Questions!

I've a few questions!

1) We are doing a pre-cruise at the IC Moorea and we thought we'd rent a car one day and just drive around. I found a car tour in Frommer's. I was also thinking of the Off Road PG tour for when we are at Moorea. If we do the off road tour, will we just be repeating a lot of the sites or is it still worth doing?

2) If we don't do the Off-road, I was thinking of substituting the 3 Coconut Trail Hike. Yes/No? Has anyone done that? (We are planning on the Trail of the Ancients one Day) We like to do a variety of things and get some local color and history.

3) Night dive: Do you have to be Night dive certified or just certified?

4) Rash guards-- short sleeved or long or it doesn't matter?

5) Water Shoes-- I have a pair of Teva water sandals. Okay, or should I get a pair with closed toes?

Thanks for the help!

I can answer the last two- you won't need the rash guard for warmth, so sleeves depend in how much sun protection you prefer, I prefer long sleeves.

The Tevas should do fine, I use Keens which had a "protected toe" but are otherwise open. They are useful for stepping on coral bits or shells embedded in the sand, but there isn't need of complete toe protection, your Tevas would be fine!

I let others who have taken those excursions comment! Happy sailing!

You just have to be certified to do the night dive.

You will probably be repeating with the off road tour. Our friends did the hike and loved it. It was pretty hard though.. They were in good shape and in their 30's.

Thanks for the answers! FamBoston, you had a link to what you packed. Could you post it again? I can't seem to find it.:rolleyes:

Thanks! That's a pretty exhaustive list.

Spliter? (splitter?) I am not the most tech savvy person in the world,but I assume that is something electronic or electrical? I don't think you mean a log splitter.

Underwater camera: Are the disposable ones adequate?

I mean electrical A/C splitter (a 3 way) ........ wow, that's sound dirty :eek:

The picture I put up sometimes of the manta ray was taken with a throw away camera. I have a Hero3 now and love it.

I mean electrical A/C splitter (a 3 way) ........ wow, that's sound dirty :eek:

 

The picture I put up sometimes of the manta ray was taken with a throw away camera. I have a Hero3 now and love it.

He is just bragging that he can take a picture of a Manta with a disposable camera - (YES, I am still jealous) :)

Manta Mark

Actually I was very lucky ......... I couldn't see a darn thing through the camera view hole, I just pointed the cheap camera in the right direction and I got a good picture ..........just lucky

Last year I took my Hero2 and on the second outing I gorgot to close the water proof cover. No more camera .......... but Hero was great, they gave me a new Hero3 for about half off. Looking forward to this years cruise :)

Its in my review linked in my signature! Post #11

Happy packing!! I packed particularly light, but you can add more if you want to check bags!

BTW we have a Nikon aw 100 for underwater use...it's not prohibitively expensive and given how much you will be on the water, you might want to invest in one! Even for your dry excursions, you'll be on the tender, they occasionally get swamped in high seas. Especially the beach landing craft) it's super easy to use and takes great pics (all the ones in and around water in our review are with the AW)

Tiki, glad you didn't forget the floss :-)

Its in my review linked in my signature! Post #11

Thank you! I appreciate all the answers and helpful tips.

Someone mentioned that the pool bar is the best place for wireless internet. How is it on Deck 4? I do an online travel blog for friends and family and will be uploading it and adding pictures.

I wouldn't use Tevas myself, but that's just me. I find myself swimming in my water shoes a lot, and I don't find that sandals work well for that, since they don't fit your feet as tightly as the water shoes.

The off-road trip on Moorea does take you up high onto a lookout over Oponahu Bay, and through jungly dirt roads in some plantations. But other than that, you can go everywhere with your car. We rented from Albert's, a local operator (originally had a booking with Avis but they never showed up so booked Albert's at the dock.)

Thank you! I appreciate all the answers and helpful tips.

 

Someone mentioned that the pool bar is the best place for wireless internet. How is it on Deck 4? I do an online travel blog for friends and family and will be uploading it and adding pictures.

We found the internet very slow, even just for regular email, we didn't try too many photos. We found it worked best before 7 or 8 AM, after that everyone is on and "checking" and it was quite slow sometimes inaccessible after excursions and before dinner (3-6PM) It's when everyone is "awake" back in the States and when everyone on board has a few minutes to try skype or FT. We could rarely FT or upload a photo at that time of day.

We were on Deck 6 and needed to be on the couch to connect.

Anyone else not getting email notifications?

