Tuamotu Dive Sites

Rangiroa Dive Sites
Manihi Dive Sites
Tikehau Dive Sites
Fakarava Dive Sites
Apataki Dive Sites
Toau Dive Sites

RANGIROA DIVE SITES
Rangiroa is the largest and most famous atoll in Polynesia, and fourth largest in the world. Rangiroa means "huge sky" in Tahitian because you cannot see from one side of the atoll to the other and the light reflects back off the shallow sandy lagoon skywards, giving off a special lustre. It has the largest range of hotel accommodation in the Tuamotus, but is by no means spoilt. Over 240 motu, or islands, are strung along the reef that surrounds the lagoon. Rangiroa´s two villages, Avatoru & Tiputa, are situated on the edge of two of the three passes that drain and fill the lagoon twice daily. A paved two-lane main road connects the two villages, with a string of islets in between. The diving in Rangiroa, as with all the Tuamotus, is dominated by pass diving - drift dives along the edge of the outside reef and into the channels that pass between the open ocean and the lagoon on the inside of the atoll. It is within these passes, and with the right conditions, that you have the opportunity to see the Tuamotus' legendary "wall of sharks".

• AQUARIUM
  A lagoon dive with depths ranging from 10-30ft this is an excellent check out dive for people who have not donned their scuba diving gear for a while or are testing the aquatic waters for the very first time! A shallow coral reef formation in the lagoon, just off the beach from the village of Tiputa, it is full of butterflyfish, anemones and clownfish, Napoleon wrasse, triggerfish and a host of other reef dwellers. Being shallow the ambient light is exceptional and makes for great panoramic views of the attractive stands of hard corals that dominate the inner lagoon reefs of the Tuamotus. This dive is best done on a slackening incoming tide, not on an outgoing tide, as the latter will seriously reduce visibility.

• TIPUTA PASS
  Tiputa is the southern of the two famous passes at Rangiroa. The pass is about 120ft deep and perhaps 300 yards wide, and twice daily the incoming tide fills the lagoon with fresh, nurtient rich water, sucking in with it schools of jacks, barracuda, snapper and of course, sharks. On the outside of the pass, along the reef walls you have the opportunity to see mantas, turtles, eagle rays, grey reef sharks, black tips and dolphins. If you are lucky you can see sailfish or even tiger & great hammerhead sharks! Tiputa can offer just about anything!

• TIPUTA CAVERNS
  The numerous cavities found along the outer wall at Tiputa Pass are not the real attraction on this dive. The real showstopper is found in the open water beyond the reef: at a depth of 100-120ft, hundreds of sharks nonchalantly circle around divers. Grey reef sharks, white tips and, in season, great & scalloped hammerheads. This is one of the great shark dives of the world!

• AVATORU PASS - RIGHT HAND EXIT
  This is a 60ft drift dive out of Avatoru Pass from the lagoon to the ocean on an outgoing tide. The area is renowned for the large numbers of tuna, Napoleon wrasse and manta rays, but you will also find schooling leopard rays, grey reef sharks patrolling, waiting to pick of a tasty morsel that drifts to close! You will find typical schooling fish here as well - jacks, barracuda, surgeonfish, snapper to name but a few. The reef is dominated by large formations of hard corals. The main attraction at Avatoru is the silvertip sharks that frequent this area. Great chunky beasts up to 8-9ft long, these magnificent sharks dwarf even the largest of grey reef sharks. They come up the wall and along the top of the reef in shallow waters, affording great opportunities for photographers.

• SHARK CAVE
  At a depth of about 110ft within Tiputa Pass there is a cave opening up onto the reef drop-off. Here can be found as many 30 grey reef sharks, either sleeping on the floor or swimming freely around the cave interior. A fantastic place to take close-up shots of dozing grey reef sharks!

• MAHUTA
  A deep sandy-bottomed gully flanked by acropora and pocillipora coral where barracuda & sharks are regularly seen. At the end of a second valley a small amphitheatre is home to numerous free swimming moray eels can be approached, with a certain amount of caution!

MANIHI DIVE SITES
Manihi, one of the Tuamotu atolls 325 miles from Tahiti, has a lagoon 18 miles long and 4 wide. It's principle source of income is black pearl farming, and the total population of 400 live in village of Turipaoa next to a reef pass of the same name.

• MANIHI INLET, RIGHT-HAND EXIT
  This is a great place to enjoy a close look at the grouper which in late July, during the Tahitian winter and in conjunction with the phases of the moon, arrive in their tens of thousands to mate and lay eggs. This feast of food is snapped up eagerly by the increased numbers of smaller reef fish that arrive to take advantage of this bountiful harvest of eggs & sperm. The groupers themselves attract apex predators such as sharks, Napoleon wrasse, barracudas, rainbow runners and other species. This may be a feast for fish, but it's also a feast for your senses!

