Top Things to do in Avatoru
9 Things to Do in Avatoru That You Shouldn't Miss
Discover the best top things to do in Avatoru, French Polynesia including Y AKA Plongee Rangiroa, Ile aux Recifs, The Six Passengers, Rangiroa Diving Center, Le Lagon Bleu, TOPDIVE Rangiroa, Raie Manta Club, Gauguin's Pearl Farm, Vaea Dream.
Restaurants in Avatoru
1. Y AKA Plongee Rangiroa
Overall Ratings
5 based on 321 reviews
Reviewed By Marlin L - Ocheyedan, Iowa
An average snorkeling tour not a great value for the money we spend
Yes the snorkeling was great but for the amount of time really spent snorkeling was to much money
2. Ile aux Recifs
Overall Ratings
5 based on 403 reviews
Reviewed By jasilver23 - Tampa, Florida
We thought this excution was the best adventure we have ever taken!!! The two guides were excellent and they took us to two snorkeling spots, to see some amazing landscape, cooked us one of the best meals for lunch and we made a basket to take home along with a hat out of straw that they made for us. I would highly recommend this excursion!!!!
3. The Six Passengers
Overall Ratings
5 based on 312 reviews
Open since 1995 The 6 passengers owes its name to its “philosophy”: Each boat will transport six divers only, this because of comfort and conviviality concerns but also because of optimum safety reasons... Dive with us & discover the incredible underwater fauna of Rangiroa!
Reviewed By Moises B
Our dive guide Antoine was amazing, very knowledgeable, attentive and patient. The dives were great too.
Unfortunately we felt the dive shop was a bit disorganized and overwhelmed due to the large amount of visitors. Despite the fact that we reserved months in advanced they kept changing our schedule multiple times in one day so they could accommodate other divers. Further, they offered to request lunch for us since we would have dives back to back around lunch time, but when we got to the shop they just replied that the restaurant was closed so we should make our own arrangements (getting lunch in Rangiroa is not straight forward, and most places are on the other end of the atoll).
Overall, good experience, but the administration should really work on how attentive they are with the costumers.
4. Rangiroa Diving Center
Overall Ratings
5 based on 246 reviews
In Rangiroa since 2014. Rangiroa Diving Center, formerly named under Eleuthera located in Tahiti, Bora-Bora, Fakarava-sud in french Polynesia. Brand new Mares equipment awaits you. Passionate instructors will make you discover the splendid seabed of Rangiroa. The center is directly on Ohotu's wharf, which is less than 5 minutes by boat from the Tiputa pass and 1 minute from "the aquarium" the famous snorkeling spot. Short walking distance from our dive center are located several pensions 2 snacks (snack Lili and snack Puna), and 2 grocery stores. Of course this is indicative... We also do free pickups from your hotel or pension. We look forward to welcome you to new underwater adventures and more. In addition : nitrox, rebreather, bike rental, laundry service.
Reviewed By DjJassu - Vantaa, Finland
They arrange dives only on Tiputa Pass, but that's the best place to dive on Rangiroa. The place really is like a casino, sometimes you win - sometimes you lose. The picture with lots of dolphins on every time is not reality - we did 14 dives there and saw dolphins quickly on 2 dives.
The currents are challenging and even for us (all have been diving at least 13 years each. 1 Inst, 1 DM and 2 Technical divers) and minimum amount of dives around 300, sometimes the 6-7 knot multiple currents were quite tough with big cameras.
The diving center offers also technical diving and rebreather training/rental. The owner (Arnauld) is really nice and professional - and also an excellent guide. The boat ride to pass takes only ~5 minutes from the port - they use basically zodiacs to take divers to site.
Generally, this was a good experience, but the attitude and lack of care of one their guides (not the owner) took 1 star away this time. But after we gave feedback to the owner, we did not have to dive with that guide anymore.
We were diving with our own gear, so that's why I did not mention anything about their rental gear.
