Uepi Point

Uepi Point sits where the passage out of Marovo Lagoon meets The Slot, and the tide decides how the dive runs. The standard profile is the Uepi Point Drift: go in at the point and take the courtesy ride of the incoming tide back along the wall towards the dive shop pier rather than swimming it. The reef corner is close to vertical and coated profusely with corals — gorgonian fans and colourful soft corals on the face, with large gorgonians, huge amphora basket sponges and soft coral trees cramming the slope below.

Depth is a choice rather than a requirement. A coral peninsula juts out into the deep blue at 30 m, and below it the passage wall runs on to meet the floor at about 50 m. The outer edge is where the action is: tidal current interchanging between the lagoon and The Slot keeps the filter feeders fed and pulls a procession of pelagics past the corner — schooling barracuda and jacks, with giant trevally, big-eye jacks, mackerel, wahoo, rainbow runner, dogtooth and smaller tuna and sharks cruising back and forth waiting for an inattentive fish.

The shallows finish the dive. Sand patches on the reef top hold families of garden eels, arrays of colourful gobies and a diverse collection of invertebrate life, which is where the last minutes and the safety stop go. The same site is Uepi's premier night dive: after dark it fills with masses of resting fish and exotic crustaceans — crayfish, basket stars, decorator crabs, flounder and crocodilefish, turtles, and shells including the deadly Conus geographus, so keep hands off the sand.