Te Ava Tepuka - Funafuti Atoll
Te Ava Tepuka is, hands down, our favourite dive in Funafuti. We love a good wall dive, and this one delivers. It’s an outer reef site, so you’re looking at serious pelagic action. Drop in, and you’re immediately enveloped by visibility that often stretches beyond 30 metres – it feels like diving in air. The wall itself is a tapestry of corals, particularly the delicate Devonshire cup corals and robust corrugated corals, providing shelter for the smaller stuff. But the real show is out in the blue. We’ve seen schools of big-eye trevally so thick they momentarily block the sun. Whitetip reef sharks are common here, just cruising the current line, and if you keep an eye out into the deeper blue, we’ve even spotted the distinctive shape of a humphead wrasse. Keep an eye on your depth here, it’s easy to get distracted by the action and drift a bit deeper than planned. It’s an intermediate dive for a reason, strong currents can pick up, but that’s often when the big fish come out to play. It’s best suited for divers comfortable with a bit of drift and who really want to experience the raw power of an ocean reef.
- Location
- Funafuti Atoll, Tuvalu, Central & South Pacific
- Coordinates
- -8.480000, 179.080000
- Type
- reef
- Maximum Depth
- 10-35m
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
Marine Protected Area: Funafuti
Best Time to Dive in Funafuti Atoll
The warmest water temperatures in Funafuti Atoll occur in January, averaging 30.3°C. The coolest conditions are in December at 30.3°C.
Monthly Water Temperatures
- January: 30.3°C (air: 28.0°C)
- February: 30.3°C (air: 27.9°C)
- March: 30.3°C (air: 28.0°C)
- April: 30.3°C (air: 28.1°C)
- May: 30.3°C (air: 28.1°C)
- June: 30.3°C (air: 28.0°C)
- July: 30.3°C (air: 27.8°C)
- August: 30.3°C (air: 27.6°C)
- September: 30.3°C (air: 27.6°C)
- October: 30.3°C (air: 27.8°C)
- November: 30.3°C (air: 28.0°C)
- December: 30.3°C (air: 28.0°C)
Nearby Dive Sites in Funafuti Atoll
- Funafuti Conservation Area - 5-20m (reef)
- Funafuti South Pass - 10-30m (reef)
- NZ 4031 - 20m (wreck)
- SISCO - 0m (wreck)
- VAN CAMP NO 1 - 0m (wreck)
Marine Life in Funafuti Atoll
Home to 162 recorded species including 111 reef fish, 26 hard corals, 9 sea cucumbers, 7 sea snails & nudibranchs, 4 sharks & rays, 2 clams & mussels.
Notable Species
- Small giant clam (Tridacna maxima) - Clams & Mussels
- Burrowing urchin (Echinometra mathaei) - Sea Urchins
- Giant spider conch (Lambis truncata) - Sea Snails & Nudibranchs
- Manini (Acanthurus triostegus) - Reef Fish
- Amberfish (Thelenota anax) - Sea Cucumbers
- Bullethead Parrotfish (Chlorurus sordidus) - Reef Fish
- Bristle-toothed Surgeonfish (Ctenochaetus striatus) - Reef Fish
- Prickly Redfish (Thelenota ananas) - Sea Cucumbers
- Acropora Butterfly (Chaetodon trifascialis) - Reef Fish
- Banded Goatfish (Parupeneus multifasciatus) - Reef Fish
- Fluted clam (Tridacna squamosa) - Clams & Mussels
- Tigerfish (Bohadschia argus) - Sea Cucumbers
- Black Surgeonfish (Acanthurus nigricans) - Reef Fish
- Redfin Butterflyfish (Chaetodon lunulatus) - Reef Fish
- Orange-lined Triggerfish (Balistapus undulatus) - Reef Fish
- Kihikihi (Zanclus cornutus) - Reef Fish
- Blue-lined Tang (Zebrasoma scopas) - Reef Fish
- Clown Tang (Naso lituratus) - Reef Fish
- Argus Grouper (Cephalopholis argus) - Reef Fish
- Banded maori wrasse (Cheilinus fasciatus) - Reef Fish
Recommended Packing List for Te Ava Tepuka
Based on average water temperature of 30.3°C.
- Shorty or Rashguard - warm 30°C water needs minimal exposure protection
- Mask - essential for every dive
- Fins
- BCD - buoyancy compensator
- Regulator - your most safety-critical piece of gear
- Dive Computer - tracks depth, time, and NDL
- Surface Marker Buoy (SMB) - essential for boat pickups
- Dive Torch - useful for crevices and colour at depth
- Underwater Camera - capture your diving memories