FAQ

Shared half days run from $105 to $151 per person in this lineup, full days from $144 to $224, and private boats from $560 to $1,776 per group. Every figure is a starting price; the listing shows the current total for your date.

Half-day listings run 2.5 to 5 hours, full days 6 to 8 hours, and private boats 3 to 6 hours. The shortest is the 2.5-hour eco shark safari at from $107 per person; the longest is the 8-hour lagoon and 4WD combo at from $158 per person.

Only the listings that say so. Roughly half of the tours (18 of 34) list a meal or lunch, and the rest list none, so check the listing before assuming. The full-day lagoon group tour with lunch and the Rohivai full-day safari both state a meal.

Shark and ray stops are the standard second act of the circuit and the sites are well known to operators, but sightings are wildlife and never guaranteed. Blacktip reef sharks and southern stingrays are the commonly reported species at the shallow stops.

Yes. Operators including H2O Bora Bora state they welcome non-swimmers, supply flotation and adapt to swimming levels. A private charter adapts the whole itinerary to one party; a shared tour adapts within a fixed route.

In the setting tours actually provide, yes: a guided, shallow stop with blacktip reef sharks, typically 0.5 to 1.5 m, supervised by a briefing and a guide in the water. Guides describe the species as indifferent to snorkelers unless provoked. No source honestly calls any wild shark risk-free, so follow the briefing, keep your distance, and do not touch.

September is the strongest single month: 64.6 mm of rain across 9.3 rain days, past the August crowd peak, still inside humpback whale season and firmly in the dry-season weather pattern. October runs it close at 108.7 mm with the whale season still open through November.

There is no blanket chemical sunscreen ban in French Polynesia as of 2026. Mineral non-nano zinc oxide or titanium dioxide formulas are strongly recommended to protect the reefs, so bring one and reapply, but it is guidance rather than law on current sources.

Yes. Ships tender to Vaitape, and nearly every listing offers quay pickup. A typical 9 to 12 hour call window fits any half day and most full days, with buffer for the tender ride and the ship's all-aboard time.

For groups of four or more, often yes on price alone: private listings start from $560 per group, which can sit below four shared full-day seats, and you gain a flexible schedule and the boat to yourselves.

A practical planning range is ten to twenty percent of the tour price, worked out per person from the ticket you actually paid. Adjust up for an exceptional day and down, or to zero, for an ordinary one.

Yes. The lagoon is calm, sheltered and warm year round, operators supply masks, snorkels and flotation vests, and tours are structured as short guide-supervised stops. The main choices are the tour length and how each child handles the shark and ray stop, which happens in shallow water with a guide present.