Dive site
Tumakohua Pass
Fakarava, French Polynesia
- Typical depth
- 30 m
- Type
- Shark
- Level
- Advanced
Notes
'Wall of sharks' — hundreds of grey reef sharks.
Marine life
- Corals
- hard coral pass walls, sea fans
- Sharks
- grey reef shark (~700 resident wall), blacktip reef shark, whitetip reef shark, occasional silvertip, occasional tiger shark
- Turtles
- hawksbill, green
- Pelagics
- giant trevally, dogtooth tuna, barracuda
- Reef fish
- marbled grouper spawning aggregation (full moons of Jun and Jul), snapper, napoleon wrasse
Site features
- Pass Drift
- Wall Of Sharks
- Spawning Aggregation
- UNESCO Biosphere
- Tide-Dependent
- Strong Current
When to dive
- Best
- Jun–Nov
- Avoid
- Jan–Mar
Tumakohua (south) Pass holds a resident wall of ~700 grey reef sharks — the densest known aggregation of the species. Numbers peak Jun–Jul during the marbled grouper spawning aggregation, when sharks gorge on the spawn at the full moons of June and July. South pass protected since 2008; Fakarava part of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Austral winter (Jun–Sep) gives the calmest conditions.
Conditions & access
- Visibility
- 25–45 m
- Water temp
- 26–29 °C
- Current
- Strong
- Access
- Open access
- Min cert
- Advanced Open Water + 30 logged dives recommended; Nitrox useful for repetitive pass profiles
Location
16.5167° S, 145.4667° W
Sources
Curated from 1 source
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