Which excursions on the Paul Gauguin are recommended and which are not considered worth the time/money. What do you do if you don't go on an excursion? I do plan to scuba once or twice. Is there a better alternative than the official scuba excursions? Also, I'm an avid snorkeler. Is a snorkel excursion a much better way to accomplish snorkeling or are there other ways. Is the sports platform always available at each stop? What about beaches in Bora Bora, Moorea and Raiatea? Are there beaches that are easy to get to or do you need to take local transportation? Will I get help with these questions on the ship? We're leaving in less than a month for the 12/4. Getting pretty pumped.

Oh boy, I can imagine your excitement.

Others will have to fill you in on excursions that include snorkelling. I have only done two excursions that did include some. The Doctor Poole dolphin expedition is outstanding, if you like wildlife, but be prepared to examine every can of tuna before you buy it, forever after. We did some snorkelling on this excursion, and I thought it was very good.

The other excursion that included snorkelling was the shark and ray feeding in Bora Bora. It was great fun, and there were some good reefs out there.

These two excursions both had snorkelling that was better than the two motu sites that are included for free, although both of these are still great fun. On the Bora Bora motu there may be some better snorkelling than I found, but you have to beware of currents there. The Tahaa motu snorkelling is just so-so.

Other excursions I particularly enjoyed: 4x4 trips on Bora Bora and Moorea; land and river trip on Raiatea. Next time I'm going to try some other snorkelling adventures, if I can persuade my husband--he's not as keen as me on the water.

Have a great trip, and tell us all about it when you come back.

If you want it Captain Badger I have a whole report on all the excursion but too big to post on the board. I think it is about 15 pages. Just email me if you want it and I will send it to you or perhaps even one of the LCT members has it that can email it to you.

Snorkeling conditions can change from week to week depending on currents etc. I know this from our recent experience on a back to back. On week one the visability at Motu Mahana was not great, but on week two it was fine. We were on the first tender over each week but made sure that we immediately got into the water for our snorkeling the second week (before other swimmers and the kayaks could stir up the water).

Wendy had a great experience with Dr. Poole, but on our excursion we saw NO animals, and due to the fact that we had to spend the entire time checking each pass looking for dolphins, we did not have an opportunity to snorkel. (With Dr. Poole's trip snorkeling is a possibility but not a given.)

We only made it to the private beach in Bora Bora once. I had previously read on the boards that the currents were strong there and the snorkeling difficult. We had a beautifully calm day and wonderful snorkeling. Ask for box lunches the day before and take them over to the beach with you. It was our most beautifully relaxing day of the cruise!

Our favorite excursions that included snorkeling were the "Shark & Ray Feeding" on Bora Bora and "Lagoon Discovery with Snorkeling" on Moorea. This second tour also stops at an area where you can pet and feed sting rays, then goes to a coral gardens area near a beach. It is best suited to experienced snorkelers due to some of the snorkeling being in shallow water. Bill and I had no problem, but two men were cut on the coral. A photographer is the second crew person on the "Lagoon Discovery..." on Moorea and you have the opportunity to purchase a VHS tape or DVD of your excursion. We were very fortunate and spotted both dolphins and whales (first week of September) on our way back to the dock so we have our DVD with those images as lasting memories.

We took our own gear but did borrow mesh bags from the water sports platform to hold our gear. It was checked out for the entire 2 weeks. Borrowed gear does need to be returned Friday afternoon. You can not snorkel from the water sports platform. I think that changed following 9/11. But I believe that they were open every day except for Papeete; and this is where you sign up and use the kayaks, windsurf boards and go water skiing.

I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time. Like Wendy, I'll be waiting to hear all about it when you return.

Thanks for the help so far. I should have mentioned that I'm wondering about excursions that don't involve snorkeling as well as my wife is not as avid a snorkeler as I am.

Still wondering if I'll be just as happy with snorkeling on my own as on an excursion. I'm sure we'll want to enjoy both motus as my wife especially loves the beach.

We especially want to relax and I hope we can avoid being busy, busy, busy with too many excursion activities. If you don't go on an excursion, what are the alternatives?

