Scuba diving excursions

[compozer]

 

 

 

.   Do the ships do scuba excursions from the ship? 

[AussieBoyTX]

Yes. All the scuba equipment is stored in the Marina (water level, aft of the ship) and the scuba trips launch from there.

[compozer]

1 minute ago, AussieBoyTX said:

Yes. All the scuba equipment is stored in the Marina (water level, aft of the ship) and the scuba trips launch from there.

Thanks for the fast reply.    One more question:   if we bring our own equipment, is there space to hang it there?   or do we take it back to our cabin?

[AussieBoyTX]

1 minute ago, compozer said:

Thanks for the fast reply.    One more question:   if we bring our own equipment, is there space to hang it there?   or do we take it back to our cabin?

 

We took our own equipment and the staff looked after it for us. It was even cleaned and dried for packing when we went home.

[compozer]

SUPER.   Thanks again AussieBoyTX.   

[Leejnd4]

4 hours ago, compozer said:

Do the ships do scuba excursions from the ship? 

Keep in mind, some of the scuba excursions are run by vendors. Most of their scuba trips are run by the PG scuba staff, and you dive right off their own zodiacs, which you board from the retractable marina platform at the stern. But some of them in the more far-flung islands are run by third-party dive operators, so you may take a tender to shore and get picked up by the local dive op.

4 hours ago, AussieBoyTX said:

 

We took our own equipment and the staff looked after it for us. It was even cleaned and dried for packing when we went home.

We had the same experience. They did everything for us! We live in Southern California, where dive boats expect you to manage your gear completely yourself, so it was a very nice luxury to have the PG staff do it all for us, including setting up, breaking down, rinsing and storing. 🙂 

[Leejnd4]

3 hours ago, softly darlene said:

 

How's Bubba?

He's fine, and enjoying his sudden fame on Cruise Critic! LOL!

[minidonuts85]

Great to hear about experiences on bringing your own gear! We plan to do the same; just need weights and air. 

[minidonuts85]

Anyone have the dive schedule for the 7-day? 

[BeechMan]

Hey all - I've never dived with PG before.  Would someone be so kind as to give me an appropriate tipping primer for the divemaster(s)?  Does it matter whether the dive is a PG-hosted dive versus a third-party operator?  Thanks!  Looking forward to it!

[BeechMan]

@K8-Canada I just received the updated diving itinerary for the July 6 sailing, which I believe is probably the same as yours.  Divemaster onboard wrote:  

 

"It’s a new cruise, its why its not on the PG website yet. Please, find the schedule we will follow.

 

Please, noted that its important to come with a recent medical certificate signed by your doctor and a proof of certification.

 

Also, for the dives in Rangiroa, Marquesas and Fakarava, even if its written All certified divers, we will take divers who dove recently, less than 1 year because we don’t have time to do a refresh in this dive site (no mooring line, some swell)."

BOOKING FORM ENGLISH MQS Ua Pou14 days.pdf

[K8-Canada]

41 minutes ago, BeechMan said:

@K8-Canada I just received the updated diving itinerary for the July 6 sailing, which I believe is probably the same as yours.  Divemaster onboard wrote:  

 

"It’s a new cruise, its why its not on the PG website yet. Please, find the schedule we will follow.

 

Please, noted that its important to come with a recent medical certificate signed by your doctor and a proof of certification.

 

Also, for the dives in Rangiroa, Marquesas and Fakarava, even if its written All certified divers, we will take divers who dove recently, less than 1 year because we don’t have time to do a refresh in this dive site (no mooring line, some swell)."

BOOKING FORM ENGLISH MQS Ua Pou14 days.pdf 43.39 kB · 0 downloads

@BeechMan This is great, thank you. Do we still have to stand in line to book dives...or can you book them by emailing the divemaster back? Did you book directly with PG? My TA booked our trip, so I'm not certain if they will email that sort of info to her or not. I'm disappointed if we will not be able to do any dives until Bora Bora! Were you expecting that? I have booked outside dive shop for Nuku Hiva and I think I will in Rangiroa too. C'est la vie!

[BeechMan]

Just now, K8-Canada said:

@BeechMan This is great, thank you. Do we still have to stand in line to book dives...or can you book them by emailing the divemaster back? Did you book directly with PG? My TA booked our trip, so I'm not certain if they will email that sort of info to her or not. I'm disappointed if we will not be able to do any dives until Bora Bora! Were you expecting that? I have booked outside dive shop for Nuku Hiva and I think I will in Rangiroa too. C'est la vie!

Sure thing.  We still need to book onboard.  I think they want to actually size you up and look at your logbook, etc.  I don't know what I was expecting, and I don't know what exactly will happen, either.  I have about 10 dives in the past month, and my wife and daughter have four, so we may qualify as having recent open water experience sufficient for some of those.  I'm just going to be completely honest with them and leave that to their discretion - they know the dive sites and I'm sure they've seen plenty of mediocre scuba skills!  I booked through a TA, but PG will talk to you directly for this sort of thing, too, if you call customer service.  I hesitate to post the email address of the divemaster here...

