scuba dives society and cook islands? Aitutaki, Bora Bora and Moorea? approximate depart and return times?

[sjkoen]

Does anyone know for sure if the dive spots for the society and cook islands are Aitutaki, Bora Bora, and Moorea? Based on website those are the islands listed, so no diving on Motu Mahana day? 

 

Also, a rough estimate of departure and return times? For two tank dives. Determining timing for outside excursions. 

 

Thanks.

[AussieBoyTX]

We were offered dives on Huahine, Bora Bora & Moorea. Because it was Christmas, dives were not offered at Aitutaki or Moto Mahana, but the communication we received from the dive team was that both were normally offered and operated by third parties.

 

The morning dives left at 8:30 & 10:30 and the transit times were short, so we were back shortly after noon each time.

[FlightMedic555]

We are on the ship now for the 10 night itinerary. Let me know any specific info you need 

[shrkdive1]

@FlightMedic555 we are on the Marquesas 14 day tour in Sept.  We have cruised the 10 day Tuamotus itinerary several years ago and. dove every day we could but wondering what dives are offered on the Marquesas islands.  If you could ask the dive team for us that would be greatly appreciated as we are trying to book island excursions on non-dive days too.

[sjkoen]

1 hour ago, FlightMedic555 said:

We are on the ship now for the 10 night itinerary. Let me know any specific info you need 

oh wow thanks! i think we might be following in your footsteps, including the teachupoo/te pari boat hike excursion. 🙂

I wasn't planning to dive initially and now, happily, I am. But, since I wasn't planning on diving I did a lot of research on non-diving land/water excursions and am now rather attached to some of them.

And my travel insurance is through USAA and I need to estimate how many dives I'll go on in order to insure them since they are non-refundable - I can't insure after the trip starts. My fingers are crossed, but I want to be prepared (or at least cost it out) just in case I get seasick (cruising is new - i've done catamaran liveaboards with no trouble) and need to cancel. 

 

So, by island:

Huahine - I have a private drive/snorkel excursion set up. super excited about it and will do for sure, but if there's Huahine diving, the approx time. I could maybe have the tour guide pick us up a little later than planned. 

 

Aitutaki - logistics, whether it is from the PG or if outside provider and where they leave from - the Arutanga pier or somewhere else. i have someone picking us up at the Arutanga pier to go plant coral. it would work great if the return is to the Arutanga pier. haven't set pick up time yet

 

for Bora Bora and Moorea our outings should work with morning diving as long as back by noon, and Le Truck is offered in the afternoon.

 

Motu Mahana - whether there's diving and curious if the driving tours to Taha'a  are offered in the afternoon.

 

I think you are on a sea day today! wishing you fun travels.

 

thanks!

[FlightMedic555]

I will check. All PG excursions can be cancelled within 24 hours at no charge. 
 

I have the full dive schedule for this cruise and will try and get the ones for the Cooks and Marquesas.  The one for this cruise as attached. Hopefully it is readable. 

[sjkoen]

@FlightMedic555 can read just fine, thanks! you aren't cooks - so not a sea day. enjoy bora bora

 

 

[FlightMedic555]

Dive desk said next year the Marquesas cruise has an additional port with diving. 

[Leejnd4]

13 hours ago, FlightMedic555 said:

I will check. All PG excursions can be cancelled within 24 hours at no charge. 
 

I have the full dive schedule for this cruise and will try and get the ones for the Cooks and Marquesas.  The one for this cruise as attached. Hopefully it is readable. 

 

THANK YOU! I'll be on this exact itinerary in November, and this is hugely helpful!

[sjkoen]

Thanks for the Society-Cooks one. 🪸🐠

[shrkdive1]

Thanks so much for posting these.  This is exactly what I needed as it shows we can dive at each port in the Marquesas!

[TheDarkestBlue]

Not to hijack this thread 🙂 but curious how old y'all were when you started scuba diving? What's the hardest thing about it, other than getting to the dive locations? What level of physical condition does one need besides solid swimming and good lung capacity? 

[equinelady]

Flight medic.  Thank you so much for the diving information.  Can you tell me who they use to dive Fakarava?  Thanks in advance

 

[Leejnd4]

9 hours ago, TheDarkestBlue said:

Not to hijack this thread 🙂 but curious how old y'all were when you started scuba diving? What's the hardest thing about it, other than getting to the dive locations? What level of physical condition does one need besides solid swimming and good lung capacity? 

I'll take a stab at answering. 🙂 

 

I started diving when I was 45. I'm 63 now, and I'm approaching 800 dives. 

