St. Etienne Drop-Off

St. Etienne Drop-Off lies along the barrier reef of the Society Islands near Tahiti, in the waters of French Polynesia, where the reef flat gives way to a wall dropping into deeper lagoon or ocean water. It is rated an intermediate dive with a maximum depth of around 14 metres, keeping most of the site within the shallower reaches of the drop-off. Divers have also reported surge here, which is worth keeping in mind when planning the dive along the wall. The bottom and reef surfaces have turned up a mix of smaller life, including rock-boring urchins, lagoon triggerfish, leopard sea cucumbers, small giant clams, textile cones, and thin-shelled rock crabs, making this more of a close-look dive than a big-animal site.

Confirmed by our research team, reported by independent divers, or observed nearby via iNaturalist — each entry is labelled with its source.

• Thin-shelled Rock CrabGrapsus tenuicrustatusReported here · unconfirmed
• Indo-Pacific Rock-boring UrchinEchinometra mathaeiReported here · unconfirmed
• Small Giant ClamTridacna maximaReported here · unconfirmed
• Textile ConeConus textileReported here · unconfirmed
• Lagoon TriggerfishRhinecanthus aculeatusReported here · unconfirmed
• Leopard Sea CucumberBohadschia argusReported here · unconfirmed