Page 233 - French Polynesia
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he Blue - Descending into the blue of the Tiputa reef, you will    sharks. There is also the chance to see the great hammerheads at
                                                                        this location.
T see a variety of marine life. You may encounter barracudas,
                                                                        T he Crossing - This is a dive perfect for the most experienced
tuna, grey sharks, silvertip sharks, silky sharks and even bottlenose        divers. As this dive sites name suggests, you will begin the
dolphins. To thoroughly enjoy this dive, which takes place in deep      dive on the opposite side of the Pass as the Cavern and cross the
blue of the reef, a good mastery of buoyancy control is required.       pass at around 165 feet. Upon making the crossing you will find
The dive starts at the same point as the Windmill but instead of        yourself at the cavern where you will then follow the current into
swimming along the bottom of 82 to 85 feet, you will be swimming        the lagoon again. The trick to this dive is staying quite deep as the
outwards where you will have approximately 820 feet below your          current at the bottom is not as strong as near the surface, so the
fins. Although the visibility in Rangiroa is fantastic, everything      crossing is much easier at the 165 foot mark.
fades from blue to black as you look down. The main purpose of
this dive is to see silvertip sharks and silky sharks. This is the one  T he Hammerheads’ Plateau - In the ocean-side of the Tiputa
location where baiting is done by dive shops.                                Pass, from November to April hammerheads can be seen here.

T he Canyons - Located on the inside of the Tiputa pass, this           T he Run - This is a very deep dive which is done only by the
     site is accessible by way of the incoming current on a drift            most experienced of divers. It is done at the mouth of the pass
dive. The canyons are, in fact, faults through the pass. Many fish      and is generally done in January, February and March during the
find refuge in the currents passing through these faults: schools       great hammerhead season. The dive can reach depths between
of surgeonfish, whitetip reef sharks and napoleon wrasses. This         150 and 180 feet. There are also schools of eagle rays which fre-
undersea landscape provides a temporary refuge to divers from           quent this site. This dive like the others ends after you drift into
the raging currents and abreast of a major crossing point for many      the interior of the lagoon and decompress.
interesting marine life such as manta rays and hammerhead sharks.
The dive master may stop in the cavern hoping to spot grey reef
sharks. These canyons go across the Tiputa pass width wise. This is
a fantastic place in the June and July to witness a lot of gray reef
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