Eleuthera: "Very good Tahiti diving", Nov, 2019,by Curtis Kates, CA, US (![]() |
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No photos available at this time | |||
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best): |
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Accommodations | N/A | Food | N/A |
Service and Attitude | ![]() |
Environmental Sensitivity | ![]() |
Dive Operation | ![]() |
Shore Diving | N/A |
Snorkeling | N/A | ||
Overall Rating |
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Value for $$ | ![]() |
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Beginners | ![]() |
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Advanced | ![]() |
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Comments |
Eleuthera diving is a very good dive operation. I had one day on the main island of Tahiti, and I simply wanted a relaxing day of diving on main island reefs. I did not expect phenomenal diving, because Eleuthera is just 10 minutes away from Faa'a international Airport, but Eleuthera (and the dive sites Eleuthera dive leaders chose) certainly exceeded those expectations. I begin by saying that Eleuthera added me to their dive schedule at the last minute. They offered to pick me up at my hotel, and they showed up at the hotel on-time. When I got to the dive shop, I was surprised to see how many divers were there. Despite this, Eleuthera efficiently assigned me to a dive leader and efficiently provided all the rental equipment I required. The dive equipment was excellent and looked to be almost new. To my delight, Eleuthera operates several dive boats, so my boat only had six divers. There were two dive leaders assigned to our 6 divers, so everyone got the attention they required and deserved. Eleuthera's dive leaders chose an offshore reef that we were told this area offered good wall dives. We were divided into two groups, and after a good dive briefing in both French and English, I rolled backwards into the ocean. I was pleasantly surprised to see a healthy reef with nice corals and what appeared to be an abundant fish population. We then found the wall and descended to a depth of 60 feet. Travelling along the wall, we saw many turtles, a Napoleon, a blacktip shark, and the tropical fish you expect to see in Tahiti. Overall, it was very nice diving on this wall with little current and no surge. Overall, this is a very good, efficient dive operation that seems to choose relaxing, healthy reef and wall diving. Divers here should not expect wild dive sites filled with huge pelagics, but sometimes you just want good, tropical diving with turtles and tropical fish......and Eleuthera certainly delivers. I should note that Eleuthera has a shark feed dive at 0830 on many mornings of the week, and the morning I dove, I heard some divers saw a Tiger shark and several lemon sharks. I was sorry to miss the Tiger shark sighting, which I am told is not necessarily a guarantee each morning. Eleuthera also seems to cater to divers of all levels, and for my dive, we were limited to 60 feet due to the presence of open-water several divers. In my experience, French diving rules (which applies to Tahiti) are quite strict about depth limits for open water divers, so if you are certified higher, I would inform Eleuthera management early so you can be appropriately assigned. |
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Reporter and Travel |
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Dive Experience | Over 1000 dives | ||
Where else diving | Maldives, Great Barrier Reef, Fiji, New Caledonia, New Guinea, Vanuatu, Tonga, Azores, South Africa, Caribbean, Bahamas, French Polynesia, Seychelles, Sri Lanka | ||
Closest Airport | Faa'a International | Getting There | Quick 7.5 hour nonstop flight from Los Angeles |
Dive Conditions |
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Weather | rainy | Seas | calm |
Water Temp | 82-83°F / 28-28°C | Wetsuit Thickness | |
Water Visibility | 50-75 Ft/ 15-23 M | ||
Dive Policy |
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Dive own profile | no | ||
Enforced diving restrictions | 20 meters | ||
Liveaboard? | no | Nitrox Available? | yes |
What I Saw |
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Sharks | 1 or 2 | Mantas | None |
Dolphins | None | Whale Sharks | None |
Turtles | > 2 | Whales | None |
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best): |
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Corals | ![]() |
Tropical Fish | ![]() |
Small Critters | ![]() |
Large Fish | ![]() |
Large Pelagics | ![]() |
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Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best): |
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Subject Matter | N/A | Boat Facilities | N/A |
Overall rating for UWP's | N/A | Shore Facilities | N/A |
UW Photo Comments | [None] |
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