Tour Questions Sharks?

[BellaBaci4]

I have been reading about the various tours and see several mentions of seeing sharks on tours. I might be a bit paranoid after watching Shark Week on Discovery,But could someone explain? Scared Silly!

Bella

[laurieb]

Most of the sharks you will see in FP are black tip reef sharks. they are used to being fed by te tour operators, and have no interest in you if you do not have dead fish in your hands. We went on two shark feeding trips last time we went, and they were both awesome! They never really got too close( and I am a wimp when it comes to scary things) for comfort. If you really are too concerned about getting in the water with the sharks- the feeding excursions are out at the reef, not onshore - there are some tours where you can watch from the boat.

[NCP]

Do not miss the opportunity to swim with sharks. It is unforgettable! I was a bit concerned the first time I did it, but now I look forward to swim with the black tip sharks every year when we go to French Polynesia. I have taken great pictures!

[daboo]

Do not miss the opportunity to swim with sharks. It is unforgettable! I was a bit concerned the first time I did it, but now I look forward to swim with the black tip sharks every year when we go to French Polynesia. I have taken great pictures!

Do you have any pictures posted that I could show my other half? I don't know if he'd like to go, but I sure would! As well, what tour did you book for this?

 

Thanks so much.

 

Tanya

[Toto2Kansas]

We have swam with the sharks twice now in the islands of Tahiti, and I have to admit the first time I saw a large one I 'walked on water back to the boat'. They had us on one side of a rope in the water as they were feeding them on the other side. It is a bit chilling until you get comfortable with them being only a few dozen yards away.

[travelax]

We did the shark thing with Stephan of Mata tours in Raietea. You can book him on the pier. You also go in the water with the Rays and its great. The other island where they did this was Bora Bora

David

[johnans]

We did the shark feeding on Moorea. We were holding onto a rope and the guide was feeding the sharks on the other side. One little detail is that the sharks pay no attention to the rope and were swimming right under us between bites (of fish not people). Very exciting to say the least.

[karen_cpa]

Our snorkeling with the stingrays in Moorea turned into "snorkeling with stingrays and about 10 sharks". I was freaked at first but then realized they really don't come that close to you. They always stayed a good 10 feet away and even if it looked like they were swimming straight for you, they always turned at a certain point. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity and we got some really good pics of it!!

[Kathy Z]

I loved being in the water with the rays and sharks. Feeding and "petting" the rays was fun. The rays like to rub up against you. Our tour was booked through our ship (Paul Gauguin) on Bora Bora. There was no rope between us and anything, but you only hand feed the rays. We were standing in water waist to chest deep with reef shoes. We also had our masks and snorkels and I got some photos of sharks with my Kodak disposable camera. If my husband ever finds the time to scan the negitives and put them into the computer I'll try to post them. At one point we were standing in the water and I noticed that 2 sharks were swimming towards a honeymooning couple. I told my husband they were in for a big surprise. The next second we heard "Holy S#*!" When the guy came up he said "you should have seen what just happened"! We laughed and said we knew, we were watching and several of us heard his exclamation. That's when he learned that people can hear yells through a snorkel. The sharks had come to with 2 or 3 feet of them before they turned away.

 

When I was snorkeling in Manihi I tried getting close enough to the black tip reef sharks in the lagoon, but they were so afraid of me that I never got their photo.

[regent218]

can anyone tell about water temps. a much earlier thread said the water was very chilly.

[Kathy Z]

I don't know what temperature the water was but can tell you that it was warmer than I remember from any place we have been in the Caribbean or Hawaii by a few degrees.

[DaHuckster]

Just got back on the 15th!

 

Capt Heifara's tour on Moorea took us outside the reef to swim and snorkle with the sharks. It was awesome! he were about 2 dozen black tips and they were swimming within a few feet of us. I have some great pics as soon as I get them uploaded to a site. We also were visited by a 4-5' barracuda! The guides handfed him and we stayed 15-20 minutes snorkling with him. It was kinda lika an "Awesome, this is so neat, but I'm about to muss my pants, but this is so neat" experience. The sharks were not a threat at all, but I don't trust 'cudas.

 

 

Mark

[nancy m]

Mark,

How was Heirfara's tour. I was scheduled to go on it with all of you too but changed my mind at the last minute. Did you see any dolphins and whales?

We have a 7 year old daughter so decided to take an "easier" tour. Did you get lots of pictures? We ended up taking Julienne's circle tour of Moorea. We needed a LAND day since we were in the ocean in Bora Bora so much!!