The Tiputa Pass (inward flowing current)
The Sharks' cavern
This dive, starting at the right angle right out of the pass can be considered as accessible to all levels although recommended to experienced divers for it requires that you be well-balanced and feel like a fish in water. The cavern owes its name to a cavity down at 115 feet. Against every expectation, there are no sharks in it and divers actually have to stay in the cavern so that gray reef sharks come as close to us as possible. To put it clearly, the sharks are those who are afraid of us and we must stay quiet and idling if we want sharks to fight their natural fear and then come closer to us. After a ten minute stay there we will plunge from the angle into the pass and the current will lead us into the interior of the lagoon... Said that way sounds easy...And it actually is! What's more, it is truly exciting to drift like that in the current and virtually fly in the water without stroking with your fins...The greatest difficulty of this dive is to remain regrouped and not stray away so for that, the simplest thing is to stay behind the instructor, at the same depth as his and to never lag behind for whatever reason. During the drifting in the pass we will glance at little grottos, full of colors and little animals. Towards the end of the diving we will slither in the calm waters of the lagoon in which we will decompress slowly and in all safety. Even though level 1 divers cannot reach the cavern at 115 feet deep, we can tell you that you will get a lot of fun and emotions.
The Canyons
The first part of the diving is similar to the latter but once in the pass, roughly half-way, we will swerve to the middle of the pass and stop at every canyon – hence the name of this dive – The canyons cross the pass in its width. This dive is intended for more experienced divers because, except a few times, we are right in the middle of the pass where the current is the strongest. The dive is particularly nice in June, during the reproduction time of gray reef sharks. They gather by hundreds in the canyons and you can even watch some big S. Mokarran, those great hammerhead sharks!
The Step
This dive is for the most experienced divers. It starts in the ocean, smack dab at the mouth of the pass. One can do it in January, February and March during the great hammerhead shark season, the S. Mokarran season, at between 148 feet and 180 feet deep. At this time of the year, there are often great schools of stingrays seeking for unison to challenge the attacks of starving great hammerheads. "There are so many of us so why choose me specially?!" The dive ends in the interior of the lagoon too.
The Crossing
This is a dive perfect for the most experienced divers. It starts in deep blue waters off the right angle of the pass' entrance. So, as the name of the dive suggests it, the main purpose of this dive is to do the crossing of the pass with the inward flowing current from one side to the other. You need to stay quite deep below because the current is actually always much stronger at the surface. There are some 164 feet below surface at the deepest and it can be said that this is the best opportunity to watch schools of gray reef sharks. Once you have crossed the pass you will find yourself roughly at the sharks' cavern. From there, we will begin drifting with the current into the lagoon.