Tiputa Pass

Each high tide drives a strong current in through the pass and each low tide drives one out, and the classic Tiputa dive waits for the incoming flow. The boat drops the group outside the mouth, and the first stop on the Sharks' Cavern route is a hollow in the reef at about 35 m (115 ft). Sharks are rarely inside it: divers hold still there for about 10 minutes and let the grey reef sharks, which are wary of divers, come in close to look.

Then the group lets go and the current carries it into the pass. The Canyons variant veers to the middle of the channel and stops in the natural gullies along the floor, where the current is stronger; grey reef sharks are thickest here in June and July. Carried by the flow, the sharks can hang almost motionless, which is why they are easy to watch. Whitetip and blacktip reef sharks, humphead wrasse, snapper and clouds of anthias line the walls along the drift.

The dive finishes inside the lagoon, with the safety stop at 5 m done on the move while the current still carries the group. Bottlenose dolphins are resident in the pass and turn up at any stage, and on the outgoing tide the Windmill site outside the mouth, to about 25 m (82 ft), is open to all certified divers, with dolphins, mantas, stingrays, tuna and turtles. Deeper routes, the Crossing at about 50 m (165 ft) and the Run at 45 to 55 m (150 to 180 ft), are for the most experienced divers only.