 

The hardest thing about diving will be different for each person, and is also very much dependent on where you dive. I took to diving right away (I must have been a fish in a former life!) But I know many people struggle with learning the gear, the skills, buoyancy control (the ability stay neutral in the water column without floating up or sinking down), and managing air consumption. New divers often struggle with anxiety, and with task-overloading. There's a lot to remember. Some people are just not comfortable under water. Others have issues with claustrophobia, or with panic, or with clearing their ears (my husband struggles with his ears).

 

Where you dive is hugely impactful. Many popular dive destinations are in the tropics where you have warm water, so you don't need thick wetsuits or cumbersome dry suits, and all dives are done with Divemasters who take care of everything - setting up your gear, helping you into your gear, guiding the dive, monitoring your depth, air consumption, and decompression limits (DCL), and getting you back to the boat. You must learn how to do all of this on your own (that's what scuba training is all about, and what it takes to get certified), but in many tropical dive destinations, the DMs do most everything for you anyway.

 

Whereas I learned to dive in Southern California, where divers are expected to be completely independent. Most of our dives are from the beach, just me and my husband or a few friends, no Divemasters to babysit us. On boat dives in SoCal, each diver is expected to set up and manage their own gear, dive with a buddy, plan their dive, monitor their own depth, air, and DCL, and be able to navigate well enough to get themselves back to the boat. Plus it's cold water so we're dealing with heavy wetsuits, and potentially entangling kelp forests. If you are doing tropical diving (such as that done on the PG) you won't have those issues.

 

So as you can see, where you dive will have the greatest impact on what you might find difficult.

 

You should definitely be in good physical condition to be a diver. Scuba gear is HEAVY, and you have to be able to stand up with it, walk around, get in and out of a boat or inflatable. If you have back issues you will have trouble. Plus, if you are out of shape you will breathe too heavily and blast through your tank quickly, and you'll also have a harder time controlling your buoyancy. I do see out-of-shape people diving sometimes, so it can be done but it's a lot harder and just won't be as fun. Also, I track dive accidents in SoCal, and a large percentage of diver injuries/deaths are due to out-of-shape divers suffering a health incident while diving. It's a strenuous activity, and if you are not in shape you are at much greater risk for something happening under water - not a good scenario.

 

If you are interested in getting started, certainly the PG is a great way to do it! They are known to always have an outstanding dive team, and they make it very easy for you. Warm tropical water, excellent high-quality rental gear, fabulous sea life, and DMs who do all the work for you. The worst part would be taking time away from your cruise to take the necessary courses. 😉 

 

Edited July 16, 2023 by Leejnd4

[TheDarkestBlue]

15 hours ago, Leejnd4 said:

I'll take a stab at answering. 🙂 

 

I started diving when I was 45. I'm 63 now, and I'm approaching 800 dives. 

 

The hardest thing about diving will be different for each person, and is also very much dependent on where you dive. I took to diving right away (I must have been a fish in a former life!) But I know many people struggle with learning the gear, the skills, buoyancy control (the ability stay neutral in the water column without floating up or sinking down), and managing air consumption. New divers often struggle with anxiety, and with task-overloading. There's a lot to remember. Some people are just not comfortable under water. Others have issues with claustrophobia, or with panic, or with clearing their ears (my husband struggles with his ears).

 

Where you dive is hugely impactful. Many popular dive destinations are in the tropics where you have warm water, so you don't need thick wetsuits or cumbersome dry suits, and all dives are done with Divemasters who take care of everything - setting up your gear, helping you into your gear, guiding the dive, monitoring your depth, air consumption, and decompression limits (DCL), and getting you back to the boat. You must learn how to do all of this on your own (that's what scuba training is all about, and what it takes to get certified), but in many tropical dive destinations, the DMs do most everything for you anyway.

 

Whereas I learned to dive in Southern California, where divers are expected to be completely independent. Most of our dives are from the beach, just me and my husband or a few friends, no Divemasters to babysit us. On boat dives in SoCal, each diver is expected to set up and manage their own gear, dive with a buddy, plan their dive, monitor their own depth, air, and DCL, and be able to navigate well enough to get themselves back to the boat. Plus it's cold water so we're dealing with heavy wetsuits, and potentially entangling kelp forests. If you are doing tropical diving (such as that done on the PG) you won't have those issues.

 

So as you can see, where you dive will have the greatest impact on what you might find difficult.

