Although it was somewhat exposed, we stopped here because we'd heard there was a 'must-see' snorkeling spot called the Coral Garden somewhere nearby. The anchorage proved better than expected with a nice sand shelf, without too many coral heads, 20 ft deep and about 100 yds wide between the sandy shallows and the deep blue of the lagoon. We ended up with our transom about a boat length from the shallows. Once secured, we were entertained by a couple of 50 ft charter boats that came in. The first anchored right beside us and the second sailed through the anchorage on jib alone, and then tried to raft to the first boat under sail. Failing that, he sailed just under our stern with one foot in the shallows, started his motor and rafted the boat under power. It's amazing what people will try with a rental... After that excitement, we jumped in the dinghy and went to look for the dive spot. Our tour was cut short when a squall came in bringing 20+ kts of wind and a lot of rain. To make up for her male counterpart, the lady of the ship next to us (left behind when everyone went off in the dinghy) expertly cast off from the raft when the wind came up and weathered the squall in the deep water channel under power, she then nicely anchored the boat afterwards. The next day was sunny so we buddied up with our friends from s/v Pamela and went off to find the elusive Coral Garden. Turns out it wasn't that hard to find once the tour boats started showing up. The Coral Garden is actually a shallow channel between motus and constantly fed by water crashing over the reef which makes it kind of a tame drift dive. The fresh supply of sea water promotes healthy and vibrant coral and plentiful reef fish. We enjoyed this dive so much; we actually drifted the channel several times. Wendy says this was a favorite! Although we liked this spot, the parade of squalls lining up in front of us persuaded us to move on seeking better shelter in Baie Hurepiti.