Tumakohua Pass

The wall of sharks is not a figure of speech. On the ocean shoulder of Fakarava's south pass, gray reef sharks hold station in the incoming current by the hundred: layered ranks filling the water column from the shelf down the drop, more sharks in one visual field than most divers see in a career. You settle behind a coral rib, watch the wall shift and breathe, then release into the flow and ride over groupers, snapper, and pink coral gutters to the village jetty. Around the June–July full moons, thousands of spawning camouflage groupers pack the channel and the night dives among hunting sharks become the most intense guided diving in French Polynesia.

Il momento che aspettavi: The gray reef shark wall; the grouper aggregation and night hunts around mid-year full moons; a drift finish at Tetamanu's jetty.

Topografia: A narrow reef channel with a coral shelf, a stepped drop-off, and pink-sand gutters running to the lagoon

Corrente: Tidal; the incoming phase gives clear water and the classic dive, finishing over the shallows by the village jetty.

Entrata: Dived from the tiny Tetamanu village at the pass mouth or from liveaboards; drop on the ocean side and ride the incoming tide up the channel.

Pericoli: Strong current with an outgoing phase that sweeps toward open ocean: dive the right tide; night dives among actively hunting sharks demand tight discipline.

Conservazione: A UNESCO biosphere core area and shark sanctuary: no feeding, no touching, and night hunts only with the local guides who set the protocols.

Nitrox: Vale la pena qui: i profili rientrano nell'intervallo in cui l'aria arricchita (nitrox) prolunga in modo significativo il tempo di non-decompressione (con la formazione necessaria per utilizzarla).