Ohotu Wall
Depth is the range from the top of the site to its usual maximum; "recommended cert" is the mainstream-agency level operators usually ask for, not a legal rule. Currents and visibility change daily — treat everything here as planning ranges.
When Garuae's tide is wrong, Rotoava's boats slide along to this outer wall and lose nothing worth mourning. The face drops through healthy plate and boulder corals with the Tuamotu signature clarity — 30-meter visibility is an ordinary day — and traffic from the nearby pass spills constantly along it: gray reef and blacktip sharks on patrol, snapper and unicornfish in loose formations, turtles working the ledges, eagle rays gliding the drop. The wall suits unhurried profiles that the passes never allow, so photographers use it to actually compose rather than react. It fills the valuable role of a world-class consolation prize.
The moment you come for: Ocean-clear water on an easy wall; steady shark and turtle traffic; breathing room between pass adrenaline.
Topography: Outer-reef wall and sloping hard-coral terraces facing open ocean
Entry: The outer-reef wall near Garuae's eastern shoulder; dived as a gentler alternative when the pass window is closed.
Know before you splash
Hazards: Moderate current along the face; open-ocean swell over the reef crest on big days.
Conservation: Same biosphere, same rules as the passes — hands off, hooks unnecessary, distance kept.
Nitrox: Worth it here — profiles sit in the range where enriched air meaningfully extends no-stop time (with the training to use it).
Who you'll meet
Blacktip Reef Shark
Green Sea Turtle
Grey Reef Shark
Napoleon (Humphead) Wrasse
Spotted Eagle Ray
For photographers
Wide angle: ★★★★★ · Macro: ★★☆☆☆ — editors' 1–5 rating of what this site gives each style of shooting