Diving in the Marquesas

The Marquesas are not a “household” name in the diving community, as far as bucket list places go, but that’s precisely why it’s so special.

There’s a handful of articles you can find online about diving in the Marquesas, whereas there’s probably a couple thousand articles about the Galapagos! For people like me, that’s attractive. It’s an unexplored diver’s paradise!

It’s possible to dive the Marquesas without all of your own gear, but of course that limits where you can dive. The best way to experience these incredible islands is to be fully self-sufficient; which means having all the gear, all the tanks, and most critically, a compressor.

How to find good dive sites?

There are a couple of options when it comes to picking out the best place to dive. If you have a chart plotter with the community-edit feature, you may find markers where people have logged dive sites with brief descriptions. I’ve had about a 50/50 success rate with these, but it’s always worth a shot.

Another great community source for dive sites is, of course, noforeignland. Users add pins on dive sites, and others can upload reviews and photos. Most sites listed here are pretty good, and often include descriptions with max depths, type of dive (wall, drift, etc.), expected conditions, and more.

Now, if the idea of diving in an abused, crowded, and washed out dive site does not interest you, and you want a bit more exploration and excitement, then you can find that here for sure. The easiest sites to locate and access are usually the points just on the outside of an anchorage. These can be reached by dinghy in some of the deeper, longer bays, such as Baie de Controller, or you can get there via a surface swim from the boat at anchor in places like Tahuata. Those with a little flexibility and a confident skipper might just want to stop the boat and jump right in wherever you see a pinnacle on your charts, or a steep wall when you’re sailing out of a bay. Finding a spectacular dive site in a place where it’s likely nobody has ever been before is truly a joy.

What conditions to expect? 

French Polynesia is famed for its perfectly blue water, zero current, a mirror-like surface, 100 meter visibility — however, these descriptions are not necessarily accurate, don’t always expect perfect conditions. That being said, on the surface, conditions can be very mellow, oftentimes with little to no current.

The thing to be most mindful of while diving in the Marquesas is the swell. Both on the surface and underwater it can be very rough, so use your best judgment and don’t force it, you can always find somewhere more protected with less swell. On one dive, my computer was going crazy because of the 3 meter swell overhead, and my ears were popping every 10 seconds—this can be dangerous, so be careful!

As far as visibility goes, it’s hard to say. Some of the bays in Nuku-Hiva can get extremely washed out if there’s a lot of rainfall, which makes the visibility awful. In some of the southern islands, like the aforementioned Tahuata, and Fatu-Hiva, visibility was excellent right inside the anchorages, allowing you to dive straight from the boat and save hours on your outboard.

If you’re diving with a dinghy, you have a couple options. Some dive sites are suitable for anchoring the dinghy, while others are not. You can bring someone to bubble-watch in the dinghy and use a surface marker buoy when you’re coming up.  Another option is towing the dinghy, which can be awkward and laborious.

10 dive sites to explore in the Marquesas

This is subjective, of course, but if you’re unsure of where to start diving in the Marquesas then this list is a good starting point. Most of these dives are suitable for both beginners and advanced divers. Since most of these are wall dives, the depths are entirely up to the divers discretion. This list is in no particular order.

1. Passe Tepuhinuiautou

08°56.180’S 140°05.632’W

This is a great dive site just over a mile south of the largest town in the Marquesas, Taiohae. Jump in the water right on the west side of the little pass there, and work your way south. See mantas, black tips, eels, etc.

2. Taiohae Pinnacle

08°55.876’S 140°05.915’W

Taiohae is a place people often have to stay longer while waiting for parts or services, so it’s good that there are multiple dive sites to explore. This is a pinnacle right across from the green channel marker while coming into the bay; you can see it on your chart plotter. The pinnacle starts at around 30 meters, and comes up to 10 meters.

3. Quokka 2 Lair

08°48.123’S 140°03.111’W

This is a great dive in northern Nuku Hiva. It does not necessarily need to be done as a cave dive, but if you feel confident and have experience in an overhead environment, then it’s well worth it. Definitely bring a torch, and there is a great description on the noforeignland map, so check it out there.

4. Matao Point

09°54.313’S 139°06.335’W

This is a great wall dive, very easily reachable from the Hanamoenoa anchorage. Getting there just takes a short surface swim, especially if you are on the northern side of the anchorage. There is also another great dive site on the point opposite of this one, called The Corner, which is another easy surface swim.

5. Hukou Wall

9°57.391’S 139°07.332’W

For safety, this is a dive site only to be done when easterly swell is minimal. It is a steep wall dive with really fascinating lava flow formations that can be done from the boat or from the dinghy,

6. Hapatoni Point

09°57.904’S 139°07.208’W

This is yet another wall dive, however before you get to the main wall, there are cool rock formations with some swim-throughs. Easiest to reach via surface swim from the Hapatoni anchorage.

7. Hanavave Anchorage

10°27.878’S 138°40.033’W

This is right in the anchorage of Hanavave Bay in Fatu Hiva, which is often considered the most scenic anchorage in the Marquesas. If you dive here at sunrise and sunset, you are guaranteed to see manta rays.

8. North Hanavave Bay

10°27.689’S 138°40.175’W

Dive or snorkel along this shelf to the south until you round the point coming into the anchorage. It can be done via a surface swim from anchorage, or you can get someone to drop you off via dinghy and then you swim back to the boat.

9. Hanavave Wall

10°28.079’S 138°40.328’W

This is an absolutely stunning wall dive! The wall drops straight down from above the water to 40 meters in some places. You can dive this going east or west, but this wall is so extensive you could visit several times to explore it all.

10. Keyhole

10°28.302’S 138°40.622’W

This was personally my favorite dive in the Marquesas; it is a wall dive with a massive cavern right under the cave you can see from the surface. Mind the swell here as it can be up to 3 meters, and after the cavern, just keep going and round the point.

Diving in the Marquesas – More to come!

The dive sites listed here are only on three of the twelve islands, so there are countless other dive sites yet to be explored. If you’ve found an amazing dive spot in French Polynesia, share your recommendations down in the comments.