As we have 3 days pre at Le Taha'a and 3 days post at HBB, I'm also wondering if I should just enjoy the ship itself and do more of my activities during our pre and post-cruise time.

We did the Waverunner trip around Bora Bora, and enjoyed this excursion (be forewarned - it was a bit bumpier than I had imagined it would be, but alot of fun).I'm not much of a snorkeler, but my
husband is and he snorkelled at both of the motus;
he felt the snorkelling was better at the Bora Bora motu. Was going to recommend Matira Beach to
you, but you will be right there when you stay at Hotel Bora Bora. Beautiful beach, and snorkelling supposed to be good. Locals also told us that the beach and snorkelling at the Sofitel on Moorea were great. Radisson actually has an excursion
there, but you could easily go on your own for less money. People seem to really like the Lagoon Discovery Snorkel in Moorea and the Shark and Ray Feeding on Bora Bora. Do take the time just to relax on your cruise. I think we ran around a little too much.

Uma, great info, thx for sharing...read your
recent poor experience with Le Meridian too..sorry to hear about that...and welcome to LCT..r/wes

Thanks for the welcome, Colonel Wes. Maybe I should post about our experience at Le Meridien on this board and ask Ngaire for her input.

I'll throw in another vote for the waverunner excursion around Bora Bora - it was lots of fun. My wife and I each reserved our own waverunners rather than both going on the same waverunner, and we noticed that with all but one of the other couples in our waverunner group the "passengers" were all less satisfied with the ride than the "drivers"...although everyone seemed to enjoy it none the less. We had a blast.

Cheers,
Ken

Seconds on the wave runner, although I was happy to take second seat, clutching my daughter like I was about to crash at any moment! Never have I seen more beautiful water. Other things we did, on Moorea a 4x4 off road arranged in advance through InterIsland Safari that takes you to a belvedere far above the bus trip from the ship, you have to hike up the hill to get there. Shark and Ray feeding my son did and loved it. 4x4 on Bora Bora, but it is a rough ride, albeit great views from several viewing sites. Parasailing from our hotel in Moorea, same as the ship's tour and really fun. Enjoy the motu's!

Ah, the waverunner around Moorea!! Twas a beautiful trip that my sister-in-law and I were enjoying until Gretchen and George decided (she was driving) to go roaring by and show everyone exactly how this machine should be driven! She snap rolled the wave runner, and my best memory of the whole trip was watching George (80 years old) flying spread-eagled against the beautiful Tahitian sun. He flew about 50 feet straight up. "Lady, what you doing Lady?" was yelled by the local lad accompanying our group.
All the while, George (known throughout the Society Islands as "The Saint) having successfully crash landed in the water, was trying to push his wife onto the waverunner - a sight all by itself that beggars description!

So for those of you who will take the trip around Moorea, just think of poor George (long suffering George), give a little smile in appreciation to his efforts, and go on to enjoy the experience. May you too be the victim of an exotically crazy wife, just don't let her drive!!! <img border="0" alt="[vhappy]" title="" src="graemlins/icon_vhappy.gif" />

If you are interested in scuba diving, I would recommend selecting one or two off the ship. It sounds like your wife doesn't dive and this way you shorten the time you are away on the dive. Instead of having to tender to and from the ship to meet the dive shop, you simply go down to the sports platform at the back of the ship, suit up and go straight out to the dive sites on zodiacs. This probably saves over an hour. My least favorite dive is Table Top. I would speak with the divemaster and ask about the two best dives. As the water changes week to week, they are in the best position to recommend the best sites that week. I would recommend one on Bora Bora and one on Moorea would be a great mix. We have dove with outside operators and found there to be no great difference in price or quality of experience so we prefer the ship dives. The only reason in my mind to go with an outside operator is if you want to dive more than the ship offers. We are diving the week of November 13 so I will post a scuba update when I return.

