Diving & Travel Guide to Tikehau (Tuamotu)

About Tikehau (Tuamotu)

Tikehau is a compact circular atoll in the western Tuamotus that punches well above its weight for diving quality. The Tuheiava Pass is the headline site, where a manta ray cleaning station at the pass entrance attracts up to twenty manta rays seasonally alongside grey reef sharks, eagle rays, schooling jacks, and vibrant coral growth. The inner lagoon hosts another manta cleaning station with resident mantas, rays, and turtles among dense coral bommies. The Aquarium site provides shallow lagoon coral gardens abundant with butterflyfish, anemonefish, and moray eels ideal for training dives. The famous pink sand beach offers snorkelling and diving over pink coral sand with macro critters and garden eels. The Mahararepa Drift on the outer reef delivers pelagic encounters with tuna, barracuda, dolphins, and occasional whale sharks. Tikehau's small size means dive sites are close to the village and accommodation, with boat rides typically under fifteen minutes. The atoll has a handful of comfortable resorts and pensions that cater to divers and honeymooners alike. The combination of reliable manta encounters, diverse dive sites, and the intimate scale of the atoll makes Tikehau an excellent addition to any Tuamotu diving itinerary. Jacques Cousteau's research team declared Tikehau's lagoon to contain the highest concentration of fish in French Polynesia, a testament to the extraordinary health of this small but remarkable atoll.

Highlights

• ✓Tuheiava Pass: Manta ray cleaning station at the pass entrance with up to 20 mantas seasonally, grey reef sharks, eagle rays, and vibrant coral.
• ✓Manta Point (inner lagoon): Another cleaning station with resident mantas, rays, turtles, and dense coral bommies.
• ✓The Aquarium: Shallow lagoon coral garden with abundant butterflyfish, anemonefish, and moray eels.
• ✓Pink Sand Beach: Snorkel and dive over pink coral sand with macro critters, garden eels, and stingrays.

Getting There

Air Tahiti flights from Papeete take approximately one hour. The airstrip is near Tuherahera village.