Pacific Islands · Micronesia
Pohnpei
Hammerheads and grey reef sharks hold in Palikir Pass's blue water.
Photo: Zykasaa · CC BY-SA 4.0
Pohnpei's outer passes see strong pelagic action, with grey reef sharks, barracuda, and schooling jacks holding in the current at sites like Palikir Pass. Soft coral walls drop from the barrier reef into blue water, and resident manta rays cruise the Manta Road channel. Pohnpei is one of the wettest places on earth, so near-daily rain can cloud inshore visibility even when the passes stay clear.
About diving in Pohnpei
Everything runs from Kolonia by day boat, and the crossing is part of the day: the lagoon is wide, so crews motor across flat inside water before they reach the barrier reef, and the passes are worked to the tide rather than to a fixed departure time. Two dives is the standard morning, with the surface interval spent in the lee of the reef top. Ant Atoll, off to the southwest, is run as its own full day rather than squeezed in between pass dives.
The island is volcanic and ringed by barrier reef, and the diving splits along that line. Inside, the lagoon shelves gently over patch reef and stays diveable when the outer edge is wind-blown, so it earns its place as a second tank rather than as the reason to come. Outside, the reef face falls into open water, and the cuts through it concentrate fish into a narrow strip of moving water where divers tuck in against a corner and let the animals come to them.
It suits divers who can accept a small scene. Operator choice is limited, boats need numbers to run, and plans shift with the wind on the reef top, so a week here works better with slack days built into it than with a fixed schedule. Divers who want shark and jack action without a queue of boats on the mooring will usually find it; anyone who needs a choice of resorts and a full night-dive programme is better served elsewhere in Micronesia. Nan Madol's basalt ruins fill a surface day.
Best time to dive Pohnpei
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Good | Good | Good | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good |
| Sea surface | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 30°C86°F | 30°C86°F | 30°C86°F | 30°C86°F | 30°C86°F | 29°C84°F |
| Daytime high | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 30°C86°F | 30°C86°F | 30°C86°F | 29°C84°F |
| Rain | 181 mm7.1 in | 165 mm6.5 in | 240 mm9.4 in | 236 mm9.3 in | 281 mm11.1 in | 232 mm9.1 in | 275 mm10.8 in | 236 mm9.3 in | 243 mm9.6 in | 269 mm10.6 in | 282 mm11.1 in | 218 mm8.6 in |
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Good | Good | Good | Fair | Fair |
| Sea surface | |||||
| 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F |
| Daytime high | |||||
| 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F |
| Rain | |||||
| 181 mm7.1 in | 165 mm6.5 in | 240 mm9.4 in | 236 mm9.3 in | 281 mm11.1 in | 232 mm9.1 in |
| Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good |
| Sea surface | |||||
| 30°C86°F | 30°C86°F | 30°C86°F | 30°C86°F | 30°C86°F | 29°C84°F |
| Daytime high | |||||
| 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 30°C86°F | 30°C86°F | 30°C86°F | 29°C84°F |
| Rain | |||||
| 275 mm10.8 in | 236 mm9.3 in | 243 mm9.6 in | 269 mm10.6 in | 282 mm11.1 in | 218 mm8.6 in |
2011–2025 averages. Sea surface: NOAA Coral Reef Watch, measured at the surface, so deeper water can run colder. Daytime high and rain: NASA POWER.
Diving runs year-round; the relatively drier Dec-Apr months give the clearest water, while near-constant rain the rest of the year can reduce inshore visibility.
Best months: January, February, March, April, November, December
Pohnpei water temperature and weather by month
The sea surface stays between 29 and 30 °C (84–86 °F) all year. Rain falls through the year, about 240 mm (9.4 in) a month on average, with November the wettest. Daytime highs sit around 29 °C (84 °F) all year. The coldest water here is about 27 °C (81 °F), so pack a 3 mm, or even a 2 mm, suit.
Dive types & marine life
Grey reef sharks, barracuda and jacks hold in the passes on a running tide, so position on the corner matters more than the calendar. Hammerheads are a deep-edge gamble rather than a fixture, and the drier Dec-Apr months give clearer water to pick them out of. Mantas depend on whether the cleaning stations are occupied that day; turtles and eagle rays sit out of the current on the reef face.
- Wall
- Drift
- Pelagic & blue water
- Reef
- Manta rays
- Hammerheads
- Reef sharks
- Barracuda
- Eagle rays
- Trevally & jacks
- Sea turtles
Best dive sites in Pohnpei
Wall
Sea fan wall with white-tip reef sharks and barracuda
Drift
Drift into the passage past schools of black-tip and gray reef sharks
Drift
Whip coral drift with eagle rays and napoleon wrasse
Channel & pass
Tuna, wahoo and gray reef sharks over a reef bridge
Channel & pass
A current-swept channel holding a school of grey reef sharks
Wall
Outer barrier reef wall with giant clams and white-tip sharks
Manta Road
Narrow channel with resident manta rays, black morph included.
Ant Atoll
Uninhabited atoll lagoon with soft corals and reef fish.
Na Pali Channel
Current-swept cut with schooling barracuda and trevally.
How to get to Pohnpei
Getting in means the Micronesia island-hopper route, and most divers connect through Guam or Honolulu. Kolonia is the base, with hotels, dive shops and the boats a short drive from each other. Diving is day-boat: there is no liveaboard working out of Pohnpei, and shore entries are not part of the picture.
Photos from Pohnpei
Patrick Nunn · CC BY-SA 4.0
Patrick Nunn · CC BY-SA 4.0
Dive videos
How we dive...Pohnpei Dive Sites: Manta Road - Fifth visit · Random Adventure & Interest on YouTube
Diving in Pohnpei {Micronesia} | #006 | Maddy and Chase · Maddy and Chase on YouTube
Photo credits
- View from a Pohnpei hilltop over the barrier reef, with surf breaking along the reef edge by Zykasaa, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Small forested islet on Pohnpei's southern barrier reef, ringed by shallow turquoise water by Patrick Nunn, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Kehpara islet on Pohnpei's barrier reef, near the site's black coral sanctuary by Patrick Nunn, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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