Uepi Point

Uepi Point sits at the northwestern tip of Charapoana Passage, where water from Marovo Lagoon meets the deep basins of New Georgia Sound. The almost vertical corner is covered in gorgonian fans and soft corals, and at about 30 m a coral spur juts out before the wall drops away. At certain tides the point turns into a feeding ground, with schools of trevally, barracuda, rainbow runners and tuna hunting along the reef while grey reef sharks patrol the blue. The shallows hold sand patches with garden eels and resting reef sharks, and the dive can be done as a wall dive, a coral garden dive or a drift back along the channel to the resort. Don Silcock rates it best on an incoming tide early in the morning or late in the afternoon, and the resort calls it its premier night dive.