The pass of Tiputa, one of the best diving destinations in the world

The Tiputa Pass in French Polynesia

In northeastern French Polynesia, the Tiputa Pass is often considered the Mecca for divers and is ranked among the best diving sites in the world. It is particularly known for its countless gray sharks and hammerhead sharks but also for its manta rays and leopard rays. In addition, it is possible to swim with whales from August to October.

The pass is located between the villages of Tiputa and Avatoru and northeast of the atoll of Rangiroa in the Tuamotu Archipelago. The Avatoru pass, which is only a few hundred meters from the Tiputa pass, is also very solicited and deserves some of your dive time.

Book a dive on the Tiputa pass in Rangiroa with a professional center

To book a dive at one of the diving spots of the Tiputa pass or the Avatoru pass, simply visit the pages of our partner centers in Rangiroa and choose your dive. You can book an exploration dive or diving course. Following your booking, you will receive all necessary information about your dive and will be contacted directly by the center. We guarantee the best prices and a response from the center within 48 hours. In addition, Eric and Damien of spotmydive have dived in Rangiroa and will be happy to advise you if necessary.

The best diving sites of the Tiputa pass in Rangiroa

Ingoing current diving spots

Shark’s Cave La Grotte aux requins

Advised Scuba-diving level : All Levels

This first dive starts at the right angles of the exit of the pass. Its name comes from a cave located at about 35 meters deep. This cave, despite of its name, does not have sharks and it is in fact the divers who hide there so that gray sharks approach without fear. In reality, sharks are more afraid of the diver than the opposite. From there, a long drift dive will lead the diver into the lagoon. At this stage, it is necessary to be very attentive not to lose the group. During the dive trip, the diver crosses a large cavity inhabited by beautiful colored corals and small fish. The PADI open water level 1 divers won’t be abla to go down to the cave but the dive site worth a dive anyway.

Canyons The Valley

Advised Scuba-diving level : PADI Advanced Divers

The beginning of this dive is similar to the shark cave dive, but during the drift dive, at the halfway point, the dive goes down into the crevices, canyons and caves of the Tiputa pass. These large canyons cut the pass and are particularly interesting to explore in June, during the breeding season of gray sharks as they are hundreds of them. Furthermore, few magnificent S.Mokaran, immense hammerhead sharks, often come in canyons.

The Run La Marche

Advised Scuba-diving level : PADI Advanced Divers

The dive begins at the mouth of the Tiputa pass and ends within the lagoon. It is strongly advised to dive there from January to March since the S.Mokaran, immense hammerhead sharks, are found in great numbers on the dive site to hunt between 40 and 55 meters deep. Large benches of leopard rays also group together and use group strategy to escape hammerhead sharks.

The Crossing La traversée

Advised Scuba-diving level : PADI Advanced Open Water Diver

This scuba diving starts off the pass, you go straight down into the blue to get there. The objective of this dive is to cross the entire pass. For this, it is necessary to go down fairly deep, towards 50 meters, where the current is less powerful than on the surface. It is also at this depth that it is possible to dive with gray sharks which gather there by dozens. During the second half of the dive, the group usually passes in front of the shark cave and continues its drift dive to the lagoon.

Outgoing current dive sites

The windmill L’éolienne

Advised Scuba-diving level : Open water diver and level 1

The dive starts on a large drop-off, 350 meters from the entrance angle of the pass, sheltered from the strong outgoing currents and, then, move closer to the entrance of the pass. Accessible to all levels, this beautiful dive, with drop-off on left hand and deep blue on right side allows PADI Open Water Divers to dive between 25-26 depth but also to meet magnificent pelagics such as dolphins, manta rays, leopard rays, Napoleons, tuna, or turtles.

The Blue Le Bleu

Advised Scuba-diving level : PADI Advanced Open Water

This scuba diving starts at the same level as the above windmill dive but about 300 meters from the fall to allow a descent into the blue. The average depth is nearly 250 meters. The goal of this dive, in the open water, is to dive with the Albimarginatus or white tip sharks and for the lucky ones with the beautiful silky sharks. The instructors of the dive centers of French Polynesia often ask their group to go down to fifteen meters and, then, ask the captain to launch dead fishes in water to attract the sharks. The group often observes the magnificent show of our friends, the sharks, about fifteen minutes before returning to the dive site the wind mill to complete the diving smoothly.

The Half Windmill La mi-éolienne

Advised Scuba-diving level : Any level

This scuba diving starts at about 150 meters from the entrance of the pass. As for the other dives of the pass, the site is protected from the outgoing current. The objective of this dive is to swim countercurrent to visit the small caves and asperities inhabited by many small fish. This beautiful dive, accessible at all diving levels also allows to see mantas rays or leopard rays, as well as dolphins, sharks, tunas and napoleons.

The angleL’angle

Advised Scuba-diving level : Diver from beginner to experienced

This dive starts at the corner of the pass. It allows the PADI open water diver to descend to a depth of 28 meters to observe the passage of a squad of gray sharks, a swim of leopard rays or the graceful flight of manta rays. Depending on the season, the diver can even observe magnificent hammerhead sharks. The experienced diver can descend to the bottom, 45 meters to observe the fauna more closely.