Raiatea & Taha'a · French Polynesia · Drift · Channel & pass
Teavapiti Pass
Three kinds of reef shark in the current channel of a Raiatea pass
Teavapiti is the pass in front of which the Nordby lies. Divers ride the current through the channel as water enters or leaves the lagoon, and the pass is known for its fauna: grey, blacktip and whitetip sharks, jacks, barracudas and Napoleon wrasse.
Also known as Pass Teavapiti, Te Ava Piti.
Where it is and how deep
16.7444° S, 151.4204° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The dive is a drift through the current channel, run with the water either entering or leaving the Raiatea lagoon, and the pass reaches 29 m. Jacks, barracudas and Napoleon wrasse share the channel with grey, blacktip and whitetip sharks.
Marine life and season
- Reef sharks
- Trevally & jacks
- Barracuda
- Napoleon wrasse
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good |
Season follows Raiatea & Taha'a: Diving runs every day all year; humpback whales visit from September to early December and are met on snorkelling trips.
Dive videos
Raiatea - Plongée à la passe Teavapiti · Jean-Paul Arnoul on YouTube
Souvenirs d'une plongée dérivante à Raiatea / Memories of a drift dive in Raiatea · Te Mara Nui Plongée on YouTube
Sources
- Scuba diving in Raiatea-Tahaa & Bora-Bora — HemisphereSub Raiatea
- Exploration diving in Raiatea and Taha'a — Manawa
- Diving — Te Mara Nui
- OpenStreetMap: Te Ava Piti — OpenStreetMap
More dive sites in Raiatea & Taha'a
Drift
Walls of barracudas circling a yellow-coral peak
Coral garden
Blacktip sharks over a calm, shallow coral garden
Drift
Leopard rays and barracudas on a west-coast drift
Wreck
A three-masted steel ship resting intact inside the lagoon
Similar dives elsewhere
Whip coral drift with eagle rays and napoleon wrasse
Grey reef sharks at the mouth, then a drift into the lagoon
Drift into the passage past schools of black-tip and gray reef sharks
Barracuda and trevally circling divers in the current of the west-coast pass