Dive Review of Cook Island Divers/Local Lodge in
Cook Islands/Rarotonga

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Cook Island Divers/Local Lodge, Sep, 2001, by Tim McKenzie, ACT, Australia . Report 83 has 1 Helpful vote.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	We Had High hopes for this trip with our Australian Dive club. The viz was suposed to be spectacular and the diving great. Well....Viz was good :( Water touted at 26-27 C but was significantly colder and several of us borrowed/hired additional protection as our 3mm suits were simply not enough. Bring a 5mm. The Dive shop was pretty good; Picked us up in the morning (7:45am) and took us down to the Shop. They have 3 purpose built RIBs that seem more than adequate for your needs. We had 10 in the group and the RIBs weren't too crowded. Good Tank racks. Initial equipment set up at the shop (new compressors are great) then into our suits and down to the dock in their Van. We must have been a little unlucky because there seemed to be a wind blowing most days but as the island is small it was always possible to find the lee side. Our dive guide MEL was great and helpful but One "guide" to 10 divers meant we all had to load up the boats and help ourselves. Not really an issue as we were all experienced. Initial dive was obviously a check out for Mel to see what we were like. Only dive we were asked to stay at or above a certain depth (25 meters) to see what we were like. After that essentially free for all, with Mel leading the group if they wanted to go with him. The dissapointing thing was the "bio-diversity" - or lack of it....The corals (almost all hard - few soft) where dull and lifeless looking. They appeared 'healthy' not bleached, but far from spectactular. The fish life was also pretty sparse...yes the viz was great - but it emphasized the lack of critters! On a few occasions we saw small reef sharks - Mel very excited....Also found a few Helgardia Nudibranchs and one spanish dancer. There are also a few small wrecks which we dived for variety but in honesty this is the closest I have come to being bored diving!! There were 2 dives a day and supposedly the option for a night dive but we didn't bother... Another island (Aotangi?) in the Cooks may have a better reputation - but for our money and time, we would not bother returning to Rarotonga to dive.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	51-100 dives
Where else diving	Maldives, Tahiti, Australia
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	windy, cloudy	Seas	choppy
Water Temp	23-24°C / 73-75°F	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	10-40 M / 33-131 Ft
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	No restriction once ability demonstrated
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	None	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

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Dive Review of Cook Island Divers/Local Lodge in Cook Islands/Rarotonga

Cook Island Divers/Local Lodge, Sep, 2001,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Cook Island Divers/Local Lodge in
Cook Islands/Rarotonga