We would recommend that you go to the Tahaa motu that was our most relaxing day of the trip you can snokel but we didn't see much but we just hung out on the beach and drank the wonderful drinks served out of coconuts and had a wonderful lunch right there on the motu. We did the ray & shark excursion and had a good time also did the jeep tour on ratea(sp?) had a great time but it was alittle bumpy.
Hope this helps a little.
Penny

If you have not already done so, you can go to the "Picture Links" portion of this bb and see our photos titled "French Polynesia: Paul Gauguin & Manihi Pearl". I included some photos of both Motu Mahana at Taha'a and the Bora Bora Motu. Your wife would have a wonderful time at either beach and you could easily find someone else to snorkel with since there would be so many other PG guests there. (Many more at the Taha'a motu than the Bora Bora Motu.) Be sure to order a box lunch the day before the Bora Bora Motu since there is only a full complimentary bar provided on the beach. Many people have spoken about taking your own air mattress to have on the Bora Bora Motu, but we were just fine with using our beach towels on that sand.

We never did more than 1 excursion per day. The days that we went to the motu's that was all that we did off the ship. Some people rushed to do two excursions a day but that would not be a relaxing vacation for us.

For our World Cruise, it seems there are more options for Bora Bora than Moorea. The wave runners are offered in both Moorea and Bora Bora but the shark/ray feeding is only offered in Bora Bora. I thought we'd do the wave runners in Moorea and the shark/ray feeding in Bora Bora (although many of you have said the wave runners are better in Bora Bora)....another excursion offered in Bora Bora is the "underwater walking"....anyone done that?

The one thing we won't be doing anywhere because of Tom's bad back is 4 wheeling.

Once again, thanks to all for more great advice. I'm sure that the two motus will be definites for us and one or two dives (thanks for the diving suggestions as well). she'll snorkel with me if the current is light and if there is enough water beweeen us and the coral. She likes snorkelling, whereas I love snorkeling.

Thinking about one or both of the helicopter excursions. We both, especially my wife much to my surprise, really liked the helicopter ride we took when we did the Navigator's Alaska cruise a few years ago. Any comments as to which helicopter excursion is better?

Also, has anybody done the Classic Sailing Tour at Raiatea on the Agaleion? That sounded pretty interesting, but I've seen no comments from anybody.

No, I haven't done that one. But we did do the sunset cruise on Moorea. The ship was beautiful, there was music and beautiful young tatooed men.

It was one of the highlights of our first trip on the PG.

Wendy, Kathy Z, (or anyone) have you ever done the "Underwater walking"???

We've been snorkeling for more than 30 years so the "Underwater walking" thing has not appealed to us. But the non-snorkelers that I spoke with who did that excursion while we were on the PG really liked it.

Thanks Kathy! That's a good point. We too enjoy snorkeling, though the novices we are.

As both a diver and a snorkeler, I'd say that the underwater walking is different from both (just as diving and snorkeling are different from each other). When snorkeling, you have the wonder floating sensations that are unique, but when diving you can stop and examine something more closely either on the bottom or on the side of a formation of some sort. That's hard to do when snorkeling and underwater walking should allow you to do that to some extent. Diving also is special because of the fully 3-dimensional aspect of it, unlike anything else I've ever done. You move about in 3 dimensions, like a fish or a bird and neither snorkeling or underwater walking allow that. Of course, scuba requires more training and that can make it less relaxing for somebody, like myself, who doesn't dive very often, so for relaxation, nothing beats snorkeling.

So can someone try to describe underwater walking to me?

I obviously have not done it. I love snorkelling, but I also love walking along an ocean shore examine the flora and fauna. So something that combines the two sounds kind of interesting.

One more question - at any of the ports 'o call, are there places where you can use/rent small Hobie Cats or other small sailboats, preferably the single-sail variety?

Also, for our pre-cruise stay at Taha'a and our post at HBB, are there boats avaialble anywhere?

Is this the sort of question that Radisson might be able to answer?

Wendy,

When people refer to the underwater walking I believe they are talking about the "Aqua Safari" offered on Bora Bora. You wear your swimsuit (and I expect also your aqua shoes) and a yellow diving helmet is placed on your head just as you enter the water. Your head remains dry and you can even wear your glasses. The brochure says you remain just under the surface. The activity is suitable for most, but those with heart problems or who are pregnant many not participate.

