Tuamotus

[Notion_of_the_Ocean]

I have questions about these islands and cannot seem to find the forum search feature anymore with cruise critics awful new layout.  

 

Rangiroa:

I see that Kia Ora looks like a nice area.  Ship's excursions are very limited.  Is there a way to get around to that area or perhaps a nice area with a beach and a few shops?  If not, is there a boat tour that works with only being in port for 5 hours?  
Where does the tender dock?

 

Fakarava:
It kind of looks like PGs Teahatea or South Pass (although maybe a bit expensive for my tastes) is the way to go.

Is there any shopping or anything to see near the tender dock afterwards?

Where does the tender dock? 

 

Thanks in advance!

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

Attached

 

Only a small store close to the tender plus a small shop on Fakarava.  Teahatea Beach excursion is similar to Ato's and is around the Blue Lagoon. There is a small beach area south of the church on the map. Shaded and there is a place to get something snack on. There is a E-Bike rental place at the tender drop off, as it can be hot I'd rent one and zip down to the beach, see the church and then go the other direction to the old lighthouse.

 

On Rangiroa the Aquarium is the ticket for an excursion unless if you scuba. The main town is not close to the tender frop off but there is a snack place and a few shops there. The Dolphin viewpoint is nice, a small beach but the water can be a bit rough as  your so close to the pass.

Edited August 3, 2019 by Tahitianbigkahuna

[Notion_of_the_Ocean]

6 hours ago, Tahitianbigkahuna said:

Attached

 

Only a small store close to the tender plus a small shop on Fakarava.  Teahatea Beach excursion is similar to Ato's and is around the Blue Lagoon. There is a small beach area south of the church on the map. Shaded and there is a place to get something snack on. There is a E-Bike rental place at the tender drop off, as it can be hot I'd rent one and zip down to the beach, see the church and then go the other direction to the old lighthouse.

 

On Rangiroa the Aquarium is the ticket for an excursion unless if you scuba. The main town is not close to the tender frop off but there is a snack place and a few shops there. The Dolphin viewpoint is nice, a small beach but the water can be a bit rough as  your so close to the pass.

 

Hi TBK, always appreciate the information that you have to offer on this places.  Fakarava seems easy to plan something and the more interesting of the two Tuamotus from my first impression.  I guess my questions is how to reach out to Ato (they do not appear to have a website?) for comparison with PG (and how do they handle any possible itinerary changes with payment)? My group may not go along with the scooters (they will probably start worrying about safety) although those other stops are interesting as well.... is there another way to get around (rental cars or taxis??).

 

Where is the location of the aquarium in Rangiroa?  Is it off a motu or in the middle of the large lagoon?  Is scooter the only way to get around on land (is anything on land really worth the time?)? 

 

 

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

8 hours ago, Notion_of_the_Ocean said:

 

Hi TBK, always appreciate the information that you have to offer on this places.  Fakarava seems easy to plan something and the more interesting of the two Tuamotus from my first impression.  I guess my questions is how to reach out to Ato (they do not appear to have a website?) for comparison with PG (and how do they handle any possible itinerary changes with payment)? My group may not go along with the scooters (they will probably start worrying about safety) although those other stops are interesting as well.... is there another way to get around (rental cars or taxis??).

 

Where is the location of the aquarium in Rangiroa?  Is it off a motu or in the middle of the large lagoon?  Is scooter the only way to get around on land (is anything on land really worth the time?)? 

 

 

 

The Aquarium is just inside the passage, just south of the ship's location on the map, you will see a tiny motu, it's on the map.

 

Ato: http://www.fakarava-divelodge.com/

 

I saw one 'taxi' (local hiring out) on Fakarava. On Rangiroa rentals are limited but there may be some cars at the airport. Not many taxi either, remember you only there for 5 hours.

 

Do an internet search if you need to dig deeper. 

[DGK]

If you decide to do the organized tours ..... In 2013 we did the ship snorkeling tour to the aquarium in Rangiroa and Ato tour in Fakarava and they were some of our favourite excursions. Sorry no longer have Ato’s contact , we were extremely  happy with both.

[DavidTheWonderer]

In Rangiroa we did a tour called "Reef Island" or something similar that involved a boat across the lagoon, a spectacular picnic lunch on a beach combined with snorkeling and playing with a horde of reef sharks.  We visited the "aquarium" and the breakwater as part of the tour when we got back.  Can't find the name of the tour organiser, but Miriam ("emdee" on this board) organised it as part of a reunion cruise.  Perhaps she will see this post and remember the name.  In any case, it was a lovely day.

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

1 minute ago, DavidTheWonderer said:

In Rangiroa we did a tour called "Reef Island" or something similar that involved a boat across the lagoon, a spectacular picnic lunch on a beach combined with snorkeling and playing with a horde of reef sharks.  We visited the "aquarium" and the breakwater as part of the tour when we got back.  Can't find the name of the tour organiser, but Miriam ("emdee" on this board) organised it as part of a reunion cruise.  Perhaps she will see this post and remember the name.  In any case, it was a lovely day.

 

David .... how long was the PG at Rangiroa when you did this excursion? I remember doing it a decade ago but the ship was there all day as the excursion was around 7 hours ..... took over an hour to go to the BBQ picnic area, played with the sharks, snorkeled. I remember it was one rough ride going across the lagoon.

[DavidTheWonderer]

Just now, Tahitianbigkahuna said:

 

David .... how long was the PG at Rangiroa when you did this excursion?