 

You should definitely be in good physical condition to be a diver. Scuba gear is HEAVY, and you have to be able to stand up with it, walk around, get in and out of a boat or inflatable. If you have back issues you will have trouble. Plus, if you are out of shape you will breathe too heavily and blast through your tank quickly, and you'll also have a harder time controlling your buoyancy. I do see out-of-shape people diving sometimes, so it can be done but it's a lot harder and just won't be as fun. Also, I track dive accidents in SoCal, and a large percentage of diver injuries/deaths are due to out-of-shape divers suffering a health incident while diving. It's a strenuous activity, and if you are not in shape you are at much greater risk for something happening under water - not a good scenario.

 

If you are interested in getting started, certainly the PG is a great way to do it! They are known to always have an outstanding dive team, and they make it very easy for you. Warm tropical water, excellent high-quality rental gear, fabulous sea life, and DMs who do all the work for you. The worst part would be taking time away from your cruise to take the necessary courses. 😉 

 

 

Thanks so much for such a thoughtful and well laid out answer! 🙂  It might be ok for me, I've grown up by the beach and been doing Pilates for a very long time. Much appreciate the time you put into your posting, it's a lot to think about.

 

And another expensive hobby LOL 😆 

[Leejnd4]

28 minutes ago, TheDarkestBlue said:

 

Thanks so much for such a thoughtful and well laid out answer! 🙂  It might be ok for me, I've grown up by the beach and been doing Pilates for a very long time. Much appreciate the time you put into your posting, it's a lot to think about.

 

And another expensive hobby LOL 😆 

Happy to help! I adore scuba diving...it's one of my passions. I even took classes to become an underwater photographer, and have sold some of my photos. The diving in FP is some of the best I've done, and I'm SO looking forward to getting back into those waters on my upcoming cruise!

 

If you've been doing Pilates for a long time, and are comfortable in the ocean, you would have no trouble diving at all. I hope you give it a try!

 

And yes, it is like skiing - the gear ain't cheap. And the photography gear is even MORE expensive! 😝

[helo driver]

I would recommend you try a discovery dive.... 20 years ago my family (wife, 10 and 12 year old daughters) did a discover dive in the Caribbean. Younger daughter loved it, wife and 12 year old thought is was just OK. My younger daughter thought it was worth the time and effort to get certified and so we did and have been diving ever since (I am now 59). A discover dive gives you the chance to try it with very little investment and time out of your vacation and see what you think.

 

What I love most about diving on PG is in many ports, I can do a 1 tank dive in the morning and be back in time for a late breakfast with my non-diving wife and then do an excursion. That is my plan for again for our second PG cruise coming up spring 2024!

[TheDarkestBlue]

On 7/18/2023 at 8:09 AM, helo driver said:

I would recommend you try a discovery dive.... 20 years ago my family (wife, 10 and 12 year old daughters) did a discover dive in the Caribbean. Younger daughter loved it, wife and 12 year old thought is was just OK. My younger daughter thought it was worth the time and effort to get certified and so we did and have been diving ever since (I am now 59). A discover dive gives you the chance to try it with very little investment and time out of your vacation and see what you think.

 

What I love most about diving on PG is in many ports, I can do a 1 tank dive in the morning and be back in time for a late breakfast with my non-diving wife and then do an excursion. That is my plan for again for our second PG cruise coming up spring 2024!

 

That's sounds like a good way to wade into this, I know my teen would love it, lol 🙂 nice to have something to do together that doesn't take up the whole day because I don't think my dh would be into it. Thanks for the encouragement! 

 

Such a beautiful part of the world, warm and clear, I look forward to going back and seeing more 🧜‍♀️ 🩵 

[shrkdive1]

As we are preparing for our upcoming trip I was reading on the PG website that besides our cert cards and logbooks we also need a medical certificate signed by our doctor within the last year.  Is this the Medical Questionnaire form that I can download from the PG website or something else? Thanks in advance.

[sjkoen]

Yep, and must be their forms. There are two of them, Certified Divers Form and the Medical Cert. I almost missed the med cert since they both require a doctor's release.

https://www.pgcruises.com/scuba/required-forms

 

Also proof of skills/refresh dive if you haven't been diving for a year. 

 

Enjoy! I just got my review and certs signed by an underwater MD. Can't wait to dive.

Edited July 22, 2023 by sjkoen

[Leejnd4]

6 hours ago, shrkdive1 said:

As we are preparing for our upcoming trip I was reading on the PG website that besides our cert cards and logbooks we also need a medical certificate signed by our doctor within the last year.  Is this the Medical Questionnaire form that I can download from the PG website or something else? Thanks in advance.