• TAIRAPA INLET
  Only 400 yards long, 50 yards wide and never more than 60ft deep, this is a safe and easy introduction to the world of drift dives through atoll passes! The seafloor is sand interspersed with large formations of pocillopora corals and the ambient light makes your passage clear and simple. Typical reef fish can be found here - butterflyfish, clownfish in anemones, basslets, parrotfish, wrasse, grunts, snapper etc. Sharks, eagle rays and sometimes mantas can be found here.

• MOUTH OF TAIRAPA INLET
  It almost seems like every fish in sea comes to the mouth to Tairapa Inlet to feed on an incoming tide; the density of fish life is staggering. As the tide picks up and forces fresh, nutrient rich water through the pass into the lagoon the schools of jacks, snapper, bass, surgeonfish, pompano, grunts, triggerfish (and everything else you can think of!) rush into the lagoon. Sharks and the larger predators are ever present, patrolling the pass entrance and, at the lagoon end of the rollercoaster ride others wait for the tired or elderly to be picked off! In the middle of this fish soup you can have the pleasure of marvelling at one of the wonders of the underwater world!

• THE DROP OFF
  On the southwestern ocean side of Manihi there is a breathtaking wall descending sheer from 10ft to 4500ft deep. This dive site just drips with grey reef sharks, Napoleon wrasse, pelagic jacks, large schools of snapper and pickhandle barracuda, plus fish from the deep sea like dogfin tuna & marlin. Each year, around late June or early July, tens of thousands of groupers gather here to breed. It is one of the most fascinating underwater events in the world.

• THE CIRCUS
  Located at the lagoon side of the pass, this is the favourite spot for eagle and manta rays. Solitary or in groups, the rays swoop along in only 30ft of water. These graceful giants are always a popular encounter for divers and photographers can get very close to them, as the mantas are curious and friendly. This is perhaps one of - if not THE - finest places in the world to see mantas. It certainly puts Faa Piti in Bora Bora to shame, and would give Mi'l Channel in Yap a run for its money!

• WEST POINT
  On the ocean side at the far western end of Manihi and with visibility often up to 200ft the incredibly clear waters of this stunning atoll are the perfect medium for the growth of healthy and vibrant corals; fire coral, elkhorn coral, staghorn coral, lettuce corals, and seafans.

• THE BREAK
  A 75ft deep coral amphitheatre on the outer lip of the reef The Break is a great spot for some controlled shark feeding, an ideal way for you to get those close-up shots of sharks in action! Black tip, white tip and grey reef sharks are the most usually sighted, but the occasional silvertip and hammerhead is also seen. This is also another great place to see groupers come to mate in July.

TIKEHAU DIVE SITES
An almost circular atoll 50 miles in circumference in the northwest Tuamotus, 220 miles from Tahiti. This is a classic South Sea location and even known by the locals as paradise! Now that is saying something! Two villages, Tuheiava in the southwest and Maiaia in the northeast contain the majority of the atoll's population. Tikehau is what Rangiroa was 20 years ago, if that's possible to comprehend!

• MARA
  A series of small coral heads rising from the main reef are home to a number of cleaner wrasse, small fish about 4 inches long with blue stripes running laterally down their bodies. To these wrasse come manta rays to be picked clean of parasites. As long s you remain still on the reef the mantas will come right up to you. They enjoy the sensation of bubbles that rise up to their bellies. With exceptional visibility this is one of the finest locations in the world to see manta rays.

• RAIRA CAVE
  Numerous grey reef sharks relax in the numerous caves that pierce the reef along a natural fault line on the drop-off. This site is famous for the massive school of barracuda that are more often than not seen along the reef. Hundreds of red snapper can be found lurking in the small crevices that punctuate the reef.

• TUHEIAVA INLET
  A pass dive that is done on an incoming tide, mantas and eagle rays are commonly seen in the channel. Half way down the pass a coral outcrop with a hollow underside is home to about 10 whitetip reef sharks.
  
  
• TURTLE HOLE
  An amphitheatre in the reef top that is filed with sand and small coral formations, this is a popular spot for turtles to sleep at night, so makes for an excellent night dive, especially as the bottom of the hollow is only 60ft deep.
  
  
• TEAVATIA
  In the northern lagoon of Tikehau, Teavatia is a motu, a Tahitian word that describes low coral islands that make up the only landmass on the edge of or within the many lagoons of French Polynesia. The motu's small fringing reef, lying relatively isolated on the sandy lagoon floor is locally renowned for its remarkable diversity and colour. Stingrays are a common site on the sandy areas beyond the reef, and if you look carefully you will see large "stands" of garden eels poking out of the sand.
  
