French Polynesia is made up of 121 pristine atolls and islands located in the tropical South Pacific, including popular destinations such as Tahiti, Bora Bora, Moorea and Huahine - each one ringed with vibrant coral reefs and overflowing with exotic marine life. Visitors can explore underwater caves, caverns, lagoons and shipwrecks - while swimming alongside friendly dolphins, manta rays, eels, jellyfish, barracuda and tuna. But for those seeking the ultimate thrill, French Polynesia is also home to one of the world's highest concentrations of great hammerhead, whitetip, blacktip, silvertip and gray reef sharks. Here's our top 5 places for getting up close and personal with one of the sea's most magnificent creatures and revered predators.
1. Tahiti: When it comes to shark diving, Tahiti island is the place to get your feet wet. The area's calm waters and abundant marine-life, which includes small reef sharks, nurse sharks, friendly moray eels and countless schools of dazzlingly bright colored fish, provide a safe yet thrilling experience for beginners. Even novice divers can experience a shark feeding frenzy at the Shark Cave, explore sunken shipwrecks and seaplanes or peer into the deepest depths of the ocean from a sheer cliff located on an underwater plateau at the famed Tahiti Wall.
2. Bora Bora: Renowned worldwide for its stunning topside beauty, Bora Bora also offers some of the world's best dives. Beginners can swim easily among groups of giant Manta Rays at sites including Anau and the Teavanui Pass, be shadowed underwater by 'torpedoing' gray reef sharks at Muri Muri (The White Valley) and feed lemon sharks by hand at Tapu Dive.
3. Huahine: The island's sleepy, beach-town vibe, modest prices and authentic Polynesian style make it perfect for travelers wanting to get off the beaten track. You can find plenty of reef life surrounding Huahine including leopard rays, tortoise, big napoleons, jacks, eels and barracuda. Dive in at Avepeihi (Fitii's) Pass for one of the world's best places to witness gray sharks feeding in their natural habitat.
4. Fakarava: Perhaps the newest and least explored sport diving destination, Fakarava (a designated UNESCO reserve) is one of the world's best places for viewing big fish and large pelagic animals (tuna, shark, mantas) and for drift diving. Advanced divers can literally flow along with the current at the 2/3 mile wide Garuae Pass and see great hammerhead, whitetips, manta rays and marbled grouper. Intermediate divers can have less challenging yet equally rewarding experience at Tumakohua Pass.
5. Rangiroa: For one of the world's ultimate diving experiences, come to Rangiroa (the world's second largest atoll). With exceptionally clear visibility (commonly exceeding 100ft), exhilarating currents and and massive amounts of sharks, rays, turtles, eels, tuna, barraduca and dolphins, divers are in for the thrill of a lifetime. The Pacific Ocean connects with Rangiroa's gigantic lagoon at the Avatoru Pass and Tiputa Pass, creating an in-and-out flow that results in an unbelievably high concentration of marine life. This area is also one of the best places for spotting great hammerhead sharks and huge numbers of gray reef sharks.
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