Fakarava -Tuamotu 17 July 2024

It was raining when I woke and it was a grey miserable day. I cannot remember having such a day since I left the UK!

We had an early breakfast as we were going snorkelling on the Passe. This is a famous Unesco sight and is famous for a number of things. It is where there is the largest concentration of grey sharks in the world – about a colony of 700 they think. It is also where there is the largest concentration of groupers (hundreds of thousands) which meet to spawn at full moon in July each year and it may have already happened.  This has been an area of special interest for  many years and has featured on David Attenborough’s Blue Planet series. It is famous for its wall of sharks- literally hundreds on one place and like a wall.

Although the weather was a bit grey and wet we thought we would go in for our agreed tome of about 8.00am to meet the dive company. This means actually going a bit into the passe and they are on the east side. When we got there they were ready to proceed and we had thought of a nicer day. However, they said the water was clear and the current good so we decided to go for it.

We all put on shorties (short wet suits) and then they gave us a briefing. Since the tide was coming in we would be taken to the ocean end of the passe and have a quick look at the center which will be  a sandy bottom where there may be sharks resting or swimming around. We would then swim to the east side where the coral is and where there will be lots of fish. We would then drift with the current down through the passe and past the huts and round out of the passe toward the anchorage where we would be picked up.

Once we were ready we got in their boat and were taken to the end of the passe and once in the middle we got out. It was deep but we could see the sandy bottom, 20-30 metres below. I could see a shark lying on the bottom asleep and during the snorkel we could see a few more doing the same. We also saw a few sharks swimming around. We then moved toward the coral on the east side and started swimming along what was a vast coral bank. This was some of the healthiest coral I have ever seen. It was magnificent with lots of colours and types. This meant great fish life and there was a massive variety of different sizes and colours which were all busy swimming around and feeding, chasing each other or just swaying in the current. There were quite a lot of sharks swimming around mostly black tip sharks but we also saw white tip sharks, lemon sharks and grey sharks.

We continued to drift and saw shoals of different types of fish – yellow striped, pink and silver, and silver with yellow fins. This was probably the best drift snorkel I have done in my life and the most healthy and extensive coral reef. I have snorkelled on the Great Barrier Reef but I do not recall it as being like this. When we passed the huts on stilts there were loads of fish sheltering from the sun underneath and we saw groupers and some very large fish which they call Napoleons. As we neared the end of the passe I saw about 30 sharks in the deeper section of the passe in the distance.

We passed the huts and carried on for another quarter of a mile and then we were round the corner and we were eventually picked up by the dive boat. It had been a fantastic snorkel in one of the most revered dive spots in the world.

We returned to the dive center and then returned to Stormbird and Joyce made a hot chocolate to warm us up. It was still a bit grey and raining so we rested and read and later had lunch.  We decided after lunch to go and explore further and returned to the passe where we moored to a green buoy and tried there. We then decided to drift snorkel ourselves and went the opposite way to the route we had gone this morning. It was just as good.

We returned again to Stormbird by which time the sun had come out and we enjoyed tea on the aft deck. We had been invited to a catamaran nearby who were showing a film called 700 sharks about the Fakarava South Passe. There were several other dinghies there and they had set up a big screen at the back of the boat with a projector and so about 7 dinghies sat and watched the documentary. However, halfway through the documentary stopped as the rest were corrupted. They therefore put on the part of Blue Planet which related to Fakarava and the sharks and groupers. It was a shame the documentary could not be fully seen – so if you are interested then look up 700 sharks. I intend to when I can.

Once we returned from the showing we had a Carbonara supper. It had been a great day and we may do a discovery dive tomorrow.

Crewing Opportunity Year Two

In addition, in year two I will be going from New Zealand in early January 2025 across to Sydney and up the Eastern Australian Coast, Indonesia and probably across the Indian Ocean to Cape Town and I will need some more crew.  The picture of the day is a grey shark with a sucker fish attached which was swimming round the dive hut!.

If there is any interest do email me at  hine.nick9@gmail.com  

The blog will continue as we move through French Polynesia and beyond.