Uh ... that would be 2014 and the PG was just there for the day.  An hour to get across the lagoon sounds about right, but for us the water was smooth.  Perhaps emdee got the PG to stay there long enough for this excursion: she and PG corporate work together in planning these reunion cruises. I'm just a passive consumer so don't know these details.

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

42 minutes ago, DavidTheWonderer said:

Uh ... that would be 2014 and the PG was just there for the day.  An hour to get across the lagoon sounds about right, but for us the water was smooth.  Perhaps emdee got the PG to stay there long enough for this excursion: she and PG corporate work together in planning these reunion cruises. I'm just a passive consumer so don't know these details.

 

Would be hard to go out there, snorkel, play with the sharks and return in 5 hours, possible probably but it would be a fast run ... as I said we did it in 7 hours and had a lovely time though it was rough. 

[Wendy The Wanderer]

On 8/5/2019 at 3:54 PM, Tahitianbigkahuna said:

 

David .... how long was the PG at Rangiroa when you did this excursion? I remember doing it a decade ago but the ship was there all day as the excursion was around 7 hours ..... took over an hour to go to the BBQ picnic area, played with the sharks, snorkeled. I remember it was one rough ride going across the lagoon.

 

But the "Aquarium" itself, btw, is very close to the ship and to the tender port.  No problem if you can just go there, no need to do the whole tour.

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

11 minutes ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

 

But the "Aquarium" itself, btw, is very close to the ship and to the tender port.  No problem if you can just go there, no need to do the whole tour.

 

The 'Aquarium' can only be visited by boat, which means you arrive and depart on a schedule. How close to the ship?  View the picture .... yes that is the PG in the background.

Edited August 6, 2019 by Tahitianbigkahuna

[Wendy The Wanderer]

1 minute ago, Tahitianbigkahuna said:

 

The 'Aquarium' can only be visited by boat, which means you arrive and depart on a schedule. How close to the ship?  View the picture .... yes that is the PG in the background.

 

Yes, you need a boat, and a person to take you there.

[SWFLAOK]

In early 2017, we stopped at Fakarava on our was to the Marquesas on Paul Gauguin. We had a snorkel booked for the North passage in the afternoon so we went ashore on the first tender in the morning. We had only brought  a small amount of money with us from the ship since we just planned to check out the shops and head back to the ship since one of us had a back problem at the time and had trouble doing much walking. As it turned out, there was no shopping since we apparently had too few passengers or were too early that day to make it profitable to open the few shops at the tender dock. We decided to look for a taxi tour, and only found one available. We were a little short on funds so we asked the PG contingent if they could give us a cash advance of 20 dollars worth of local currency against our shipboard account. They said no. We took one more walk around looking for a tour for 2 for the cash we had, and found a man named Anoah (not sure of the spelling). We was a local married to a French woman, and he gave us a great, personal tour by car. He was very entertaining. We learned much about Fakarava, and saw a number of beautiful spots. It worked our perfectly for us.

[Petoonya]

If anyone is looking for Ato's email.....

fakaravaexplorer@hotmail.com

 

Also in Rangiroa, an excellent operator of 2.5 hour excursions to the Aquarium coupled with a drift snorkel of the Tiputa Pass is The Six Passengers. They are primarily a dive outfit but do snorkel tours too. And that's why you'll see few reviews for snorkeling under their reviews on Tripadvisor. $60/pp. Have done it with them twice before and going again next April 🙂 It's wonderful.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g1154800-d1973599-Reviews-The_Six_Passengers-Avatoru_Rangiroa_Tuamotu_Archipelago.html

https://www.the6passengers.com/en/

 

 

Edited August 8, 2019 by Petoonya

[Emdee]

I used Tereva Excursions to the Reef Islands. I had arranged an all day ship visit to Rangiroa with PG management.

We will also have the full day in Rangiroa on our 2021 Reunion cruise.I hope to visit the Rangiroa blue lagoon and pink sands on that cruise. The usual half day in Rangiroa is great for divers but not for me. 

[Emdee]

On 8/5/2019 at 4:00 PM, DavidTheWonderer said:

Uh ... that would be 2014 and the PG was just there for the day.  An hour to get across the lagoon sounds about right, but for us the water was smooth.  Perhaps emdee got the PG to stay there long enough for this excursion: she and PG corporate work together in planning these reunion cruises. I'm just a passive consumer so don't know these details.

Sorry that you and Wendy won’t be on the 2021 Reunion. But, enjoy your WC!

[Wendy The Wanderer]

On 8/12/2019 at 9:46 PM, Emdee said:

Sorry that you and Wendy won’t be on the 2021 Reunion. But, enjoy your WC!

 

Thanks, yeah, poor us, eh?

[Notion_of_the_Ocean]

Random questions that has come up from our group...  is there a place to do laundry on Moorea to save on packing three weeks worth of clothes?  Also, they are wondering the ATV tours.... I don’t know if they are my cup of tea.... (I have never really considered them actually) but just wanting to pass on any information about this.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

On 8/17/2019 at 6:17 PM, Notion_of_the_Ocean said:

Random questions that has come up from our group...  is there a place to do laundry on Moorea to save on packing three weeks worth of clothes?  Also, they are wondering the ATV tours.... I don’t know if they are my cup of tea.... (I have never really considered them actually) but just wanting to pass on any information about this.

 

The ship's chargeable laundry services aren't too expensive, plus they have some kind of deal for laundry during the cruise that you can purchase in advance.  I'm sure there are laundromats on Moorea, but is that really how you want to spend your time there?