Dive Review of
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| Reporter | |||
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Dive Experience
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251-500 dives | ||
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Where else diving
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Most of Caribbean, Fiji, Tonga, Maldives, Indonesia (N. Sulawesi), eastern Pacific (Panama, Costa Rica) |
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Dive Conditions |
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Weather
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sunny |
Seas
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calm |
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Water Temp
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78 to 82 ° Fahrenheit |
Wetsuit Thickness
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3 |
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Water Visibility
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30 to 75 Feet |
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| Dive Policy | |||
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Dive own profile?
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yes | ||
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Enforced diving
restrictions
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Stay with DM |
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Liveaboard?
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no |
Nitrox Available?
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N/A |
| What I saw | |||
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Sharks
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Lots |
Mantas
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None |
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Dolphins
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None |
Whale Sharks
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None |
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Turtles
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None |
Whales
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None |
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Ratings 1
(worst)- 5 (best):
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Corals
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Tropical Fish
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Small Critters
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Large Fish
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Large Pelagics
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| Underwater Photography 1 (worst)- 5 (best): | |||
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Subject Matter
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N/A |
Boat Facilities
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N/A |
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Overall rating for UWP's
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N/A |
Shore Facilities
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N/A |
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Comments
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[None] |
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| Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst)- 5 (best): | |||
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Accommodations
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Food
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Service and Attitude
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Environmental Sensitivity
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N/A |
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Dive Operation
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Shore Diving
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Snorkeling
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N/A |
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Overall Rating |
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Value for $$
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N/A | ||
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Beginners
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Advanced
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Comments
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We dove with Bathy’s Club at the Intercontinental Beachcomber, which is where we were supposed to stay before a forced schedule change. They picked us up daily by van (by car, after the van broke) from the resort we ended up staying at and brought us and our gear to the shop, but surprisingly they had no storage for our gear—we had to schlep it back and forth every day. Then we had to lug it from the shop (about 100 M) to the boat and set it up. It would have been nice to have a cart or something, but when we asked we were told there was none available; actually there was one, but it was for the exclusive use of the crew and for hauling tanks—but not for the customers. We also found the boat to be crowded, 12 or more divers on a double-outboard that more commonly accommodates no more than 6. After the dive the crew pointed out to us where we were to rinse our gear after we had unrigged it and hauled it to the rinse tank (no help from them), and then we packed it up for the ride back to the hotel. Other comments include no snacks (or even water!) on the dive boat, although the rides to the dive sites were very short—5 to 10 minutes or so. Back roll in, fairly easy exit on a detachable ladder. They were flexible about how you got out—i.e. whether you want to take off your fins, BC, etc. in the water or not. The dive routine seemed to be if customers were available the morning dive was a shark feeding dive, although it seemed more mackerel got fed than sharks. But there generally were a bunch of 3-5 foot blacktips and a couple of good sized lemons, and what the hell, we got wet. On the bottom there was nice healthy hard coral; for reasons I don’t fully understand there seems to be no soft coral in French Polynesia. We saw the usual supply of butterflyfish, groupers, and so on, but nothing unusual. OK diving, but not worth a trip. |
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