Dumb question, but I haven't seen any mention of towels on private excursions. Do they provide them, do you just bring one from the ship or not bother with one?

Some excursions provide them but I just stuff extra ones in the mesh bag that you get from the ship with your mask, fins and snorkel as a just in case.

I've rented from every company on Moorea (all 3 of them). Over the last 5 years I've exclusively used Avis (Pacificar). THey seem to have the newest cars in the best condition. Their rates are very similar to Alberts. They have always shown up, actually they have a shaded area with a desk. They also have provided an area where you can park the car overnight that is safe. I always biik a car on Moorea for both days as the per day rate goes down and I like having the car at my disposal at all times.

To book from Avis you want to cantact Sandrine at Pacificar:

Avis Contact: sandrine@avispacificar.pf

http://www.avis-tahiti.com This site will give you pictures of the cars available

Not to say Wendy didn't have the experience she stated, just want to give my experiences over the years.

I've never had a bad experience with Alberts, just have found that his cars usually are not as new nor as nice.

To Emdee, Tiki, Larry, Karen and all: Just wanted to let all the helpful people on the PG boards know that we will not be doing the PG cruise afterall. Thanks for all your help. Have a great time on whichever cruise to choose. Elaine

We will be here when you decide to go :)

We want to do the Trail of the Ancients Tour on Moorea. We we also are thinking of doing the 3 Coconut Trail Tour. Will that be too repetitive? I know the former goes to the Agricultural school. I don't mind seeing the great views from Belevedere more than once, but since the Ancients also involves some hiking, we will be just covering the same ground (so to speak?) or is it different enough to make doing both worthwhile? If they are both similar, then we'll do the Ancients and figure something else out for Day 2.

We want to do the Trail of the Ancients Tour on Moorea. We we also are thinking of doing the 3 Coconut Trail Tour. Will that be too repetitive? I know the former goes to the Agricultural school. I don't mind seeing the great views from Belevedere more than once, but since the Ancients also involves some hiking, we will be just covering the same ground (so to speak?) or is it different enough to make doing both worthwhile? If they are both similar, then we'll do the Ancients and figure something else out for Day 2.

Based on the info in the shore excursion doc we got in board, I would say that the main difference is that the 3 coconuts is a strenuous hike initiating from the Belvedere. Whereas Mark Eddows trail of the ancients is a hike around the various marae near the summit with the benefit of the his excellent archeological expertise (we missed the tour due to weather, :( but I was riveted by his talk on board). I would say based on the locations of both tours, that they both will cover a lot of the same ground, but I'd prefer the cultural bent of Marks tour. You could do both, especially if you were looking for some exercise, but is there any reason you won't do a water excursion on your second day? ( maybe someone doesn't swim etc.)

In general we tried to schedule an island excursion one day and a water excursion on the second as a way to get a more complete picture of the island.

We both swim very well. We are doing 3 days pre-cruise on Moorea so we will have plenty of time to do water stuff. Keith is going scuba diving one day and I will most likely do something water oriented that day since I don't dive.( I just haven't decided what.) We like to do a variety of things and I don't mind hiking since I like eating :D I think we are snorkeling at every stop, but since we will have already done some in Moorea, we wanted to do something else.

After reading what you wrote, we will probably skip the Trail hike, go with the Ancients Tour and maybe do the Dolphin tour. We can always change our minds and throw in one last snorkel.

Based on the info in the shore excursion doc we got in board, I would say that the main difference is that the 3 coconuts is a strenuous hike initiating from the Belvedere. Whereas Mark Eddows trail of the ancients is a hike around the various marae near the summit with the benefit of the his excellent archeological expertise

The "hiking" part of the Trail of the Ancients excursion actually starts a short bus ride down from the Belvedere. It's a fairly easy walk that's almost entirely downhill. We did not do the 3 coconuts hike, but I believe that one is more of an uphill climb.

With that much time, I'd do both too! It is a really beautiful area and the birds and plants are amazing. I'd imagine you'd focus on those on the 3 coconuts more and more on the marae and the culture on the Trail of the Ancients. We did hike all around the marae where Mark's tour goes on our own, and it is not terribly strenuous, more like a park with trails around the various ruins. If you regularly hike and are active and mobile, it would not be a "workout". The 3 coconuts sounds more like something to work off all that yummy French cooking!:D

I did the 3 coconut trail hike and my wife did the trail of the ancients ... very different excursions. I wrote a bit about the hike in my review of our trip earlier this month. As well, here is a photo from near the top of the 3 coconut trail hike -