Seasonal· Fakarava· French Polynesia: Tuamotus, Marquesas, Gambier & Australs
Garuae Pass Mantas, Hammerheads and Humpbacks (Fakarava North)
16° 4.4′ S · 145° 43.0′ W
Garuae's big-animal calendar: grey reef sharks every day of the year, manta rays cruising the outer reef either side of the pass, great hammerheads late in the hot season, and humpback whales passing outside the reef in the southern winter.
Practical
Mantas: divers meet them on the outer-reef drop-offs either side of the pass rather than in the channel, notably on Ohotu reef on the right-hand side leaving the pass (Top Dive) and on Ohotu and Maiuru (diveplanit, which sums up the north pass as 'sharks in the morning, mantas in the afternoon'). A 2023 Divernet report with O2 Fakarava met mantas on an afternoon outgoing-tide dive on the outer reef, staying out of the channel. A 2020 cruiser report adds that mantas are periodically seen in the south pass too but more often in the north. Seasons (Divernet 2023): grey sharks year-round; hammerheads February to March; humpback whale season August to October; sunnier weather April to November. Dive the pass itself only with a local operator on the flood or slack; do not snorkel the outer reef on the ebb from a dinghy without surface support. French Polynesia's waters are a marine mammal sanctuary: give whales a wide berth and ask the dive centres for the current approach rules.
Best for
Timing a north-pass dive for big animals
Season
Mantas and grey sharks year-round; hammerheads Feb–Mar; humpbacks Aug–Oct
Nearby
- Garuae Pass Drift Dive (Fakarava North)Right here
- Maraamu Season at Garuae Pass (Fakarava)Right here
- Ali Baba Canyon Dive (Garuae Pass)0.5 NM away
- Ohotu Reef Wall Dive (outside Garuae Pass)0.8 NM away
- Otohu Bay Moorings (inside Garuae Pass)1.1 NM away
- PK9 Snorkel (Fakarava)1.4 NM away
- Pufana North Pass Anchorage (Fakarava)1.4 NM away
- PK9 Public Beach (Fakarava)2.8 NM away