Wow, I don't recall having to visit a doctor before I did my last PG cruise. That's going to be difficult for me - I live on a sailboat, currently sailing on the Mexican Pacific Coast, and it will be challenging for me to find a doctor who speaks English well enough to fill out this form. I'm going to have to look into this.

 

Also, I don't have a logbook. I've been diving since 2006, and have hundreds of dives. I stopped logging dives years ago. Given that I live on a boat, we dive nearly every week and sometimes daily. I can't be bothered to log all those dives. I'm hoping they still have my information in their records from the last time I was on the PG, which was quite a while ago.

Edited July 22, 2023 by Leejnd4

[Leejnd4]

4 hours ago, sjkoen said:

Yep, and must be their forms. There are two of them, Certified Divers Form and the Medical Cert. I almost missed the med cert since they both require a doctor's release.

https://www.pgcruises.com/scuba/required-forms

 

Also proof of skills/refresh dive if you haven't been diving for a year. 

 

Enjoy! I just got my review and certs signed by an underwater MD. Can't wait to dive.

Okay I just looked at the forms, and I see this in the section of the form that we must fill out:

 

The purpose of this Medical Questionnaire is to find out if you should be exam- ined by your doctor before participating in recreational diver training. A positive response to a question does not necessarily disqualify you from diving. A positive response means that there is a preexisting condition that may affect your safety while diving and you must seek the advice of your physician prior to engaging in dive activities.

 

Please answer the following questions on your past or present medical history with a YES or NO. If you are not sure, answer YES. If any of these items apply to you, we must request that you consult with a physician prior to participating in scuba diving. Your instructor will supply you with an RSTC Medical Statement and Guidelines for Recreational Scuba Diver’s Physical Examination to take to your physician.

 

I'm interpreting this to mean that we don't have to see a doctor unless we answered Yes to any of those questions. Did you learn something different onboard? Do we really need to get a medical clearance from a doctor before they will let us dive?

 

 

Edited July 22, 2023 by Leejnd4

[Leejnd4]

@sjkoen I just emailed my TA and asked him to reach out to his contacts at PG to ask these questions. If he's unable to do that, I'll try calling them directly.

 

Thanks for telling me about your friends. I suspect it won't matter if we're in FP or Fiji/Bali - I don't think it's a regional requirement. I doubt I'll have an opportunity to visit an English-speaking doctor before we leave for the cruise. I'm pretty sure I also read in someone's detailed blog of their PG cruise that if someone didn't visit a doctor in advance and needed a medical sign-off, the doctor on board the ship could do it.

 

I'm also going to try digging through all my dive stuff on my boat to see if I can find an old log-book. It won't show any recent dives (and we're currently traveling inland so I won't be doing any dives prior to our cruise), but I do underwater photography and I have a TON of recent photos I took diving in the past year!

 

Hoping that will do the trick. I can't imagine, given my years of diving, that they would not allow me to dive. Worst case, I can just do the $50 refresher, which I'm sure would clear me to dive. 🙂 I just would prefer not to take the time away from my cruise to do that.

[minidonuts85]

19 hours ago, Leejnd4 said:

Okay I just looked at the forms, and I see this in the section of the form that we must fill out:

 

The purpose of this Medical Questionnaire is to find out if you should be exam- ined by your doctor before participating in recreational diver training. A positive response to a question does not necessarily disqualify you from diving. A positive response means that there is a preexisting condition that may affect your safety while diving and you must seek the advice of your physician prior to engaging in dive activities.

 

Please answer the following questions on your past or present medical history with a YES or NO. If you are not sure, answer YES. If any of these items apply to you, we must request that you consult with a physician prior to participating in scuba diving. Your instructor will supply you with an RSTC Medical Statement and Guidelines for Recreational Scuba Diver’s Physical Examination to take to your physician.

 

I'm interpreting this to mean that we don't have to see a doctor unless we answered Yes to any of those questions. Did you learn something different onboard? Do we really need to get a medical clearance from a doctor before they will let us dive?

 

 

This was my understanding too…just like the PADI disclosures, if you answer yes to certain questions (like lung issues or heart condition), then you must get clearance. Otherwise, no MD sign-off is needed. 

Edited July 23, 2023 by minidonuts85

[Leejnd4]

3 minutes ago, minidonuts85 said:

This was my understanding too…just like the PADI disclosures, if you answer yes to certain questions (like lung issues or heart condition), then you must get clearance. Otherwise, no MD sign-off is needed. 

THANK YOU! I was assuming that was the case when I first saw these forms a few months ago, so I was surprised that some seemed to think that everyone needed a medical exam.