By chance, you’ll see a turtle feeding on succulent sea sponges, a few Whitetip sharks wandering the reef, some Grey sharks hidden by a huge school of barracudas, or a napoleon grouper accompanied by a hunting blue jackfish. This site opens up into an abundant display of marine life: a magnificent coral garden with multitudes of fish species. From 65 feet, the drop-off comes rather abruptly, offering a direct view into the big blue. Maximum depth is around 60 feet.Įxiting the Tiputa pass from the left, you’ll discover a magnificent coral plateau at a depth of 50 feet. Site is accessible to all dive certifications with a minimum diving experience. The undersea journey finishes on the sand dunes punctuated by coral heads covered inhabited by scores of little creatures: nudibranches, moray eels, snappers, groupers, kingfish, Whitetip and Blacktip sharks. You may come across an occasional manta or leopard ray swimming counter current. There, you let yourself drift into an undersea valley where you find a wall covered with magnificent coral formations hosting a variety of aquatic life: unicornfish, surgeonfish, paddletail snappers and fusiliers. Entry is on the eastern side of Motu Fara, the small islet in the middle of the Avatoru pass. This dive requires particularly calm weather conditions, timed with an incoming current for the best visibility.

This dive is good for all certified diver levels, especially those having experience in current diving. The dive finishes in the calm waters of the lagoon among the fish and beautiful coral. Once in awhile, one should scan the surface for a chance sighting of an occasional manta ray with its mouth wide open trawling for plankton. All along the dive, you encounter several species of sharks like the Blackfin shark (Carcharhinus limbatus), or even Whitetip shark (Triaenoden obesus) seen resting along the small cavities of the wall as well as a multitude of fish species: groupers, moray eels and scorpion fish.

Ideally, you would drift from the middle of the pass into a narrow “little pass” between the 2 islets. This site is accessible through the incoming current into the pass of Avatoru. This site is ideally situated to favour unforgettable sightings of the majestic Silvertip shark (Carcharhinus albimarginatus) and countless other species of fish, like schools of Bigeye jackfish (Caranx sexfasciatus) and perhaps even the African Pompano jackfish (Alectis ciliaris)… Little Pass (ocean drift dive): The main dive site is situated on a coral plateau of an area of 50 – 65 feet stretched out in the direction of the pass. You’ll find that the Gorgonian coral even bigger and dense at this depth.Ĭoming out from the right side of the Avatoru pass, you will find the reef teeming with life. The visibility is often excellent from 150-200 feet where the ocean becomes an abrupt wall of cliff. Once in awhile, you may come across some tuna that sometimes follow divers from a distance before disappearing into the blue. The north point is also rich in gorgonian coral although there are groups of violet coral. The journey on the South side is a beautiful geographical fault covered with yellow gorgonian coral formations. Both options are recommended only to experienced divers. The interior of the structure better withstands the force of the surrounding currents.Īt this point, 2 exploration dive plans are possible one by way of the southern extremity of the arena and the other one from the northern point. It is, in fact, the edge of a vast amphitheatre (230 feet long) created by the collapse of one part of an undersea plateau. The breaker one can distinguish on the surface seems to be that of a cliff. “Papa whisky” is the name given to the small artificial island located adjacent to the airport of Faa’a.

Fakarava atoll