[K8-Canada]

13 hours ago, BeechMan said:

Sure thing.  We still need to book onboard.  I think they want to actually size you up and look at your logbook, etc.  I don't know what I was expecting, and I don't know what exactly will happen, either.  I have about 10 dives in the past month, and my wife and daughter have four, so we may qualify as having recent open water experience sufficient for some of those.  I'm just going to be completely honest with them and leave that to their discretion - they know the dive sites and I'm sure they've seen plenty of mediocre scuba skills!  I booked through a TA, but PG will talk to you directly for this sort of thing, too, if you call customer service.  I hesitate to post the email address of the divemaster here...

@BeechMan Thank you for the information, and I can get in touch with PG for more details 🙂 

Please let me know how it goes! I hope you all have a great cruise and some interesting dives too!

[sita3]

Haven’t been on PG since Ponant but you used to be to pre reserve dives by calling them; I think it was 60 days out. It would be subject to clearing medical and experience requirements when on ship. Itineraries with the Tuamotus are very popular with divers. 

[BeechMan]

On 6/28/2024 at 9:43 AM, sita3 said:

Haven’t been on PG since Ponant but you used to be to pre reserve dives by calling them; I think it was 60 days out. It would be subject to clearing medical and experience requirements when on ship. Itineraries with the Tuamotus are very popular with divers. 

Me either.  But when I was speaking with PG Customer Service, scheduling excursions, I asked very specifically about this, and she told me that one cannot pre-book dives; that it must be done onboard.  

[BeechMan]

@K8-CanadaOn board now.  The dive staff is FANTASTIC and very accommodating.  You will have several great dives available to you as an open water diver.  I recommend heading to the dive desk on Deck 6 as soon as possible after you get on board to make your reservations.  The line will probably not have very many people in it, but it will go very slowly as each party has a lot of questions and there is a lot of consideration of ability and sites for each diver.  We are arriving at Bora Bora tomorrow and I wish we had more time because it has been a wonderful cruise with breathtaking dives.

Edited July 17 by BeechMan

[K8-Canada]

12 hours ago, BeechMan said:

@K8-CanadaOn board now.  The dive staff is FANTASTIC and very accommodating.  You will have several great dives available to you as an open water diver.  I recommend heading to the dive desk on Deck 6 as soon as possible after you get on board to make your reservations.  The line will probably not have very many people in it, but it will go very slowly as each party has a lot of questions and there is a lot of consideration of ability and sites for each diver.  We are arriving at Bora Bora tomorrow and I wish we had more time because it has been a wonderful cruise with breathtaking dives.

@BeechMan That is a great update, thank you. Which dives have you done so far? What time did you get onboard? Did you take a taxi to the ship? Enjoy the rest of your trip!

[Yoopers06]

Hello!  The booking form has the same description for Rangiora 12:30 and 2:00 pm.  They both say Outer Reef.  Anyone know if they do the same dive or if they go to different locations.  If different, is it different enough to make it with it?

[BeechMan]

On 7/17/2024 at 6:13 AM, K8-Canada said:

@BeechMan That is a great update, thank you. Which dives have you done so far? What time did you get onboard? Did you take a taxi to the ship? Enjoy the rest of your trip!

Nuku Hiva (100 ft depth, but we saw four hammerheads), Faka Rava (family dive - easy and really fun), Bora Bora, (eagle and manta rays) and Moorea (turtles). All great.  We stayed two nights at Vanira Lodge on Tahiti Iti before the cruise and had a rental car. I dropped the family at the ship, returned the car the airport, and took a taxi back to the port. It’s all very close - that whole thing took less than 45 min. Worked fine. Leaving Tahiti tonight. Absolutely wonderful trip. 

[BeechMan]

4 hours ago, Yoopers06 said:

Hello!  The booking form has the same description for Rangiora 12:30 and 2:00 pm.  They both say Outer Reef.  Anyone know if they do the same dive or if they go to different locations.  If different, is it different enough to make it with it?

I can’t promise re: Rangiroa, but all of the two dive days I did were quite different between the first and second. I should have done Rangiroa - they saw a bunch of dolphins. 

[sita3]

Rangiroa outer reef was best dive of my life. As soon as we surfaced we agreed we would do over the next day. Enjoy!

[BeechMan]

On 7/16/2024 at 9:09 PM, BeechMan said:

@K8-CanadaOn board now.  The dive staff is FANTASTIC and very accommodating.  You will have several great dives available to you as an open water diver.  I recommend heading to the dive desk on Deck 6 as soon as possible after you get on board to make your reservations.  The line will probably not have very many people in it, but it will go very slowly as each party has a lot of questions and there is a lot of consideration of ability and sites for each diver.  We are arriving at Bora Bora tomorrow and I wish we had more time because it has been a wonderful cruise with breathtaking dives.

Errr - dive desk was on deck 5.  Typo.  I'm sure you'll find it!

[K8-Canada]

On 7/23/2024 at 10:48 PM, BeechMan said:

Nuku Hiva (100 ft depth, but we saw four hammerheads), Faka Rava (family dive - easy and really fun), Bora Bora, (eagle and manta rays) and Moorea (turtles). All great.  We stayed two nights at Vanira Lodge on Tahiti Iti before the cruise and had a rental car. I dropped the family at the ship, returned the car the airport, and took a taxi back to the port. It’s all very close - that whole thing took less than 45 min. Worked fine. Leaving Tahiti tonight. Absolutely wonderful trip. 

Thank you so much for the information, and I hope you had smooth travels back home 🙂