  
• THE THRUST
  A relatively deep dive of 145ft, generally reserved for experienced divers, here on the edge of the abyssal depths of the South Pacific a vast array of massive fish species in massive numbers perform before your googly eyes! Dogfish tuna, swordfish, sailfish, grey reef sharks, silvertips, great hammerheads - they're all to be found at The Thrust!

FAKARAVA DIVE SITES

• TE AVA NUI
  On the northern outer drop-off of Fakarava, Te Ava Nui is dominated by spectacular hard coral formations that step down the wall. Large plate corals, gardens of staghorn corals all provide an infinite number of homes for reef fish, including lionfish, triggerfish, angelfish, groupers & wrasse. Sandy areas are home to firefish and gobies, commensal shrimps a range of shells. Looking out to the open ocean and you will b sure to find Napoleon wrasse, occasionally dolphins, grey reef sharks and, in season, hammerheads.

• GARUAE PASS
  At the northern end of Fakarava, just to the west of the airport, Garuae Pass is the widest and some say most spectacular pass in all of French Polynesia. Some 800 yards wide and 120-130ft deep, the quantities of water that travel through this pass are quite mind boggling. Millions of tons of water are forced into the pass twice a day under such pressure that there is no way a diver could swim against it! Into this maelstrom get sucked monster schools of baitfish, which are fed upon by equally monstrous schools of jacks, snapper, bass, barreacuda and other pelagic fish. At the top of the food chain, expect to see dozens and dozens of sharks of varying species - grey reef, black-tip, white-tip, silvetip, even hammerheads and tiger sharks. Expect to see graceful mantas and eagle rays and maybe dolphins. If it swims in Polynesian waters, the chances are you'll see it at Garuae Pass!

• CENTRAL PARK & OHUTU
  Further east along the outer wall from Te Ava Nui are Central Park & Ohutu, bustling reef habitats similar to their neighbour to the west. Ohutu is well known for regular sightings of manta rays.

• TE MAU ROTI
  At the southern end of Fakarava atoll, the reef here is dominated by beautiful stands of lettuce corals. Hordes of basslets can be found nestling amongst the twirling fronds of the lettuce coral. Marbled groupers and jacks, turtles and large schools of tuna & barracuda, rainbow runner and grey reef sharks are regularly seen along the wall.

APATAKI DIVE SITES
Located due east of Rangiroa and northwest of Fakarava, Apataki was discovered in 1722 by the Dutchman Jacob Roggeven, who also discovered Eatser Islands. 380 people live on the atoll, making a living from copra, noni and, more recently, pearl farming. The atoll is rectangular in shape approximately 15 miles from east to west and 25 miles from north to south. Apataki is only accessible from either the Tahiti Aggressor or Aquatiki.

