Tiputa Pass

Tiputa is the pass dive against which the Tuamotus are measured. Divers back-roll into open ocean, drop onto the outer shoulder, and wait while the incoming tide assembles the cast: gray reef sharks in mid-water formation, sometimes past a hundred, eagle rays stacked like kites, snapper walls, and — from about December to March — great hammerheads patrolling the deep gate. Then the current takes everyone through, a five-knot flight over coral into turquoise lagoon water. The resident bottlenose dolphins are the wildcard, peeling off the pressure wave to inspect divers at whim. Few dives anywhere combine this much animal traffic with this much pure motion.

Il momento che aspettavi: Gray reef shark walls; habituated bottlenose dolphins mid-dive; seasonal great hammerheads and the ride itself.

Topografia: A wide reef channel with coral shoulders, canyons on the ocean side, and a sandy lagoon fan

Corrente: The pass empties and fills a 1,600-square-kilometer lagoon; the incoming tide is the dive, the outgoing is avoided.

Entrata: Drops set up in the ocean outside the pass on the incoming tide; the current carries divers through into the lagoon where boats collect them.

Pericoli: Powerful current with turbulence and occasional down-eddies at the ocean corner; boat traffic in the pass; missing the pickup means open ocean — carry a DSMB.

Conservazione: The dolphins choose the interaction — never chase or touch; sharks here are protected under French Polynesia's shark sanctuary rules.

Nitrox: Vale la pena qui — i profili rientrano nella fascia in cui l'aria arricchita (nitrox) prolunga in modo significativo il tempo senza decompressione (con la formazione necessaria per utilizzarla).