In all of mine and my wife’s travels, three experiences truly stand out as unforgettable, landing on Ruth Glacier at Denali, viewing lions on the plains of the Masa Mara and lastly scuba diving with manta rays in Bora Bora.
I am still fairly new to diving with all of my experiences prior to Bora Bora being in the Caribbean and diving on resort led dives with Sandals. I was interested to see what this dive would be like with a booking outside of the resort. We booked with the recommended tour provider of our resort, Bora Ocean Adventures.
First off, the communication, professionalism, boat and equipment were top notch. The boat picked me up every morning of my dive from my resort dock. Normally the group size is fairly small(5-6 people). I was fortunate enough two of the mornings to be the only diver. The dive sites were all within 15-20 minutes of the resort, which would hold true for any resort due to the small size of the lagoon and reef in Bora Bora. I opted to do the two tank dives to maximize my time on the water. Snacks, water, hot tea and great conversation were provided between our dives. The dive master and boat captains were very friendly and informative and very enjoyable to converse and dive with.
Now to the dives! Our first dive was Toopua Iti. This dive had a maximum depth of about 60 feet and featured coral gardens, crystal clear water and eagle rays. We were fortunate enough to come up on a school of 40-50 eagle rays resting on the bottom. We held on the bottom and watched as the rays swam and drifted through the waters! An absolute epic experience!
Second dive of the day put us outside the reef at Motu Topu. We swam along a shallow reef that fell off. This dive featured coral gardens, eel, and numerous black tip sharks that were extremely curious and would swim up to you
The second day of diving started agin with just me and one dive master, Nico. He stayed with it just being us we would try our luck with a Manta Ray site that visibility waned throughout the day so we would catch it early. The dive started with some sea turtles and coral gardens and spotted a lone Manta Ray swimming by in the distance. We kept going and the it happened, we spotted three Manta Rays swimming straight toward us. We lay prone on the sea floor as these beautiful creatures swam no more than 5 feet over our heads and circled us. This, as I mentioned above, will go down as one of the most memorable events that I have ever encountered on a vacation. We ended the dive with multiple sightings of the manta rays at a distance.
I can’t speak highly enough of the ease of booking and executing these dives nor can I express in words the striking beauty of Bora Bora, its lagoon, reef and towering beauty of Mt Otemanu all seen during your dives. If you are going to Bora Bora or any of the islands of the French Polynesia I highly encourage you to strap on your fins and go for a dive!
To conclude the blog, – Thank you so much to Charlie Peek for writing this blog. If you would like more information on a trip to the French Polynesian Islands, you can contact our team at Embrace the Journey Travel via this quote request link.