Tuamotus: Fakarava & Toau

DAY 1 · Rotoava Anchorage (Fakarava North)

Photo: Frédéric Jacquot (Wikimedia Commons) · CC BY-SA 3.0

Arrive 12:00 pm

Fakarava's village anchorage, a short taxi ride from the airport, with the only marine fuel dock in the Tuamotus, a few food stores, a bakery and an ATM. This is where you board and provision, and it is the last real shopping for ten days. Anchor in about 10 m on sand among coral heads and float your chain so it does not wrap them.

• 2:00 pmBriefing and provisioningBuy fresh food and bread in Rotoava, and confirm each night's zone booking on escales.gov.pf.

6.5 NM · about 1 h 5 mto Garuae Pass Drift Dive (Fakarava North)

DAY 2 · Garuae Pass Drift Dive (Fakarava North)

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Arrive 8:00 am · leave 10:30 am

A fast drift dive through French Polynesia's widest pass, with grey reef sharks, barracuda and eagle rays. Dives run only on the incoming tide or at slack, so book with a Rotoava dive centre and let them choose the time. It is for experienced divers; non-divers can snorkel the reef at Pufana instead.

1.5 NM · about 15 mto Pufana North Pass Anchorage (Fakarava)

Pufana North Pass Anchorage (Fakarava)

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Arrive 12:00 pm

A small official zone just inside Garuae Pass, about 5 nm from Rotoava, with clear water and the pass a few minutes away. It puts you in position to leave the lagoon at slack the next morning. Room is limited to a handful of boats, so book ahead, and go slowly in the dinghy past the shoal used for intro dives.

• 3:00 pmSnorkel the Pufana reefA maze of coral heads by the red beacon, full of fish and small sharks.

36 NM · about 6 hto Anse Amyot Moorings (Toau)

DAY 3 · Anse Amyot Moorings (Toau)

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Arrive 2:00 pm

A dead-end 'false pass' on Toau's north-west corner: a small basin cut into the reef that never reaches the lagoon, so it is flat in the trades. Leave Garuae at slack in the morning for a downwind day sail of about 35 nm; the entrance has little current and is marked by posts. A local family looks after the moorings, so ask them about payment and book dinner ashore if they are cooking.

• 7:30 amLeave Garuae Pass at slackCheck SHOM predictions or ask the dive shops; never go out against a strong ebb with wind against it.

DAY 4 · Anse Amyot Reef Snorkel (Toau)

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Arrive 9:00 am · leave 11:30 am

The reef at the head of the basin, where lagoon water spills over the coral: reef fish, morays and blacktip sharks in very clear water, a swim from the moorings. Go two or three hours after low water, when the rising tide brings clean ocean water in. Spend the day here and the second night on the mooring.

• 6:30 pmDinner ashoreIf the family is cooking, book a day ahead.

21 NM · about 3 h 30 mto Toau Southeast Corner Anchorage and Moorings

DAY 5 · Toau Southeast Corner Anchorage and Moorings

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Arrive 2:00 pm

Toau's best inside shelter from the trades, behind the wooded motus of the south-east corner, with a few government moorings. Sail round the outside of the atoll and enter by Otuigi Pass on the flood, then go south-east in good light with someone on the bow for coral heads. If you anchor, float your chain; it is open to wind shifts to the west.

4 NM · about 40 mto Fakatahuna Pass Drift Snorkel (Toau)

DAY 6 · Fakatahuna Pass Drift Snorkel (Toau)

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Arrive 8:00 am · leave 9:30 am

A narrow pass just north of Otuigi, too tight for yachts, that makes a fine dinghy drift snorkel over coral grooves with sharks, Napoleon wrasse and parrotfish. Take the dinghy out through Otuigi and drift back in on the flood only. Keep one person in the dinghy with a handheld VHF.

21.5 NM · about 3 h 35 mto Rotoava Anchorage (Fakarava North)

Rotoava Anchorage (Fakarava North)

Photo: Frédéric Jacquot (Wikimedia Commons) · CC BY-SA 3.0

Arrive 3:30 pm

Back to Fakarava, about 25 nm: out through Otuigi, across to Garuae and in on the flood, so time both passes. Top up fuel, water and bread in Rotoava before the trip south. If the wind is forecast to go south, move on early, because the anchorage gets choppy.

32.5 NM · about 5 h 25 mto Tetamanu South Pass Moorings (Fakarava)

DAY 7 · Tetamanu South Pass Moorings (Fakarava)

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Arrive 2:00 pm

A few public moorings beside the old village of Tetamanu at the narrow south pass. The marked lagoon channel from Rotoava is about 30 nm: keep red marks to starboard going south, travel with the sun high, and watch for pearl-farm buoys. Dive on the mooring before you trust it and use two bow lines.

• 8:30 amDown the lagoon channelLeave once the sun is high enough to show the coral heads.

1 NM · about 10 mto Tumakohua Pass Wall of Sharks Dive (Fakarava South)

DAY 8 · Tumakohua Pass Wall of Sharks Dive (Fakarava South)

Photo: Julius Silver (Wikimedia Commons) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Arrive 8:00 am · leave 10:30 am

Hundreds of grey reef sharks hang in the incoming current of the south pass, one of the best-known shark dives in the world. You must dive with a local dive centre, and dinghies are not allowed in the pass. The current is gentler than at Garuae, so it suits most certified divers.

• 2:00 pmGuided snorkel of the coral gardenSnorkellers can drift the pass edge with a guide from Tetamanu, on the flood only.

1 NM · about 10 mto Fakarava Pink Sands (Les Sables Roses, South Pass)

Fakarava Pink Sands (Les Sables Roses, South Pass)

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Arrive 3:30 pm · leave 5:00 pm

Banks of pink coral sand on the motus west of the south pass, in water so clear it looks shallower than it is. Anchoring is banned here, so come by dinghy from the Tetamanu moorings or on a local picnic trip. It is strictly protected: take everything away with you.

8.5 NM · about 1 h 25 mto Hirifa Anchorage (Fakarava)

DAY 9 · Hirifa Anchorage (Fakarava)

Photo: Julius Silver (Wikimedia Commons) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Arrive 11:00 am

A wide turquoise sand shelf behind Motu Hirifa in the south-east corner, about 7 nm from the south pass and sheltered from the trade-wind swell. There is no marked channel, so go with the sun high and steer round the reefs by eye. It holds well on sand in 5-10 m and is the place to sit out a strong south-easterly.

• 2:00 pmHirifa beach and the flatsWalk the long white-sand point; watch for coral heads just under the surface.

31.5 NM · about 5 h 15 mto Rotoava Anchorage (Fakarava North)

DAY 10 · Rotoava Anchorage (Fakarava North)

Photo: Frédéric Jacquot (Wikimedia Commons) · CC BY-SA 3.0

Arrive 2:30 pm

The run back to Rotoava is about 30 nm up the lagoon, so leave early enough to arrive with the sun still high. Return the boat here and take your rubbish ashore. The airport is a short ride north of the village.

• 7:30 amUp the lagoon channelRejoin the marked channel heading north; green marks to starboard.