Dive Review of Y aka. / Top Dive/Kia Ora in
French Polynesia/Rangiroa

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Y aka. / Top Dive/Kia Ora, Oct, 2014, by Anthony Bracco, CT, US ( Reviewer 4 reports with 5 Helpful votes). Report 7764 has 3 Helpful votes.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude	N/A	Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation	N/A	Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Let me review the diving first. My report I feel is incomplete for the reason the the island has basically two dive site, both are drift dives. Due to some back luck and Mother Nature the currents we're not favorable to dive the drift any of the four days I was there. This is the major attraction. From what I have researched this brings in tons of large schools and sharks. That being said on my first dive I encountered white tip, black tip, silver tip and reef sharks. Also we were greeted by a school of dolphins and they like to interact with the divers, many divers were able to make contact with the dolphins a amazing experience. The dive runs from 40' to 120'+. Tons of fish I also saw manta and eagle rays. I could only imagine when this site is at its best, it could easily be in many divers top dives. I would love another chance at this one. As for the dive shops I dove with two operations, Top Dive and Y aka. I stayed at the Kia Ora but had scheduled to dive with Y aka due to reviews I had read. When I got to the resort Top Dive was right on site and had dives going out within a hour of me checking in. They also offer nitrox which Y aka does not, so I suited up and went. I did not care for the Top Dive experience, a number of factors weigh in here, the guides were mainly friendly but only one of many I dove with I would consider excellent, boats were over crowded and really no consideration to dive experience. They mix new divers with veterans on would could be a difficult dive( inflatable boats, rough seas, sharks, depth and current) it was treated as a 30' reef dive jump in and have at it. It's super expensive and they will charge you for everything. Maybe they know their clientele very well, newly weds and new divers that most likely will never return because frankly even with all the convenience and nitrox I picked up my gear and went back to my original choice. Y aka was closer than I thought, they picked me up I the lobby. I walked back it was that close. I dove air the rest of the trip they do not offer nitrox currently. I found the y aka team to be friendly and over all a much better experience. The diving was the same but with that special enthusiasm that I have come to expect from your better dive operators. Thumbs up.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Cayman Islands, Bonaire, Roatan, Saba, Palau, Chuuk
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	choppy
Water Temp	80-82°F / 27-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	2
Water Visibility	50-75 Ft/ 15-23 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	Due to currents group diving is mandatory.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	no
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	1 or 2
Dolphins	Schools	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		Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Dive from inflatables, so no rinse tanks or tables.

Report currently has 3 Helpful votes

Subscriber's Comments

By gailmorris in , at Jan 15, 2015 21:35 EST

I'm planning to spend 8 nights there by myself in order to dive. Is that too long to spend on this one island? Going there June 1 if I go.

By Richard Lambert in CA, US at Jul 02, 2015 20:44 EST

Your Top Dive review was right on. I had the same experience with them and would never recommend to any one. Dive Spirit was better, but a little too idiosyncratic for my wife

By gailmorris in , at Jul 02, 2015 21:24 EST

I spent 7 nights in Rangiroa by myself in June. I dove 13 dives with TopDive. I would recommend trying a different company. I should have, but I bought a package. Some of the dive masters were fine, but one man was very arrogant. He let divers touch the coral and even a sea turtle and never said anything to them. I had to keep asking to be put with "good divers" as there was no effort put into assigning us groups. The boats were horribly crowded- like sardines in a zodiac- on my first 6 dives, then the tour group left and it was better. A lady I met on island dove with "6 Passengers" and seemed to have had a better experience in regards to attitude and safety.

By mike colling in tring, US at Aug 26, 2015 16:51 EST

We dived with y aka summer of 2014. 5 days, ten dives. We shot the pass when conditions were right. Great dive masters, small groups, very safe. Amazing large pelagic encounters. Highly recommend

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Dive Review of Y aka. / Top Dive/Kia Ora in French Polynesia/Rangiroa

Y aka. / Top Dive/Kia Ora, Oct, 2014,

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):

Subscriber's Comments

Dive Review of Y aka. / Top Dive/Kia Ora in
French Polynesia/Rangiroa