5. Le Lagon Bleu
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 591 reviews
Reviewed By Gail D - Ocean Park, Washington
Everything about the day was first rate. First a little drift snorkling in Avatoru pass, then the boat ride across the lagoon to the small motu. It felt like we were on a deserted isle, except for the shelters, cooking and lagoon full of sharks. The lunch cooking was authentic, very interesting. The site and views were incredible. The guys did an excellent job all around, music included. Our trip back across the lagoon was through a very big storm, with very big waves and rough water. The "captain" did an excellent job and we arrived back at bit soggy but safe. Well worth the time and money. Highly recommended
6. TOPDIVE Rangiroa
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 332 reviews
Diving
Reviewed By André F - Madeira Islands, Portugal
We dove with almost all TopDive Centers (except Tahiti) while in French Polynesia and from those this was the better run, most organized dive center. The equipment was in good condition, the staff was professional and really nice, we dove with Coraline and Marc and they were awesome. There is a huge diversity of marine life to be observed in Tiputa Pass, definitely a place worth the visit, we were fortunate enough to see a 8 meter Whale Shark with around 50 gray sharks swimming alongside it. Also saw a Silver Tip on the incoming drift dive (the best dive of the day for sure if you enjoy drifting), amongst many other things. Highly recommended.
7. Raie Manta Club
Overall Ratings
5 based on 96 reviews
Reviewed By sydneytheturtle - St. Petersburg, Florida
Enjoyed 10 beautiful dives with Raie Manta Club. Yves and Livia are both knowledgeable and passionate underwater explorers and make a great team to lead the dives.
The dive center is at the quiet little marina where their zodiac boat is; there's a rinse tank, picnic table for after-dive tea & cookies, shower/bathroom on your right, and the compressor in the back. Watch out for mosquitoes!
9 out of my 10 dives were in Tiputa Pass. The water is full of marine life, big and small. During sunset dives it was almost too crowded with many fish feeding and breeding everywhere - incredible sight. Seeing dolphins and hammerhead sharks for the first time during dive was also great. One morning we went to Avatoru Pass for "shark dive" and it was truly memorable. The moment we jumped in, there was a shark already as if he was waiting for us; and more joined...good sized sharks kept circling around us. One swam right above me almost brushing his belly against my tank.
Big thanks to Cptn.Mako too - though he didn't speak English he was kind, available and very helpful.
2 minor things:
-there was no ladder on the boat - making it very challenging to get back on the boat unless you're used to it and very strong.
-their truck has metal bars over the Seating area in the back, I hit my head against it real hard..it hurt sooooo bad I almost had blackout. Beware if you are tall.
8. Gauguin's Pearl Farm
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 333 reviews
Gauguin's Pearl is the unique pearl farm on the Rangiroa atoll, in French Polynesia. Since it opened in 1992, it has provided local, ethical, traditional and ecological knowledge to all its customers. A very well-documented guided tour is provided as well, where you can discover the whole process from the birth of a Tahitian pearl to the creation of a jewel.
Reviewed By AucklandWiz - Auckland
Our cruise offered this trip to the Pearl Farm if we wanted to go. I took up the offer along with a number of other people. It was interesting the process of production and we got to see the technician checking the shells and extracting pearls if there was any, then discarding or re implanting the bead and mantle. The facts and figures were very interesting and in what we saw extracted, it made you realise the difficulty of finding a number of pearls of the same shape, size and colour to make those long strings of pearls. We could look in the shop if we chose to, which I did. The shop assisitants were pleasant, friendly and helpful. There were boxes of pearls with the grades and prices on them so you didn't have to ask for the price of every pearl which was good. There were made up pieces or you can choose a pearl and have them string it etc for you. They then package it nicely for gift giving with certificate of authenticity.
Back at the beach were some pop up shops set up for the cruise members. The prices were very good and very affordable for gifts. No fancy packaging or certificates but very pretty, well displayed and affordable. The price and grade were on each of these pieces also. I find it all a bit overwhelming when there are different sizes, grades, mountings (some string, some chain, some wire etc) but its not worth trying to compare apples with apples. Really if you see something that appeals and it seems a fair price- just buy it. Otherwise it drives you all a little mad. So I purchased from both suppliers and am quite happy. What I do know is that it is a much more relaxed and easy experience than looking at pearls in Papeete. And if you do not wish to purchase- the educational experience was worth the air conditioned bus ride 5 minutes down the road as it was very educational and interesting.
9. Vaea Dream
Overall Ratings
5 based on 1 reviews
Reviewed By Alain B
Très beau choix à des prix attractifs. Vendeuse qualifiée, agréable et de bon conseil.
D'une manière générale, mieux vaut acheter une perle sur l'atoll que sur Papeete.
