over with us for most of the day on day 2 but they had also gone on day 1 in the afternoon following their morning wave runners excursion. The ship's photograper is over there day 1 in the pm and he got great shots of people over there then. Day 2 is his afternoon off. Many of the crew live for their free time over on that beach.

The wave runners were fine; just very rough as Anne said. I don't know if I would do them again. We went to the Lagoonarium second day; very nice. Chance to see fish, turtles, rays, and sharks without heading into too deep water. Wonderful for us amateur snorkelers.

Moorea we took the circle island with Belevedere tour. It was very nice. Next time, we will probably head to the water on Moorea.

Anne, Kathy, Sedona, Kathy Z and Marc:

Thank you all for your great advice.

I keep forgetting that at Bora Bora there is also a motu. That's certainly something we'd like to do. Thanks for the photographer schedule Kathy Z!

I've seen some great photos from the AquaBlue Helmet dive, and I'm going to sign both of us up and just do it! I'll let you know when I get back if I "chickened" out!

I never thought about the wind on the waverunners. I guess the weather that day will depend on that.

It's been a beautiful weekend on Long Island so I didn't get a chance to get on the computer until today. It's nice to read the great replies!

Babs

Actually, Babs, the one I did was the Aqua Safari. They are probably quite similar if not the same - just different operators. You might ask at the Shore Excursions desk

Babs,

In fact, the BB motu that the PG uses is the same motu that your hotel, the Pearl, is on! So you can see it from another angle.

We got to see the Pearl--we did the Coral Preservation tour on the PG. You will be able to see the coral work they are doing there, under the walkways of the hotel. Lots of beautiful fish, very interesting work.

The resort looked really beautiful as well, I'm sure you will enjoy your pre-cruise!

My wife and I are both experienced divers and enjoyed four dives on the PG during our cruise in June. The diving was great, much better than we expected. So if your husband gets the chance I would highly recommend it. It's so easy because the boats go off the diving platform at the back of the ship. The only place that was not the case was our first dive on Raiatea? when we were taken on island to a dive shop and left from there.

The diving on both Bora Bora and Moorea was wonderful. The only thing unusual compared the the Caribbean or Hawaii is the number of sharks you see. Moorea in particular had numerous black tip sharks swimming in the area of the dive boat. They were not agressive but you can't help but notice them. The divemasters seemed unconcerned at their presence so we rolled with it too. Still, it's a bit strange to see numerous sharks on a dive, at least for us.

We did the waverunners on Bora Bora (with the ATV extension) and had a blast! The weather was perfect and it took about a hour to go around the island (not including the stop to ride the ATV's). We would highly recommend it if the weather looks OK. Nice way to see the beauty of the island and surrounding waters.

Enjoy.

Welcome to the board, Fordman! Do you have any upcoming cruises planned?

Thanks for the diving advice Fordman. I think my hubby is going to go for it!

Did anyone see the show "Average Joe"? They showed 2 people do the Aqua Blue Helmet dive on Moorea. It looked incredible and very safe. If they can do it, I can too!

Thanks again everyone!

Babs