Avatoru Pass

Three dive sites can be visited along this ocean pass. Avatour Reef is a coral plateau ideally situated to spot silvertip sharks, bigeye jackfish, and even African pompano jackfish. Little Pass is a drift dive accessible through the incoming current, where you can spot blacktip and whitetip sharks, moray eels, groupers, and scorpion fish. This dive finishes in the calm waters of the lagoon where you can swim along a beautiful coral garden surrounded by hundreds of colourful reef fish. Mahuta is a drift dive that can only be done if the weather permits and on an incoming current for the best visibility. Drift into an underwater valley with a wall covered in corals and teeming with life, including unicornfish, surgeonfish, fusiliers, snappers, and the occasional manta or leopard ray. Marine life in this area varies from the smallest nudibranch to the largest blacktip sharks. All three dive sites are suitable for all levels of diver with experience diving in currents. Max Depth: 20m

Tiputa Pass

Six ocean dive sites are scattered throughout this pass. Tiputa Reef is a coral plateau giving way to a sudden drop-off teeming with life. Keep an eye out for turtles, whitetip sharks, grey sharks, grouper, jackfish, and barracuda. Myripristis (Soldierfish) Reef is named after the resident school of soldierfish that call this reef home. Other underwater wonders include anemones with their resident clownfish, soft coral, marbled grouper, sharks and rays. At the right time of year, this reef becomes a nursery for grey sharks. The Angle is a drop-off where you can see large schools of snappers and scads continually trying to avoid becoming the jacks, wrasse, tuna, and sharks next meal. This dive is subject to strong currents and, therefore, an advanced dive certification is required. The Blue is a dive site true to its name - stare out into the deep blue and spot barracudas, jackfish, tuna, a variety of sharks, and bottlenose dolphins. A good mastery of buoyancy control is required to visit this dive site. The Step is a drift dive that requires good buoyancy control. The underwater topography includes a step, canyons, and the Motu Nuhi Nuhi. The best way to make the most of this dive is to be patient and stay alert; pelagic encounters can come from anywhere and are always very varied. The Canyons is a drift dive accessible through the incoming current, and the canyons are actually faults within the pass. These faults provide refuge from the current for fish and divers alike. Surgeonfish, wrasse, sharks, and soldierfish can be seen in the pass, and at the major crossing point, manta rays and hammerhead sharks can be seen. Max Depth: 26m