The coral garden is the most renowned snorkeling spot of Tahaa. This crystal clear water channel, which separates two motus, is located in an idyllic setting in the middle of one of the largest lagoons of Polynesia. While let yourself drift over colorful and preserved corals, you will observe alternately school of butterflyfish, lionfish, brightly colored wrasse, clownfish huddled in their anemones and great giant clams sunbathing right under the surface of the sea.

I’m not sure what this article is talking about with their indication of a gentle drift.  The current at the entrance to this snorkel spot is almost too strong to stand up in.  I had to be very careful to not fall.  Once you have your fins on, it’s a quick scout to find a path from the shore to an area with less coral than the rest and then praying that the current doesn’t scrape you over the rocks! This was way more intense than I had planned on for today!  It was still super exciting and a ton of fun! Jason, unfortunately, forgot his shoes so he tore his feet up pretty good while walking on the coral path to get from the boat parking spot, along the island to the start of the drift.  Lesson learned!

The snorkel itself was very interesting.  Depths were apparently 6′ max, while I think most of the drift was 3-4′.  I even kept going up into water only a few feet deep!  The coral itself reaches almost to the surface of the water and is filled with all varieties of fish and even a Moray Eel!  We overheard one couple talking about seeing an octopus, but we didn’t find it.