Kathy,
Thanks for the info. I, too, was wondering what underwater walking was all about. I have enjoyed reading your trip reviews and your great photos.
Miriam

By the way, since this is kind of a snorkelling thread, has anybody experience with prescription masks? I'm wondering if it might be a good investment for me. I'm only somewhat short-sighted, so I manage okay, but I also think I would really benefit from glasses. I guess there aren't masks that actually fit over glasses.

If you need corrective lenses, then you want them underwater for sure. Contacts are the best option under a normal mask, but if that's not something you want to do, then a mask with corrective lenses is the next best thing.

Soft disposable contacts are great for diving/snorkeling. In the unlikely event that you get water in your eye, you can toss them to prevent any chance of an eye infection (if you don't lose them with the water).

Hmm. I have never thought of contacts. Maybe I should give them a whirl! Thanks!

Wendy, In Hawaii, I rented a prescription mask. It was very cool. They had lenses that just snapped into the mask - since I needed two different ones (my eyes are different- duh), they each worked perfectly. I wore hard contacts then so wearing them under a mask was not an option.
I do wear disposable contacts, but even at $20.00 each, I am not sure I want to risk losing them with a mask. Maybe I will save an old pair or two for snorkeling....

Interesting idea, Kathy. My eyes are also very different. I saw a prescription mask that I could order on the web for about $90. But I'm going to look locally here in Toronto first. In that price range, it would be simpler than the contacts route.

We'll see if I get around to doing this, maybe over the XMas holidays.

Thanks for the input.

Speaking of excursions, both watery and otherwise, has anyone done any of the excursions on Taha'a? I have always opted for the motu, but wonder about the island that I never get to see except from the distance.

Wendy,

Bill and I have had prescription masks since 1990. You can get the lenses in the closest 50 dioptor to your prescription. And since the masks have separate lenses for each eye, they can be different. At the time we got ours there was no such thing as bifocal etc., but as I said “I only need to see the fish, not read underwater”. Even though I have a greater correction than Bill, we both think the prescription masks are great.

Our daughter was 16 when we were in Hawaii in 1984. She is quite near sighted. She wore contacts routinely, but I don’t think disposable ones were even on the market then. After three islands where Karen saw colorful blurs underwater we finally found a prescription mask for her on Maui. It made a world of difference for her! About 6 years ago when she vacationed in Barbados she purchased disposable contacts and used them with a new plain snorkel mask.

Wendy, I love the idea for the RX mask. Where did you find them? I am always afraid of wearing contacts in the water due to infection so it would still limit my snorkel experience even with an old pair.

Here is what I found:

http://www.joediveramerica.com/scubagear/prods/Corrective.html


Let'sI'm sure there are many more like it. I will have to dig up my prescription first. And I am going to look locally too, since it would be nice to be able to try on the mask before you commit.

Also note that they do not correct for astigmatism.

Although I did say that a disposable lens could be discarded if you get water in your eyes to prevent possible infection, I should have noted that this has never happened to me and I snorkel a lot and also dive from time to time. Also, I've never lost a contact when snorkeling or diving. In fact, I've never gotten water in my eyes or lost a lens with swim goggles, under which I also wear contacts. It is possible, however, so knowing that you wouldn't be out a lot of money if it did happen is comforting. I always bring spares just to be safe.

Nearly every dive shop can provide standard corrective lenses for a mask, with different corrections for each eye, based on dioptor parameters (I think by 25 degree differences). If you need more precise correction (including astigmatism, etc.), most opticians can obtain more finely corrected lenses for masks. I am nearsighted and manage to get good results with the standard corrective lenses which are closest to my specific perscription. (I don't bother with the astigmatism issue, since it is not too serious for me. If it was, I would go for the optician alternative.) In any event, the alternative of corrective lenses in your mask seems a lot easier than trying to learn to wear contact lenses for snorkeling or diving. Cheers, Fred

Thanks! That is terrific. I can't believe all those years I snorkled with NO RX in a mask and then in Hawaii I rented one for some outrageous cost - like $60. for the week when I could have BOUGHT one!

BTW, speaking of excursions, has anyone done any on Taha'a (other than the motu)? Are they worthwhile? Been there twice, and have yet to set foot on the island!