The Pass of DUMBEA
Situated about 13 nautical miles from Noumea, the Dumbea passage offers divers a beautiful drop-off on the outside of the reef, with pretty gorgonians.
The underwater plant life here is very varied and coloured. However, with the exception of NOUMEA DIVING few dive operators come here. With no mooring visible from the surface it takes a knowledgeable team to take you there.
In the pass, the two sides lend to truly very interesting dives.

On the left side, on exit, the Abore reef has the site "Canyon fossil". At this place, each year there are hundreds of migrating groupers finding refuge in the many small caverns on the wall descending 13 metres down.
The groupers lay their eggs during October and November and then vanish, but not before lending there name "Wall of groupers".
On the other side of the pass, at M'Bere reef, there exists a site harder to find. But when you do, you'll discover two very big plates of coral, one at 18m and the other at 24m.
There are an enormous number of fish here, and like each side of the pass, you will often see may surprising things...
A little after these two plates are the "Underwater mountains" standing out from the rest. The last of which has big drop-offs, with giant gorgonians and the remnants of an underwater mine from the last war.
The currents are often very strong in the pass and along its edges, and therefore it's advised to only go with experienced guides.
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