Rangiroa snorkeling and diving log

Dorothee Winson – December 2011

After a 9 hours flight from L.A. to Papeete, followed by another 1.5 hour local flight, I finally landed in Rangiroa : A small paradise in the middle of the South Pacific Polynesian Islands. You may wonder why Rangiroa ? I would just say because this island is prized by scubadivers form all over the world for its fantastic diving. And my dives have confirmed its reputation.

First dive : encounter with a dolphin, eager to play with us.
Second dive : drift dive with rays, napoleon wrasses, and an impressive number of grey reef sharks.
Third and fourth dives : pleasant dives with sharks surrounded by the density of marine life usually encountered in Rangiroa.
Fifth and last dive : an amazing, striking, impressive, stunning dive. The kind of dive one can never forget !! After 5 minutes in the water, a shadow darkened the water and I saw a WHALE SHARK !! Through René 's mask, I could see tears in his eyes ! He had been waiting for such a moment for years.
We were happily pursuing our dive when I saw a mantaray coming straight in front of me !! I had never felt so spoiled on a last diving day before coming to Rangiroa.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Franck and Laetitia - France - January 2011

We did 12 dives with Rangiroa Plongée. Visibility was really good and water was 81°F (27°C). On many dives, incredibly friendly dolphins decided to join us, mockingly demonstrating how easy it was for them to swim around us. the dolphins situated themselves next to us.

Finding such friendly and interactive dolphins is somewhat of a dream come true for many divers, especially as the dolphin flirted with us. Once a dolphin came near us, only to proudly present us her baby dolphin. I am forever grateful to have had such a wonderful encounter during my dive in Rangiroa. Better than words, here is a video I compiled of our encounters with doplphins in the Tiputa pass of Rangiroa:

In Rangiroa, large schools of grey reef sharks, dwell in this pass. Our dives were full of encounters with not only sharks, but also eagle rays, napoleon wrasses, tunas, turtles... Tiputa Pass is one of the more famous dive sites in French Polynesia, with good reason.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ernesto and Sara - Italy - Sept. 2010

It was 9:00am when René, accompanied by his son, came to pick us up for a snorkeling adventure that was way beyond our expectations. For my husband and I, our stay in Rangiroa was coming to an end with mixed feelings : sad to leave the Tuamotus ; yet happy to fly to another island for our honeymoon trip.

A few minutes later, as we got to the tiny harbour, another snorkeler was waiting for us in the inflatable boat. We were given our snorkeling equipment and a light wetsuit as the Tiputa Chanel is just a couple of minutes away. We had hardly left the harbor when a fisherman waved at us, only to inform us that two humpback whales were swimming on the ocean side, just outside the Tiputa pass. Estatic, we decide to navigate towards the whales, which encounters in the Tuamotus are very rare.

Unfortunely, we were unable to spot the whales. After a while, we decided to give up and to do the usual snorkeling trip. Luck did not seem to be with us at that very moment, but the snorkeling trip organized by Rangiroa Plongée is always tons of fun. We were ready to jump into the water when  Teapata, our Polynesian boat pilot noticed a small geyser approx. 200 meters away from us.

With an idle boat engine we were getting closer and closer. There they were ! Two amazing humpback whales swimming just a few meters away from us. Unbelievable !! I could not believe my eyes ! After a briefing explaining us how to behave with whales, we jumped into the Pacific Ocean (with our life jackets). First, we met with 4 sail fishes. Just a few seconds later, the 2 whales came up with grace, towards us, from the deep blue. We were so excited … and a bit scared I admit : they were so massive, impressive … We watched them. The biggest one stopped, turned itself towards us, looked right at us. I felt that time had suddenly stopped. This encounter with whales lasted a few minutes, but it was so intense that it is today the most vivid memory I have of French Polynesia.

With the whales swimming away, we continued our snorkeling, being carried by the current of the Tiputa Pass all the way into the lagoon. We met, among others, Napoleon wrasses, eagle rays and manta rays. Two hours had passed by and we were ready to go back to the harbor, with a large smile on our faces and our head filled with wonderful memories of our snorkeling adventure with Rangiroa plongée. Thank you René, thank you Teapata.

http://www.savejapandolphins.org/