Dive Review of Moorea Blue Diving/Cook's Bay Hotel in
French Polynesia/MOOREA

Other French Polynesia reports
Subscriber Content Preview
Active subscribers go here

Moorea Blue Diving/Cook's Bay Hotel: "Crown of Thorns Devastation", Oct, 2023, by DEE FOSTER, CA, US ( Reviewer 4 reports with 3 Helpful votes). Report 12735 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
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	The Hotel: Cooks Bay Hotel is only 5 months old and everything is pretty much brand new and very clean. That being said, it's kind of austere; everything is white, grey or beige. No tropical riot of colors, which I kind of missed, but that's just me. I'm sure lots of people see it as very restful. There are a few quirky growing pains that have yet to be addressed, like there are no luggage racks to be had, which means you pretty much have to put your suitcase on their pristine white bedding. There were no dressers in the rooms- we had some shelves in the closet, but our companion in the second bedroom had nowhere to put her clothes except two drawers in the bathroom. Pure white floors in the rooms were a bit crazy, although room service came every day and did a remarkable job keeping them pristine, but we were three adults. I can't imagine what they would look like with kids. But again, these are just growing pains in a very nice resort. The restaurant on premises is really good! Expensive, like everything in Tahiti, but it's the hot ticket on the island right now, and reservations are a good idea. Service is slow, downright leisurely, so it's best not to be in a hurry. But the food is worth it! Diving: We dove with Moorea Blue, who we have dived with several times over the years. The dive shop is attached to the Manava resort, and very convenient, as you just walk out your room and you're at the dive shop. We've stayed there a number of times and always enjoyed it although it's getting a little long in the tooth. Moorea Blue runs a very professional, safety oriented team. Boats are covered, but have very little dry space. Bring a dry bag, if you need to keep items dry. Most rides were no more than 15 minutes. There's no head on board, or camera rinse tank. You do sit in the boat to do your surface interval and they have tea and a snack available. The coconut bread was a big hit! Bring your own towel. We did the two tank morning dives. They picked us up right on time at our hotel at 7:25 AM and they usually got us back to the dock around noon. The rental equipment is very good and quite new looking. Now for the actual diving-- Sadly, most of Moorea is being severely attacked, and I mean SEVERELY, by Crown of Thorns starfish. Some of the reefs are absolutely devastated. Where beautiful corals had been in large expanses, nothing alive remains. It's all pure white, or covered in algae. We saw starfish at least 24 inches across, along with every imaginable size in between,chomping on coral. At times we saw them piled three and four on top of each other. It was awful! There are reefs to the south that haven't been devastated yet, but it seems like it's only a matter of time. We certainly enjoyed those dives the best, but they can't always go that direction because of ocean conditions. We saw lots of small, colorful fish--wrasses, tangs, butterflys and angels. Flame angels were more abundant than anywhere I've been for some reason. Pairs of larger butterflys , like saddles, and teardrop weren't as common as I seem to remember. Also, no large parrotfish- I assume there's not enough coral for them to eat? We saw lots of 6-7 inch ones, but only one over a foot. That's definitely not right for Moorea. We only saw one nudibranch for some reason, and one lionfish. We saw a couple of black tip and white tip sharks but not one lemon. We were told all feeding has been stopped now, so they just aren't around anymore. We did see a lot of turtles- green and hawksbill. Currents were practically non-existent, so this is a great place for beginners. We did see a humpback mother and calf from the boat, and some dolphins in the distance, so that was fun. Dive gear was taken off the boat for us, and cleaned and hung overnight. We didn't have to drag the heavy stuff around. Stephane and Dianne, the owners run a tight, happy operation, and it shows. They make the diving a pleasure.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	Tahiti, Fiji, Solomon Is., Palau, Australia, Caymans Honduras, Belize, Catalina Is. CA
Closest Airport	FAAA	Getting There	LAX direct to the main island of Tahiti
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy, rainy, cloudy	Seas	calm, no currents
Water Temp	79-80°F / 26-27°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	50-75 Ft/ 15-23 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	?
Enforced diving restrictions	Seemed like they tried to bring most dives in at 45 minutes
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	no
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	1 or 2	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	1 or 2
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	Crew was very careful handing over gear. Dedicated rinse bucket at dive shop, but not on boat.

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

Leave a comment (Subscribers only -- 200 words max)
Subscribers can comment here

Subscribers can post comments, ask the reviewer questions, as well as getting immediate and complete access to ALL 176 dive reviews of French Polynesia and all other dive destinations. Complete access to all issues and Chapbooks is also included.

All French Polynesia Dive Reviews and Reports
Diving Guide to French Polynesia
Diving Reviews for All Dive Destinations

Want to assemble your own collection of French Polynesia reports in one place?
Use the Mini Chapbook Facility to create your personalized collection.

Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

Undercurrent Home

Page computed and displayed in 0.11 seconds

Get more dive info like these and other important scuba updates sent monthly to your email. And a FREE Recent Issue of Undercurrent
Get a free monthly email and a sample issue!

Dive Review of Moorea Blue Diving/Cook's Bay Hotel in French Polynesia/MOOREA

Moorea Blue Diving/Cook's Bay Hotel: "Crown of Thorns Devastation", Oct, 2023,

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 Moorea Blue Diving/Cook's Bay Hotel in
French Polynesia/MOOREA