• TEHERE PASS
  Apataki has one pass that is dived - Tehere Pass or, as it is also known, Aimonu Pass. It is located at the north western corner of the atoll and is about 00 yards wide. You can see from this image that when the water pushes out from the lagoon into the open ocean the force of the water creates huge waves about at 5ft-high. This is due to the amount of water being forced out of the lagoon by the tide. The same thing occurs on an incoming tide; the waves can be created for up to two miles into the lagoon by the force of the water entering through the pass. As you can imagine, a few billion tons of water trying to squeeze through a gap 100 yards wide has to move pretty darn fast, and this creates some incredible currents. More of that later! The first dive I did at Apataki was along the reef wall on the southern side of the pass. This was the best bit of reef I saw in my entire visit to French Polynesia. It was almost interesting! However, the fish life was prolific. First up we had a monster school of big eyes, perhaps a couple of thousand swirling about us. Usually you find these in small caves and overhangs during the day, but this lot was quite content to swim about in the open; safety in numbers! Just past them we came upon a school of jacks, which of course did the decent thing and swam around in a circle above our heads… We moved closer to the edge of the pass, but the tide was pretty slack, so diving was easy, but visibility was down because it was the end of an outgoing tide, so there were a lot of particulates in the water. Here we came across a school of black surgeonfish. I have never seen so many surgeon fish in all my life. There tens of thousands of them swirling along the drop-off and on the top of the reef. You could be totally engulfed by them. Awesome! We then went to the top of the reef and hung around some holes in the top of the reef, where we saw some nice butterfly fish. If you like butterfly fish, this is a great place - lots of different species to see. The text below is modified from a trip report I posted on the internet. I have included it because it shows that the famous "Wall of Sharks" that are said to exist in the Tuamotus really do! The second dive at Apataki was in Tehere Pass on an incoming tide; the tide had only been running for about 1 hour, so was not up to full force when we dropped in at the outside of the pass. We drifted through the pass at about 1 kt and slowly picked up speed as we entered a channel perhaps 50ft deep and 20ft wide, sloping gently upwards. We passed small schools of jacks, surgeonfish etc. I was by coincidence at the front when I looked up along the edge of the pass and saw about 20 sharks near the surface, by a small wall. I gestured to everyone else and we then hooked in (Don't have a reef hook and want to dive Tehere Pass? Buy one!) and slowly clawed our way up the wall. No easy task in a 2½kt current and holding a camera with an expensive dome port! At the base of the mini wall was a cave, more like a slit in the wall, with a wider entrance at both ends. The cave was stuffed with grey reef sharks, 30 or 40 at least. Others were swimming in from either end and coming out the front. The current picked up and when you are as slim as I am you do create quite a "barn door effect". The lump of dead coral I was hooked into, perhaps 4ft x 6ft x 3ft high was quite literally lifted off the ground by me and the current! Myself & my new found friend started bumping off along the reef! Unfortunately the u/w videographers did not see this, but a few of us had a laugh afterwards! As sort of proof, a couple of quotes from Paul Sloan, director of Tahiti Tourisme in the US: "I'd especially like a shot of you dragging a 2-ton coral head down the channel! (PADI Project AWARE is always on the lookout for good eco-poster material...!)" and "U/W boulder-dragging is truly an untouched niche...!" As you can imagine the current was ripping! Most people were looking with intent at the cave, but on looking down into the pass below I was amazed to see hundreds and hundreds of grey reef sharks hurtling along the bottom on the incoming tide. There were squillions of the things! I have never seen some many sharks in all my life. Anyway, air was running out and we flipped over the top of the wall and proceeded to drift over undulating beds of coral into the lagoon shallows to be picked up by the tender. So, the third dive. Well it had to be in the same place. And you thought the current was strong on the previous dive? Pah! It took about 5 minutes to get to the shark cave, whereas before it had taken about 20. We reckoned we were doing 6-8 kts down the pass. Holy Smoke! And there, ahead of us, was one of these famous "Walls of Sharks" The entire pass was blocked by hundreds of grey reef sharks, swimming in a lazy circle up one side of the pass, across and down the other. This is where Pierre's dive briefing did not go quite to plan. With a 6kt current you haven't got much time to think, so we hooked in and attempted admire the view. However, we were hooked in up-current, so the only way we could see them was to turn our heads. This did one of three things. 1) It ripped your mask off your head or 2) It filled your regulator up with water or 3) It ripped your mask off your head and filled your regulator up with water! It therefore made looking at them very difficult and taking photos of them next to impossible. You couldn't turn around enough and anyway the current was running so fast your strobe arms just bent all over the shop. Still, I managed to croon my neck round and look at them without drowning! Some were breaking formation and swimming towards us, getting to within at least a couple of inches of my fins before darting off. It was almost impossible to take pictures, and I tried gesturing at Pierre that we should unhook, pile through the sharks and hook on down current of them. Then maybe we could get a picture or two of them, and perhaps fire of a couple of shots as we charged through the middle of them. In the end I unhooked and was flipped by the current over the top of the pass and along the coral on the sides. There was no way I could get back and no way to hook on as the hook just ripped the coral out of the reef. By the time myself and the others in my vicinity surfaced we were at least 2 miles into the lagoon!

TOAU DIVE SITES
Toau is located south-east of Apataki, north-west of Fakarava. About 10 miles long it was discovered in 1773 by James Cook. In 1983 its population was just 5, but now it has a head count of about 25! It is one of the most stunning and unspoilt atolls in the Tuamotus. Toau is only accessible from either the Tahiti Aggressor or Aquatiki, but in perfect conditions it may be possible to reach it from Fakarava. There are two passes at Toau, Otugi and Fakatahuna, with a small island between them. Fakatahuna Pass is known as "Fakatahuna Diabolique" by a French divemaster we had aboard the Tahiti Aggressor on her inaugural trip due to the sheer amounts of action to be had in the pass. Both are located in the SE section of the atoll

• UTOGI PASS
  The first dive we did was along the edge of the reef at Utogi Pass and then into the pass itself. The usual stuff, with lots of schooling fish, grey reef sharks, some mantas (too far away to photograph) and the like. The pass was very interesting. A series of parallel channels running into the pass, scoured almost clean of any living coral, and U-shaped in cross-section. Every so often you would pass over a large bowl that had been hollowed out of the reef substrate.

• FAKATAHUNA PASS
  The second dive was at Fakatahuna, at the mouth of the pass. We saw 1 grey reef shark at a cleaning station and that was about it. The second dive we went into the channel and did a very interesting drift dive over perhaps the most interesting corals that I saw all trip - lots of bommies sprouting from a sandy bottom covered in fish. We saw no sharks! Pierre said that the reason there were no sharks about was because there was probably a shark-eating shark out there - tiger or great hammerhead - enjoying chow time. On neither dive was the current ripping! But that's pass diving for you!