Tikehau · French Polynesia · Wall · Reef · Channel & pass
Teonai
Thousands of Atures stacked over a 20 m plateau
Area photo: Tikehau-SE.jpg: Urs Neumeier derivative work: Hic et nunc (talk) · CC BY-SA 2.5
An ocean-side drop-off dive worked by Tikehau's dive centres, published with a range from 6 to 50 m and built around a plateau that sits at 20 m below the wall. How deep it goes is largely a choice. What divers come for is fish density: thousands of horse mackerel, Atures in Polynesian, hanging over the reef in one mass.
Where it is and how deep
14.9957° S, 148.2917° WPublished position for this site.
The dive
You start shallow on the reef and follow the oceanic drop-off down, coral on one shoulder and open water on the other. The wall levels onto a plateau at 20 m, and that plateau is where the dive is spent. Anyone with deep training and a reason to work further down the slope has room to do it, but the published 50 m floor is an option rather than the plan.
The fish are the point of coming. The site's own description is of dropping into a huge aquarium, and the mass hanging over the reef is horse mackerel in their thousands. Napoleon wrasse work the coral, eagle rays cross the drop-off, and blacktip and whitetip reef sharks patrol it, along with the shark known locally as Mamaru. The dive ends by turning back into the channel to meet the boat.
Marine life and season
- Reef fish swarms
- Napoleon wrasse
- Eagle rays
- Reef sharks
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good |
Season follows Tikehau: Apr–Oct is drier with the calmest passes; the wet season from November to March brings rain and more wind but warm water.
Know before you go
- No current figure is published for Teonai and Tikehau's channels run on the tide, so plan for flow on the return leg into the channel and stay with the guide.
Dive videos
Tikehau Teonai · Mydrian on YouTube
Questions divers ask
How deep is Teonai?+
The site is published as 6 to 50 m. The dive as the centres run it descends the drop-off to a plateau at 20 m and is spent there before returning through the channel to the boat.
Sources
- Teonai — Scubago / SSI MyDiveGuide
More dive sites in Tikehau
Reef
A 5-15 m coral plateau at the angle of the pass
Channel & pass
Hammerheads and tigers in a pass drifted above 10 m
Similar dives elsewhere
Hook into the plateau lip and let the sharks stack up off the edge
Wall
Shark Island
Kosrae · Micronesia
Sharks, barracuda and dog-tooth tuna along a current-swept wall
A drop-off named for the dolphins that buoyed it
Vertical outer-reef walls where eagle rays and mobulas pass.