Tuheiava Pass – Tikehau (Tuamotu)

Site Overview

Tuheiava Pass is Tikehau's premier dive site and one of the most reliable manta ray cleaning stations in the Tuamotu archipelago, where up to twenty manta rays gather seasonally at the pass entrance to take advantage of the cleaning services provided by small wrasse and other cleaner fish species. The site combines the thrill of close-up manta encounters with the dramatic backdrop of a productive atoll pass where grey reef sharks patrol the deeper sections and eagle rays soar through the nutrient-rich water with their broad wings creating elegant silhouettes. The manta rays arrive at the cleaning station in a predictable daily pattern, often circling the area several times before settling above the coral bommies where the cleaner fish attend to their needs by removing parasites and dead skin from their enormous bodies and even inside their cavernous mouths. Schools of jacks form massive aggregations in the current, their silver bodies creating shimmering curtains that pulse and reform in coordinated patterns as they hunt smaller fish concentrated by the tidal flow through the pass. Eagle rays are abundant throughout the site, their distinctive silhouettes banking gracefully through the current as they search for molluscs and crustaceans buried in the sandy areas between the coral formations. The vibrant coral communities lining the pass walls are among the healthiest in the Tuamotus, protected by the remote location and limited diving pressure that allows the reef ecosystem to thrive undisturbed.