Dive Review of
Top Dive/Hotel Kaveka in
French Polynesia/Moorea

Dominica,New Guinea, Australia,St Eustatius,Yap, Boanaire, Palau,Fiji,
Tortola,Cayman

Dive Conditions

[Unspecified]  

[None]  

Overall Rating

Diving was very good. It rained in Moorea on the first three days. On the
third day,seas were very rough. Top Dive does not charge extra for Nitrox.
They use EAN 36. On some of the dives, we went to 90 feet using this
mixture. Would have felt more comfortable if we stayed at 70 feet using EAN
36. You entered the water by doing a backroll and go down the anchor line.
Almost as soon as you entered the water the blacktip sharks greet you.
Divemaster feeds smaller fish. However the sharks do not approach
divemaster to be fed. Saw at least one  or more lemon sharks on most dives.
Saw beautiful corals, large moray eels, few triggerfish,clown fish, and
yellow stripers. Usually visibility on second dive was better than first.
Returning to the boat was somewhat of a problem. When you reenter the boat
after completing a dive, you place one foot on one rung and the other foot
on a higher rung. Ladder rungs were slippery and TOP DIVE told divers
wearing slipper fins to keep the fins on when going up the ladder. TOP Dive
returns to the dive shop between dives and shows a video of the first dive
dubbed with music which can be purchased. Nico the photographer does an
excellent job. It's worth buying. Another thing that bothered me was the
fact that on some dives we were diving to a deeper depth on the second
dive. Example we would go to 70 feet on the first dive and ninety feet on
the second dive.
 French Polynesia is very expensive. The restaurants only serve bottled
water. Exchange Rate: 1 US Dollar= 90 Polynesian Francs.  If you stay at
the Hotel Kaveka, have a thin crust pizza at Allo's, ten minute walk from
the Hote. For you Brooklynites, it tastes as good as DiFarra's World Class
Pizza in Midwood.
One thing concerning UNDERCURRENT annoyed me in planning this trip. Reading
the horror stories in Undercurrent about dive travel agencies that bilk
divers, I asked Undercurrent for an opinion on a Tahiti based travel
operator,"Dive Tahiti Blue". They had given me a much better trip
price than a US based diving agency. I both emailed and called Undercurrent
regarding this agency. I never received any reply from Undercurrent. I've
been a subscriber to Undercurrent for roughly twenty+ years. If
Undercurrent had replied to me saying they  knew nothing about this agency,
that would have been acceptable. However, ignoring my request was rude and
inconsiderate. I will weigh this when Undercurrent sends my subscription
renewal  notice in 2007. 

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