Teavanui Pass – Bora Bora (Society Islands)

Site Overview

Teavanui Pass is the main ocean entrance to Bora Bora's lagoon and one of the most productive dive sites in the Society Islands for encountering large pelagic species in their natural oceanic environment. The pass funnels enormous volumes of water between the barrier reef walls during tidal changes, creating a nutrient-rich highway that attracts the full spectrum of pelagic life from schooling barracuda and jacks to the magnificent whale sharks that filter-feed on plankton concentrations near the pass entrance. Grey reef sharks are consistently present in impressive numbers, forming hunting packs that patrol the deeper sections of the pass with their characteristic steady cruising movements while keeping one eye on the bait fish aggregations that form in the current. During the southern hemisphere winter months from August to November, humpback whales migrate through the area and their haunting songs can be heard reverberating through the water during dives in the pass. Dogtooth tuna and other large predatory fish use the pass as a hunting ground, launching explosive attacks on schooling fish that are concentrated by the current in predictable locations. The pass walls themselves are covered in gorgonian fans, black corals, and other filter-feeding organisms that extend their delicate structures into the nutrient-rich current to capture passing plankton. The combination of reliable pelagic encounters and the dramatic underwater landscape makes Teavanui Pass a bucket-list dive for experienced divers visiting French Polynesia.