Australia has the biggest barrier reef in the world and Belize has the second.  I am a geogpraphy teacher and my partner is a Marine Biology and Science teacher. 

Yes it will be Spring in September (Sept to Nov) and it is a lovely time of year.  Especially if you dont like the heat.  It can get up to 90f on average in Summer in Sydney.

Dont hesitate to send us an email direct if you want to talk more about a possible trip to Australia.  Happy to help 

It is nice to connect with others who will be diving.  I think there may be a dive master on the cruise with us who starts the very first day with lessons for those who need them, not sure how the dive spots are chosen and/or how different groups get to them.  In the caribbean, the dive spots are marked as 'beginner' or 'advanced', not sure what this denotes, whether it means depth or complexity of the dive somehow?

Re: barrier reefs, I read online that the second largest barrier reef in the world is in Tahiti, not sure if we will be close enough to dive there during the cruise.  I also don't know if you can snorkel just as easily or if being able to dive gives a significantly better experience, will have to do some research.

I'm also thinking it would be nice to visit australia while down in that part of the world, and wonder if september is springtime?  Still cool, or a nice time of year?

 I learned to scuba dive over 30 years ago and got certified in Jamaica and did some diving in Caribbean, Bermuda and Bonaire which was an amazing place to dive... have not done any diving in many many years but have done some great snorkeling all over Hawaii over the last 5 years and have been told Tahiti is 10 times better than Hawaii which is hard to believe!

I understand that Paul Gauguin has a scuba diving program on board and have been seriously considering taking it if offered while we are there in order to get back to scuba diving again. Look forward to meeting up with you all...

Cathie

Wow it would be great to learn in the Caribean.  We learnt in the middle of Winter in Sydney Harbour just before we headed to Belize.  Yes the Great Barrier Reef here in Australia is magnificent and well worth travelling to see. 

Plenty of people do travel to Tahiti from Australia.

We will be diving in tropical water which means lots of fish, colour and warm water.

You are obviously very experienced divers!  I am thinking about learning how this year in the caribbean so that I could dive on the Tahiti trip.  It is helpful to hear your thoughts, especially as you are from Australia and so probably know a bit more about the area.  Do many australians vacation to Tahiti?  I guess there is a huge barrier reef there?

Hi there

OMG it looks like an amazing place to dive.  Sea turtles, whales, warm blue water, maybe some sharks and so many fish.  My partner and I are both divers and cant wait to get there and into the water.  We have completed about 100 dives and most of them have been while we are on holidays.  Happy to talk more about diving if you are able to send a private message (dont ask me how) and we can talk more about diving.  Coming from Australia where we have great diving, I hear that Tahiti is even better.    We are going to be staying on longer to get some more diving in and maybe even with the humpback whales as they migrate through.

Teresa and Julie

From Sydney Australia

Hello, I am curious if there are any divers going on the trip?  Is this an easy/difficult place to dive?  I am a newbie, curious if this is a diving destination or not so much.  Any thoughts?