Level: Free shore access This spot have a free shore access: you can go snorkeling there freely and without having to book a tour or pay an entrance fee.
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Last updated on October 7, 2022
If you are sailing in the Tuamotus and planning a stopover in Apataki to have your boat serviced, know that you’ll find decent snorkeling near the site. The coral patches facing the beach, where you can swim among many colorful fish, offer pretty great sightings.
This spot is located on a motu in the southeast of Apataki Atoll, where there is a boat maintenance company. Therefore, most visitors are sailors who stop at the motu to have their boats serviced or kept. It’s difficult to get there by any other means.
You can enter the water directly from the beach.
You can snorkel the shallow areas (↕3-9ft/1-3m) facing the motu. The seabed is mainly sandy, with many small coral patches scattered all over the place.
While some corals are damaged, others are beautiful and healthy. Numerous giant clams and Christmas tree worms are embedded in the Porites coral.
On the reef, snorkelers may spot large groups of green chromis, several species of butterflyfish – the double-saddle butterflyfish, the chevron butterflyfish, the oval butterflyfish, surgeonfish, sixbar wrasse and cornetfish.
At the end of the day, you can see from the beach many sleeper sharks, which come to rest on the sand.
The company Apataki Carenage provides showers, toilets, internet connection, and laundry. The village of Niutahi, where you’ll find the airfield and a small store, is about 10 nautical miles from here.
These snorkeling spots are accessible to beginners and kids. You will enter the water gradually from a beach, or in a less than 3ft. deep area. The sea is generally calm, shallow, with almost no waves or currents. These spots are usually located in marked and/or monitored swimming areas. It is not necessary to swim long distances to discover the sea life. This level only apply when the spot experiences optimal sea and/or weather conditions. It is not applicable if the sea and/or weather conditions deteriorate, in particular in the presence of rough sea, rain, strong wind, unusual current, large tides, waves and/or swell. You can find more details about the definition of our snorkeling levels on our snorkeling safety page.
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Snorkeling spots are part of a wild environment and their aspect can be significantly altered by weather, seasons, sea conditions, human impact and climate events (storms, hurricanes, seawater-warming episodes…). The consequences can be an alteration of the seabed (coral bleaching, coral destruction, and invasive seagrass), a poor underwater visibility, or a decrease of the sea life present in the area. Snorkeling Report makes every effort to ensure that all the information displayed on this website is accurate and up-to-date, but no guarantee is given that the underwater visibility and seabed aspect will be exactly as described on this page the day you will snorkel the spot. If you recently snorkeled this area and noticed some changes compared to the information contained on this page, please contact us.
The data contained in this website is for general information purposes only, and is not legal advice. It is intended to provide snorkelers with the information that will enable them to engage in safe and enjoyable snorkeling, and it is not meant as a substitute for swim level, physical condition, experience, or local knowledge. Remember that all marine activities, including snorkeling, are potentially dangerous, and that you enter the water at your own risk. You must take an individual weather, sea conditions and hazards assessment before entering the water. If snorkeling conditions are degraded, postpone your snorkeling or select an alternate site. Know and obey local laws and regulations, including regulated areas, protected species, wildlife interaction and dive flag laws.
