The Paul Gauguin cruise ship has a sports platform in the stern with free sign-ups for kayaks, water skiing or windsurfing. I did not do any of these, but they also have full scuba gear and facilities to run dive trips directly from the ship. I did these for a July 9 night dive on Bora Bora (I was on an all day island tour from 9:30AM - 4:30PM) and a July 12 morning dive on Moorea. On Raiatea the ship is docked on the opposite side of the island from most of the dive sites, so the ship contracts with a local dive shop that picks us up in a van. However the PG divemaster Dominique did come along for the Raietea dive July 7, and it's a good thing he did. He's a great photographer, and this is what we saw within a couple of minutes after we submerged:
This was only the second whale shark the Raiatea divemaster had seen in 5 years. I was with him and 2 other divers in the water earliest and closest to the whale shark. The last 2 divers with Dominique dropped in too close (perhaps one of these in the second picture) so the whale shark left us then.
Dominique had a knack for capturing sea life with divers identifiable in the background. I'm at the bottom of this picture in Raietea with a couple of the ever-present black tips.
On the Moorea dive I'm watching a turtle here,
And an eel here.
I saw a lionfish like this one on the Bora Bora night dive.
These colorful clams could also be seen snorkeling on Bora Bora and at the Blue Lagoon on Rangiroa.
This lemon shark was on the Moorea dive, but I also saw them on the bottom when snorkeling outside the reef on Bora Bora.
if I choose to see the next eclipse on the Paul Gauguin in November 2012 the diving should be even better in Fiji and New Caledonia.
This was only the second whale shark the Raiatea divemaster had seen in 5 years. I was with him and 2 other divers in the water earliest and closest to the whale shark. The last 2 divers with Dominique dropped in too close (perhaps one of these in the second picture) so the whale shark left us then.
Dominique had a knack for capturing sea life with divers identifiable in the background. I'm at the bottom of this picture in Raietea with a couple of the ever-present black tips.
On the Moorea dive I'm watching a turtle here,
And an eel here.
I saw a lionfish like this one on the Bora Bora night dive.
These colorful clams could also be seen snorkeling on Bora Bora and at the Blue Lagoon on Rangiroa.
This lemon shark was on the Moorea dive, but I also saw them on the bottom when snorkeling outside the reef on Bora Bora.
if I choose to see the next eclipse on the Paul Gauguin in November 2012 the diving should be even better in Fiji and New Caledonia.
