French Polynesia, Best Of Tuamotus

French Polynesia Grouper Spawning 🇵🇫 – ’28

12 nights on the Aquatiki III 🇵🇫

Travel details

Available spaces

Fully Booked

Trip duration

12 nights

Travel dates

26 June, 2028 - 08 July, 2028

Price per person

7.605 € per person

Trip Highlights

Wall of Sharks 🦈 Fakarava's "Wall of Sharks" is much like a highway at rush hour, only this tine hundreds of grey reef sharks patrol the Corso in the South wall! This vertical drop off is a world renowned dive site, with stunning visibility and sharks effortlessly gliding into the current. While every diver in the world wants to have a shot at this site, only a few get it.

Zipping through French Polynesia by catamaran has so much advantages: it's spacious, agile and just so comfortable. The Aquatiki III is the best vessel to dive these waters by quite a distance.

Channel Madness 🌪️ Located in the atolls between lagoons and islands, stunning channel or drift dives are a common trait of French Polynesia. Typically, at the entrances of these channels, big fish are lurking during incoming currents. This makes for a splash of adventure and wildlife encounter that is nothing short of spectacular.

Trip description

The waters of French Polynesia are remote and uninterrupted. The marine life is abundant, with manta and eagle rays, sharks of many species and sizes, stingrays, tunas, dolphins, even the occasional swordfish. Most divesites are entirely unfrequented, so we forget about bubbles from other dive groups.

We move between atolls by catamaran, which means the boat is the base. You sleep on board, eat on board, and most dives drop straight off the back. Cabins are comfortable, the crew handles everything, and the food is fresh and simple. No transfers, no checking in and out, no rush.

Above water it stays quiet in a way that is getting hard to find. Empty divesites, lagoons that genuinely look like the photos, sundowners on deck. The luxury here is not in the trim. It is in the space, the time, and the fact that for ten days almost nothing is asked of you.

Aquatiki Catamaran

Nights

Price per person

7.605 €

DATE START

26 June 2028

DATE END

08 July 2028

The Aquatiki III is a catamaran built by the Fountaine Pajot shipyard in La Rochelle, France.

Onboard comfort is hotel-like: a spacious, very comfortable foyer with a video corner, lounge library, and cocktail bar. Amenities include an American-style galley, a spacious, sun-protected cockpit with a sun awning, a large sun deck, a salon in the bow, two popular trampolines, and a plancha grill.

The catamaran is 20 meters long and 9.8 meters wide and has five cabins for a total of ten guests: two cabins with double or twin beds, one cabin with bunk beds for two people, and two VIP double cabins with TV/HiFi/DVD. These are equipped with individually controlled air conditioning, a sound system, and an en-suite bathroom with toilet.

Propulsion is provided by 230 m² of sail area and two 150-hp engines. The fuel tank has a capacity of over 1000 liters.

A powerful generator and inverter ensure a 220V power supply around the clock. Each cabin has its own 220V outlet.

The Aquatiki is self-sufficient in its freshwater supply: Over 800 liters of reserve water and two desalination plants, each with a capacity of 190 liters per hour, are available.

For maximum safety, the vessel is equipped with state-of-the-art navigation technology and the latest technological innovations: autopilot, GPS, BLU, VHF, navigation computer, radar, Standard-C weather service, and a Sarsat emergency beacon. The catamaran also offers every comfort: a hi-fi system with a separate sound system in each cabin and a CD library, a television with a VCR, and a DVD player with a video library. The library includes documentaries on the underwater world, Polynesia, and navigation, as well as numerous games for entertaining evenings.

Telephone, Wi-Fi, and satellite fax allow you to stay connected anytime, anywhere in the world!

Included

Included:
12 nights on board the fabulous Aquatiki III catamaran
Starts/ends in Fakarava
Airport transfer from to Fakarava airport or hotel/guesthouse
Full board incl. water
2 dives per day incl. tank, weights, guides and nitrox

Not Included

Not included:
Int. and domestic flights
Eventual pre-program or stopover overnights
Diving insurance & trip insurances
Equipment rental
Local taxes approx. 1 € / day
VIP cabin double bed, sea view 600 € per person / trip
Crew tips

Day-by-day program

Arrive at Fakarava Airport (FAV), an hour’s flight from Tahiti. Transfer to the harbour to board Aquatiki III, our home for the next twelve nights. Cabin assignment, gear setup, briefing on the trip and the grouper spawning event. Welcome dinner on deck as the sun sets over the lagoon.

First dives at Garuae Pass, the biggest pass in French Polynesia. Drift dive on the incoming tide, wall of grey reef sharks on the corner, schooling snappers and jacks. Two dives, easing into the rhythm.

Slow sail down the length of Fakarava lagoon toward the South Pass, one dive on the way if conditions allow. Briefing in the afternoon on the marbled grouper spawning event: what to expect, how to position yourself, and how the sharks work the aggregation. This is one of the top big animal events on the planet.

First dive at Tumakohua, the South Pass of Fakarava. In late June the marbled grouper gather here in thousands to spawn, and hundreds of grey reef sharks come in to feed. Two dives on the pass, drifting in on the current, hanging on the corner, watching the show. Nothing else compares.

Second day on the pass. The action builds toward the full moon. More grouper stacked up on the reef, more sharks in the water than most divers see in a lifetime. Two dives back to back. Log everything.

Peak of the aggregation. The grouper are actively spawning, the sharks are feeding, and the water column is thick with action from the surface to 30 metres down. Two dives with the whole crew on standby for whatever conditions do.

Just outside the South Pass. Tetamanu is the tiny village of Fakarava, and its lagoon side is a shallow reef alive with fish. Two dives, one on the pass in the morning if the current is right, one inside the lagoon in the afternoon.

Overnight sail from the previous evening puts you at Kauehi by morning. Kauehi is quieter than Fakarava, a proper Tuamotu atoll with a single pass and no dive boats waiting. Two dives on the pass and the outer reef.

A day inside the lagoon of Kauehi. Coral pinnacles rising from white sand, reef sharks patrolling, big schools of barracuda in the deeper water. Two dives, plus time for a beach lunch on a motu.

Morning sail to Toau, one of the least visited atolls of the archipelago. Afternoon dive at the entrance of Otugi Pass if conditions cooperate.

Toau’s Anse Amyot, a closed pass that works like a natural fish trap. Big napoleons come right up to you, friendly grey reef sharks circling the wall, schools of jacks overhead. Two dives, evening barbecue with the local family who lives at Anse Amyot.

Morning sail back to north Fakarava. Two final dives at Garuae Pass to close the loop. Farewell dinner on board, group photos, slideshow of the trip.

TRIP LEADER

Your Trip Leader

A man that needs little explanation. Armed with his RED camera, he has knows the world’s prime dive locations like his backpocket. A forever optimist and young spirit, proud to call him our most experienced Group Trip Guide.

We are Behind the Mask Travel.

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