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Passage

📍 Raja Ampat, Indonesia

Blacktip Reef Shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus) - recorded at Passage

Passage is a dive site in Raja Ampat, Indonesia. The sea floor at the site position lies at about 51 meters. Currents typically run at 0.4 km/h and reach 0.9 km/h on the strongest days. Water temperatures range from 29°C in August to 30°C in December. The typical daily tidal range is about 0.9 m. Species recorded in the area include Blacktip Reef Shark, Hammer Coral, Acropora tenuis, Chevron Butterflyfish and Highfin Coralgrouper.

Dive Conditions

⬇️
Seabed Depth
51m
💨
Current
0.4 km/h (0.9)
🌡️
Water Temp
29–30 °C

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Typical Current 0.4 km/h (up to 0.9)
Seabed Depth 51 m
Water Temperature 29–30 °C
Tidal Range 0.9 m (typical daily)
GPS -0.4072°, 130.5893°

Data sources: currents and water temperature from Open-Meteo Marine (CC BY 4.0), hourly model values 2024; seabed depth from the GEBCO 2020 Grid, sampled at the site coordinates (grid resolution about 450 m). Tidal range is the median daily range of modelled sea level from Open-Meteo Marine, hourly values 2024. Species observations from iNaturalist, checked against the World Register of Marine Species.

Conditions at Passage through the year

Sea surface temperature at the site coordinates, averaged per month from hourly model values for 2024. The water is warmest in December at about 30 °C and coolest in August at about 29 °C, a spread of 1 degrees across the year.

Monthly sea surface temperature at Passage (°C)
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
29.8 29.6 29.9 30.2 30.1 29.8 29.5 29.4 29.5 29.9 30.3 30.4

Ocean current at the site runs at a typical 0.4 km/h. In the strongest tenth of the hours modelled for 2024 it reaches 0.9 km/h, which is when entries are normally timed to slack water at the turn of the tide.

The tide moves the water level by a median 0.9 m over a day, and by up to 1.2 m on the largest days of the month. That range drives how much water is exchanged over the reef and when the current turns.

Offshore wave statistics are not shown for Passage: within 10 km of the site there is land in the directions from which 77 % of the waves in the area arrive, so open-sea values would overstate the swell at the site itself.

The seabed directly under the site coordinates sits at about 51 m. This is a bathymetry grid value with a cell size of roughly 450 m, so it describes the depth of the area rather than the deepest point a dive can reach.

How Passage compares

These comparisons use only the measured values above, set against the 376 dive sites published on findadive.com. A percentage shows the share of other sites with a lower (or higher) value, so it reads the same way wherever the site is. Passage sits with its coolest-month water temperature in the top tenth and its typical current in the bottom tenth of all listed sites.

Passage compared with all listed sites and with Raja Ampat
MeasureThis siteCompared with all sitesMedian in Raja Ampat
Mean water temperature29.9 °Cwarmer than 84 % of the other 375 sites29.9 °C (36 sites)
Water temperature in the coolest month29.4 °Cwarmer than 94 % of the other 375 sites29.4 °C (36 sites)
Typical current0.4 km/hweaker than 98 % of the other 375 sites1.9 km/h (36 sites)
Current in the strongest 10 % of hours0.9 km/hweaker than 98 % of the other 375 sites3.6 km/h (36 sites)
Median daily tidal range0.9 msmaller than 96 % of the other 375 sites1.0 m (36 sites)

Water temperature, current and tide from Open-Meteo Marine (CC BY 4.0), hourly model values for 2024 at -0.4072°, 130.5893°. Seabed depth from the GEBCO 2020 Grid. Wave statistics from ERA5-Ocean via Open-Meteo Marine (contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2015–2024), daily maximum wave height on a 0.5° grid; land shelter tested against Natural Earth coastlines.

Marine life recorded at this site

Research-grade observations from iNaturalist within about 12 km of these coordinates.

Blacktip Reef Shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus)
Blacktip Reef Shark Carcharhinus melanopterus A slender shark with a distinctive black tip on its dorsal fin and often on the pectoral fins, seen patrolling reef edges.to 1.6 m · 0-75 m · day and nightreef flats, lagoons, and drop-offsLook for its black-tipped dorsal fin breaking the surface in shallow water, especially on incoming tides. (c) libby hepburn, some rights reserved (CC BY) · observation
Hammer Coral (Fimbriaphyllia ancora)
Hammer Coral Fimbriaphyllia ancora no rights reserved · CC0 · observation
Acropora tenuis (Acropora tenuis)
Acropora tenuis Acropora tenuis no rights reserved · CC0 · observation
Chevron Butterflyfish (Chaetodon trifascialis)
Chevron Butterflyfish Chaetodon trifascialis A butterflyfish with a chevron pattern of thin black lines on a white body, a black bar through the eye, and a yellow tail.to 18 cm · 1-30 m · by daycoral-rich areas, especially around tabular AcroporaOften seen in pairs, closely inspecting coral branches. It is shy and will retreat if approached directly. no rights reserved · CC0 · observation
Highfin Coralgrouper (Plectropomus oligacanthus)
Highfin Coralgrouper Plectropomus oligacanthus A robust grouper with a variable reddish to brownish body, often with small blue spots, and a distinctive tall, sail-like first dorsal fin.to 120 cm · 5-100 m · by dayouter reef slopes and channelsOften seen resting on the reef or hovering near overhangs; the high dorsal fin is most prominent when the fish is stationary. no rights reserved · CC0 · observation
Tasselled Wobbegong (Eucrossorhinus dasypogon)
Tasselled Wobbegong Eucrossorhinus dasypogon no rights reserved · CC0 · observation
Catch Bowl Coral (Isopora palifera)
Catch Bowl Coral Isopora palifera no rights reserved · CC0 · observation
Indonesian Speckled Carpetshark (Hemiscyllium freycineti)
Indonesian Speckled Carpetshark Hemiscyllium freycineti no rights reserved · CC0 · observation