![]() Small fish darting in and out of the coral trees reminded me of ‘Finding Nemo’ as my goggles appeared above their little homes. We dropped the anchor in 8m on a sandy patch, and the three of us dived down and poked around the grottos of this narrow shelf of coral. I jumped in first to look for a sandy spot to drop our anchor – immediately behind us the vertical wall descended into the daunting depths of the deep blue ocean. Having another calm day to dive was a bonus, otherwise the swell could wash us onto the reef. Once again, the distance from the reef to drop off with depths >100m was about 15-20m wide. The next day we filled the cylinders and by 10:30am were motoring 1.5km west of the entrance to a series of coral grottos on the outer reef. We dived for around 35 minutes, 20m to an average of 10m, and saw large groupers, a cleverly disguised octopus and a couple of large moray eels tucked inside caves. On a nice day, it would be a good dive as the bommies were dotted on the sandy bottom much like a Japanese garden. Turned out there was virtually no current and visibility was murky. We swam in our SCUBA gear to the entrance of the pass and expected to drift in on the incoming tide. The second dive that day was fairly straightforward. The contours showing the steep walls of the outer reef This dive was in the morning, so afterwards we filled the tanks while we had lunch and prepared for a second dive. ![]() ![]() It was a good dive, with great visibility – I had hoped to see Manta Rays or Dolphins, but just a couple of sharks and plenty of groupers and fish varieties. Even though, over 50 minutes our average depth was around 10m. It’s a little daunting to say the least, but we didn’t go any deeper than 25m, nothing but deep blue beneath us as we swam over abyss and huge walls. ![]() The narrow strip of coral reef around the island drops off steeply into depths hundreds of metres deep (you can see the contours on the image). Community Edits marking dive spots on the outer reef For safety, we went as a group of three – Wayne, me and Kevin – Alpha flag flying high from the transom. There are no longer any dinghy moorings on the outer reef dives, so we dropped the small dinghy anchor in a patch of sand in around 10m. Our first dive was on the outer reef, about 1.5km east of the entrance at the dive named Yellow Dog. She even said they had pigs and if there were enough people, she would prepare one for dinner.Ī number of dives are marked on Navionics Community Edits. Gaston also catches lobster and these can either be bought for fresh, or Valentine can put on a meal for paying guests. We’d read previously that there’s a fee for grabbing a mooring – the price seemed to vary depending on who was asking, but we were happy enough to pay 1500F (Around US$15) for three nights. Rotoava at Fakarava is where they go for supplies, but it’s a long way in a small runabout boat. They produce honey and sell it to passing vessels. Valentine speaks English so we chatted to her for a while she told us about how Gaston had to swim for six hours after he was knocked out of his boat in rough sea conditions how she can free dive to 25m, Gaston to 40m and how they live here in the middle of nowhere surviving on lobster, coconuts and fruit and vegetables. The inlet has good leads to guide incoming vessels through the narrow pass, and is well charted on Navionics.Īfter lunch we dinghied ashore and were welcomed by local inhabitants Gaston and Valentine – both available to offer humble services. Already five vessels were on moorings and it wouldn’t be long before the rest for taken. With little wind we motor-sailed all day to arrive at around 1pm, grabbing one of the ten moorings – large yellow buoys with heavy spliced rope seem sturdy enough. With the few days of calm weather, we decided not to enter the atoll, in favour of going to Anse Amyot, a small cul-de-sac on the northwest of the atoll where diving is supposed to be excellent on the outside of the atoll. The distance from the north pass of Fakarava to the top of Toau is around 37nm along the eastern coast of the atoll and slightly longer along the western side. A few days of calm weather wasn’t so good for sailing, but was perfect for diving.
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