The Coral Canyons

The site is the western bight of Vaka'eitu, and the shape of the rock is what gives the dive its name. Coral formations run the length of the bight, and from the steep rocky shoreline fingers of coral extend out to seaward before falling away. The drop is from the surface to 20 metres, so the top of every ridge sits in bright water and the gaps between them are the deepest part of the profile.

That geometry sets the route. Swim out along one finger, drop into the gap beside it, then come back up onto the next and work the bight in stages rather than committing to a single depth. Twenty metres is the published floor, so a conservative plan keeps you on the ridge tops for most of the dive and spends only the deeper minutes down in the canyons. The guide adds that the water here is always clearer than at the other nearby snorkelling sites, but publishes no site-specific figures for current or marine life, so ask the boat what it has been seeing.