Diving Rhino
Vava'u Tonga

Location

18°40.050'S / 174°03.425'W

General Info

Located on the western shore of Neiafu (in the general area referred to as 'North Shore').   This makes a good second dive for one of the deeper dives in this area.  It might be possible to anchor a dinghy in this area from which to dive (we did it from a dive boat who drifted above us).

The day we did this dive, the wind was blowing about 15 knots ENE, and the swell report was about 2.5 meters from the SE, but we had very gentle conditions in this spot.

Dive Profile

The dive begins near the shore in about 15-20'.  In this area are a series of huge coral-topped rocks.  The outer (western) edge of the rocks are in about 40-50'.  They are on a wall that drops down to over 100'.  But most of the good stuff is in 25-60'. 

From the waypoint, proceed north among the rocks.  There is a lot to see along the bottom and sides of the rocks.  But check the tops of each rock.  The second or third huge rock has a very large colony of anemones (3-4 meters square).  It's amusing to sit and watch the anemone fish play in the gentle surge.

Our divemaster carried a flashlight, and spent the next 40 minutes or so flashing in all the small nooks and crannies in the western face of the rocks, looking for interesting things to show us.  We found 2 varieties of small pipefish, nudibranchs, crinoids, lots of soft and hard corals, and lots of fish.

We swam north against a very gentle current and then drifted back south with the current.

This was a very enjoyable second dive, with lots of profile.

Notes