T e 8-foot lemon shark seemed to come out of nowhere. I’d SCUBA
dived with reef sharks, but this looming fi gure swimming a short distance away was no reef shark.
Sharks are our friends, sharks are our friends, I told myself as my heartbeat quickened. I glanced at my dive guide, T omas (Paul Gauguin Cruises’ Dive Master), who gave me an excited gesture and seemed completely at ease. I’d already done one dive with T omas and chatted with him on board the cruise, so I knew I could trust him to assess the situation safely. Sure enough, the shark quickly lost interest in our little area of the ocean and swam off . I went back to enjoying the towering reef wall and the delightful sea turtle that soon appeared. I felt at ease again.
T is calm and trust that I felt are exactly what makes a SCUBA diving trip with Paul Gauguin Cruises so special. Unlike a land-based diving
— by Gina Tarnacki
trip to French Polynesia, which involves using a diff erent dive team on every island, a dive trip with Paul Gauguin Cruises means you’re traveling to each new island and dive spot with the same SCUBA guides. You’re able to to build trust quickly with the team, and they learn your preferences, so they’re able to tailor your remaining dives for a more enjoyable experience. Even from the start of the cruise, though, the dive staff is making sure every need is met for the divers on board.
My fi rst dive was Toopua in Bora Bora, and these diff erences stood out from the second I woke up. During past SCUBA adventures, I’ve had to get up early, fi nd breakfast, walk or get transportation to the dive shop, and make sure I arrived 30 to 45 minutes early to get set up with equipment, then take a bus or walk to wherever the boat was to travel to the dive spot. It always felt like such a tiring process and would usually take up at least half a day of vacation.
On T e Gauguin, it was eff ortless. I woke up an hour and a half before my 8 a.m. dive, had breakfast delivered to my stateroom, and relaxed on my balcony with the views of Bora Bora in front of me until it was time for my dive excursion. I left my stateroom at 7:50 a.m., walked down three fl ights of stairs and one short hallway, and was at the watersports marina at the stern of the ship in minutes. I was warmly greeted by the dive staff and immediately provided with a wetsuit. My equipment was already put together and loaded on the adjacent Zodiac® boat, and each tank was labeled with the name of the guest who would be using it during the dive. T e Zodiac® took us to the dive spot, which was a mere fi ve minutes away since we were already at sea. Everything was uncomplicated.
T e dive only got better from there. T e lagoon water of Bora Bora is an alluring aqua and has incredible visibility. Just minutes after we began traveling along the ocean fl oor
58 2017 Paul Gauguin Cruises | Diving & Watersports
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