On Tue, 18 Jul 2000 00:10:58 -0400, Huw Porter <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>On Fri, 14 Jul 2000 04:28:53 -0400, Reef Fish
><[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
><snip>
>>Punaauia 113 fsw max; BT 45 minutes.
>>
>>Aquarium 42 fsw mex: BT 54 minutes.
>
>I got the impression that the operators called the sites pretty much what
>they pleased, but was your 'Aquarium' the same as the one I dived, inside
>the lagoon, with the two small boats and the light aircraft covered in pink
>anemonies?
Correct on all counts.
>>I promptly booked two dives for the next day at Moorea, our next port
>>of call. Based on these two dives in Papeete, I would rate Tahiti
>>diving 8 (surprise!) on a scale of 0 to 10, on par with Cozumel and
>>the Cayman Islands on just a couple of dives, but definitely not as
>>varied as the sites in Cozumel or the Cayman Islands.
>
>Well, I'm surprised too (but glad) you rated it so highly - even the
>operator I dived with admitted Tahiti was the poor relation in terms of
>diving quality in the area!
Two comments relative to the above.
1. "definitely not as varied" can be translated to mean the good sites
were very LIMITED, unlike those in Coz and Cayman.
2. Your operator's assessment that Tahiti was poor in terms of diving
quality in the area gets no rebuttal from me because it can be
taken to mean how GOOD the diving in the area (French Polynesia)
is -- which was actually MY impression. :-)
>Cheers,
>Huw
You should've island hop more while you were there, and not dived
repeatedly with the same French-speaking operator you met on the street
(or was it the motu). :-) All the dive operators I dived with in all
the islands (and also those I spoke to but didn't dive with) speak
either fluent English or much, much better English than my French. :)
I did have more than on occasion to ask for street directions in
CHINESE (Cantonese), successfully I may add, when both English and
French failed. The same happened in Paris! Which only goes to prove
that it pays to know Chinese. :-))
-- Bob.
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