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 August 15, 2023
Unlike most Manta locations in French Polynesia which are only accessible by boat, Pointe Ta’ihi allows you to encounter these majestic creatures by entering the water from Bora Bora’s main island’s shore. Manta rays congregate here around a “cleaning station.” A cleaning station is a reef where the rays are cleaned by small wrasse. By snorkeling the drop-off early in the morning, you will have a good chance of spotting them.
Pointe Ta’ihi is the northernmost point of the main island of Bora Bora. There are two ways to access this spot:
If you visit this spot from the shore, enter the water in front of the small car park. After a few meters of coral debris, the seabed becomes sandy and allows easy water entrance.
If you visit this spot with a tour, you will enter the water from your boat, once your guide has spotted the manta rays.
Skin diving/freediving is not allowed at this location in order to avoid the rays being disturbed.
Once in the water (if you entered the water from the shore), swim to the drop off, which begins about 50 yards from the coast. It is along the drop off (10 to 28 ft/3 to 8 meters) that you will have the best chances of encountering the manta rays, which visit this area every day.
You can snorkel along the drop off for about 200 yards on the left and 50 yards on the right of the entry point. The cleaning station is located at the point (see map), but the rays swim along the entire drop-off.
Although this spot offers good chances of seeing manta rays, encounters are not guaranteed. To increase your chances of seeing them, slowly follow the drop off a few times. Also keep an eye on the tour boats that are visiting the spot: if their guests jump into the water, it means that a manta ray has been seen from the surface.
Manta rays frequent Pointe Ta’ihi because its reef hosts large populations of two species of cleaner wrasse: the bluestreak cleaner wrasse and the bicolor cleaner wrasse. These cleaner wrasse can get rid of the small parasites present on the manta ray’s skin, in their mouth and in their gills.
In the shallowest parts of the drop-off, around porous massive coral, you can also see a diversity of reef fish including damselfish, butterflyfish, parrotfish, cornetfish, as well as small Napoleons.
There are no food option near the spot, which is located in a quiet part of the coast.
These spots are accessible to anyone with basic snorkeling skills, and feeling comfortable in the water and with his snorkeling gear. You will enter the water from the shore (beach, pontoon, ladder, rocks) or from a boat. The water height in the sea entrance area is reasonable, but you will not necessarily be within your depth. Moderate currents can occur in the area, even when the sea conditions are good. The distance to swim to reach the most interesting snorkeling areas of the spot does not exceed 200 meters. 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.
