This was a good tour, nicely organized, and I can't really flaw it - I think the downside to these tours is that we/others do realize sometimes how challenging the conditions in the deep open ocean are in order to see these magic creatures close up.
To compare I have done a similar tour last year in Tahiti and we got much closer with the boat, this company tries to be more respectful and keeps more of a legal distance - and that is a veryyyyyyyy long distance, I was glad we ultimately didn't jump into water - my wife knew from the start that she wants to just see whales from the boat after the previous experience in Tahiti, but I originally wanted to go into the water again... this is where I must say kudos to the organizer as the nice girl on the boat challenged me and gave me food for thoughts that if I have any doubts don't go - and I agree with her, it would spoil it for others and I bet many people push too hard, it's a super memorable experience but it's simply not for everyone, unless you of course are in it just to see whales from the boat ;)
We didn't get lucky that day that fast, we made it from the west coast almost all the way to the east/southeast facing Tahiti - when the boat goes fast it's good, but when they turn engines off it was brutal to float - I think I am done for a while with the boat tours, in the past 6 months I had seen whales in Azores, Iceland and Tahiti - they were all unique and different experiences but what they had in common is the rough boat rides, not in full but long enough at times to crush your stomach :D
After scenic long ride around Moorea, we got to swim in a shallow water with corals, and then got lucky with dolphins - never hurts to see them, though this time they were doing jumps and spins in the air, something I haven't seen them doing live in the wild - was pretty amazing!
Upon arrival in the morning they provided some coffee and hot chocolate onboard, and some pastries - was a pretty nice thing considering we were up so early for the sunrise tour - at 5:30AM in October it was already nice and bright to see everything outside, so it's not like you start in pitch black :)
