Dive sites in French Polynesia

Located inside Bora Bora's protected lagoon off the eastern coast near the village of Anau, this dive site serves as a major cleaning station for resident reef manta rays. Divers settle along the sandy floor near coral heads while mantas circle overhead to allow cleaner wrasse and butterflyfish to groom parasites from their skin and gills. Lagoon visibility can shift with the tides, but the calm water and dependable pelagic encounters make it one of French Polynesia's most famous spots for observation.

Situated outside the barrier reef near Bora Bora's main pass, Tapu Canyon is characterized by sculpted coral ridges separated by white sand channels that descend into the oceanic blue. Large lemon sharks regularly patrol the deeper sandy corridors, often accompanied by remoras and schools of jacks. The site offers reliable pelagic encounters against a backdrop of hard coral formations and reef-slope topography.

Passe Te Ava Piti cuts through the eastern barrier reef of Raiatea, serving as a primary oceanic corridor connecting the open South Pacific to the sheltered lagoon. Divers ride the incoming tide into the channel, drifting past stepped coral walls and sandy plateaus where pelagic predators gather. Visibility tends to be sharpest on the oceanward mouth before softening slightly inside the lagoon basin.