TP Intro Scuba or Top Dive in Bora Bora?

[Ninjachyck]

:) Sorry, this is a double post in the Sucab sections as well, but my husband and I are dying to try scuba diving on this trip (we're on TP Oct 1) and we're torn between the ship's excursion, or just booking through Top Dive dive shops. Any suggestions? Anyone done either? The Top Dive tour is the same length of time, and a little bit cheaper.....Any help is appreciated:cool:

[land lover]

We just returned and I did the intro dive thru princess...unfortuanately I did not pay attention to the dive company name.......there were 7 of us on one boat...I think they divided us according to ability...meaning have you dived before...of the seven of us 3 had never dived we had 2 dive masters and the boats driver.

 

2 of the 3 first time divers could not equalize...so gave up....one was in our group of four so then we became a group of three....myself and a honeymoon couple...the guy from the honeymoon couple was certified but his wife had never dove...he held on to her and helped her equilize....then it was myself and the dive master he always held my hand even though I have dived 5 times. Sharks were around but I would have prefered a lead dive the other master was holding the hands of the other two in our group. It was an ok experience...but ask what the other dive shop does...it lasted just a half hour.

[Ninjachyck]

Thanks for the info. The other shop's dive also only lasts about a half an hour in the water, as the other 2 hours are instruction. Top Dive is a little less than Princess too, so maybe we'll do it, as they seem to be similar. Thanks.

[land lover]

I must say if you have not dived before the shop might be better our instruction was limited...but the 2 instrutors and driver on our dive boat were full of personality and really funny they spoke English well...it took us probably 20 minutes to get to where we dove and then we had brief instruction they controlled the inflation of your vest and did not give you the equipment to see how much air you have..but you are only in 20 feet of water so it is really not that big of deal...we fed the fish with french bread, saw a few sharks and looked at the coral. You'll enjoy the experience whoever you pick.:)

[maygoddess]

Hi! We just returned from the 9/1 sailing on TP with 3 post cruise days on Moorea. My husband only used TP for the Bora Bora night dive because Top Dive wanted 5 people minimum and since we could not guarantee they would get that..we used Princess..pricing was about the same. My husband than grabbed Top Dive at the dock in Bora Bora the 1st morning( our sailing had 2 FULL days in Bora Bora because we could not tender in Rarotonga and the captain gave us some extra time in BB). Anyway..he liked Top Dive in Bora Bora enough to scout them out again on Moorea post cruise. He saw them at the dock where we tender in on our cruise day there and scheduled the dive for the day we would be back post cruise. He said both times, they were great..said they "had their act together"..had all the needed equipment ready..and he would highly recommend them.

 

It was very easy to grab excursions right at the dock on most of the islands. I think some Princess excursions are way overpriced to what you can get locally but most passengers don't do the research and wind up going with Princess to keep it easy. Sometimes we followed the Princess excursions around and did a same tour for less money and less people..pretty funny!

 

Anyway..hope that helps..you could check out Top Dive's website and email them to set up dive's on whatever islands you are planning to visit and want to dive.

[starsjohn]

Ninja,

 

Bora divers did the discovery scuba for TP the last couple of years. They did a very good job, but some did not like the backward roll entry from the side of the boat (easiest entry you can do). Two years ago, I did the discovery class, ant it was two divers per master diver. I spent a lot of time on the bottom while the dive master was helping the other diver equalize.

 

TopDive probably does just as good. With the number of big resorts in the area, I would not bet on a smaller sized group with them.

 

John

[maygoddess]

Ninja,

 

 

 

TopDive probably does just as good. With the number of big resorts in the area, I would not bet on a smaller sized group with them.

 

John

 

Hi John! Actually on both of my husband's dive with Top Dive, he had only 2-3 people at most. I think the Princess arranged dives had more people..he is an advanced diver..so I am sure beginning dives are busier than the advanced..but he was fine with what Top Dive provided on both Bora Bora and Moorea. Even with the resorts around, it was not that busy!

[Ninjachyck]

:rolleyes: Well after much debating, and various suggestions from this board and Tahiti Explorer, we decided to book our intro scuba dive with Top Dive. I'm sure they'll be great, and they were a little less than TP. So, I'll let you know when we get back if we enjoyed it, and maybe our new digital camera (with underwater housing!) will have some pictures to share as well!:)

[land lover]

Sounds great...please let us know how the weather is too...we originally booked in OCT. and switched to AUG.

[donna5]

Maygoddess

 

Did your husband do Topdive on Moorea? What kind of boat and dive. Did he have to prearrange and are they still picking up at the tender pier?

[starsjohn]

Donna,

 

TopDive Moorea promised me pickup at the tender pier for both of my dates in October. I did prereserve.

 

John

[donna5]

Donna,

 

TopDive Moorea promised me pickup at the tender pier for both of my dates in October. I did prereserve.

 

John

 

 

Details John---what time are the dives, kind of boat, price etc. we may sign up for them too. Thanks.