Staying Home Sucks, home
View of the harbour and town from the bridge - panoramio
La zelée. Photo: Peter Gill / UK, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

La zelée

Dive site · French Polynesia

Open Water divers and up

Scored for Advanced divers

Is it worth the trip?

79Good out of 100 for your dates

Home sucks

2 days tie for best

Each day of your trip, out of 100

Wed 4 · 69 out of 100

Sea
0.9 m
Wind
2 kn
Gusts
13kn
Air
29°C

Thu 5 · 68 out of 100

Sea
0.8 m
Wind
1 kn
Gusts
14kn
Air
28°C

Fri 6 · 70 out of 100

Sea
0.6 m
Wind
1 kn
Gusts
16kn
Air
29°C

Sat 7 · 70 out of 100

Sea
0.7 m
Wind
2 kn
Gusts
9kn
Air
29°C

Sun 8 · 87 out of 100

Sea
0.6 m
Wind
2 kn
Gusts
9kn
Air
29°C

Mon 9 · 87 out of 100

Sea
0.6 m
Wind
3 kn
Gusts
11kn
Air
29°C

Tue 10 · 84 out of 100

Sea
0.5 m
Wind
4 kn
Gusts
12kn
Air
28°C

Tap a day for sea, wind and water. Full forecast

Forecast: next 9 days

Full forecast
  1. Tue 384, good
  2. Wed 469, good
  3. Thu 568, good
  4. Fri 670, good
  5. Sat 770, good
  6. Sun 887, good
  7. Mon 987, good
  8. Tue 1084, good
  9. Wed 1169, good

The site in five facts

  • Down to 20 mits deepest
  • From a boathow you get in
  • Open Waterand up
  • Water 28 °C3 mm wetsuit
  • Faces NWswell from there reaches it

Full forecast

every day, every number

The score doesn't know currents, the visibility on the day or your certification.

Suits Open Water divers and up, as a dive guide states it. Scored for Advanced divers.

Sea and wind forecast and score for each day at La zelée
DayScoreSeaWindGustsAir
Tue 3Nov84, good0.8 m4 kn13kn28°C
Wed 4Nov69, good0.9 m2 kn13kn29°C
Thu 5Nov68, good0.8 m1 kn14kn28°C
Fri 6Nov70, good0.6 m1 kn16kn29°C
Sat 7Nov70, good0.7 m2 kn9kn29°C
Sun 8Nov87, good0.6 m2 kn9kn29°C
Mon 9Nov87, good0.6 m3 kn11kn29°C
Tue 10Nov84, good0.5 m4 kn12kn28°C
Wed 11Nov69, good0.5 m1 kn9kn28°C

Sea is the waves near the site, in metres; wind and gusts in knots. "Boats in": gusts that keep dive boats in. More

Tide

  • Tue 3 NovLow 03:49 −0.1 mHigh 09:52 +0.1 mLow 16:22 −0.1 mHigh 22:10 +0.1 m
  • Wed 4 NovLow 04:15 −0.1 mHigh 10:24 +0.1 mLow 16:44 −0.1 mHigh 22:32 +0.1 m
  • Thu 5 NovLow 04:41 −0.1 mHigh 10:54 +0.1 mLow 17:07 −0.1 mHigh 22:56 +0.1 m

Local clock times; heights about mean sea level. On open coasts the times are usually within a quarter of an hour; in bays, estuaries and on the Gulf of Mexico they can be an hour or more out. Slack water, the safest time to dive where there is current, is about half an hour either side of each high and low. Tide: EOT20 global ocean tide model, Hart-Davis et al. 2021, DGFI-TUM (doi:10.17882/79489), CC BY 4.0. Times and heights computed by us. A model, not a tide table: check a local table before you go.

Forecast updated . It refreshes every three hours. Forecast data: ECMWF, DWD, Météo-France and NOAA, served by Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0). Changed by us. Generated using E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information.

Best time to go

No month stands out

Good diving days in a typical week, each month, for Advanced divers, from 2016 on (ERA5 history scored the same way).

  1. Jan7of 7: a trip from Sat 2 Jan
  2. Feb7of 7: a trip from Sat 6 Feb
  3. Mar7of 7: a trip from Sat 6 Mar
  4. Apr7of 7: a trip from Sat 3 Apr
  5. May7of 7: a trip from Sat 1 May
  6. Jun7of 7: a trip from Sat 5 Jun
  7. Jul7of 7: a trip from Sat 3 Jul
  8. Aug6of 7: a trip from Sat 7 Aug
  9. Sep7of 7: a trip from Sat 4 Sept
  10. Oct7of 7: a trip from Sat 2 Oct
  11. Nov7of 7: a trip from Wed 4 Nov
  12. Dec7of 7: a trip from Sat 5 Dec

Tap a month to see this spot for a trip then.

Typical, not a forecast: the sea and the mean wind of each day, with no gusts or rain in the history.

Map

the site, its town, photos

Each place wears its best day on these dates: green good, amber fair, pale red poor, as the key says.

The map needs JavaScript. Every place on it is listed on this page, and each place's page links to Google Maps.

One finger scrolls the page; two fingers move the map. Pins are our own positions. Map OpenFreeMap, © OpenMapTiles, data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Photos of La zelée

Yuan Wang 2 - satellite dish configuration - Chinese satellite and missile tracking ship in Papeete harbor, Tahiti - panoramio
Near La zelée, 1 km away. Photo: David Broad, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Yuan Wang 2 - Yagi antenna detail - Chinese satellite and missile tracking ship in Papeete harbor, Tahiti - panoramio
Near La zelée, 1 km away. Photo: David Broad, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Cruise Liner at night in Papeete Harbour - panoramio
Near La zelée, 1 km away. Photo: Peter Gill / UK, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

More diving near here

5 places

About

the place in full, sources, credits

About La zelée

A wreck dive. It goes down to 20 m. You get in from a boat. It suits Open Water divers and up, as a dive guide states it. The coast faces NW: swell from the NW reaches it, and wind from the SE blows out to sea. 5 dive centres or shops within 10 km, the nearest 4.6 km away. The sea is about 27°C in July, its coldest month (3 mm wetsuit), and 29°C in January, its warmest (rash vest or 1 to 2 mm). The town to stay in is Papeete. Within 5 km we also list 2 surf spots, 2 wind sports spots and 3 dive sites.

  • What it is Wreck.
  • How deep Down to 20 m.
  • Getting in From a boat.
  • Who it suits Suits Open Water divers and up, as a dive guide states it.
  • Dive centres 5 dive centres or shops within 10 km, the nearest 4.6 km away.

Water about 28°C: 3 mm wetsuit. Typical sea temperature for the time of year, not a forecast.

Visibility about 25 m. Typical for the time of year, estimated from ten years of NASA satellite water clarity, not a forecast. Clearest in Jun, Jul and Aug (over 30 m).

The score is the conditions only: the journey, the price and the partners never change it (how we score, how we earn).

Rough cost (estimate): about US$1,270–US$2,440 each

about US$1,270–US$2,440 each · 6 nights, 2 sharing: flights, taxi, stay, food.

Our estimate from typical public prices, not a quote: check the real prices before you book (where they come from). Prices are about, in US Dollar (USD): our pound figures at the European Central Bank's rate of 2 November 2026.

How we worked it out 
Rough cost per person for this trip
WhatHow we worked it outEach
Flightsreturn MDW to PPT, estimated from distance and season, changing at LAX, full-service airlines, with a hold bagabout US$604–US$1,250
Taxiairport and back, sharedabout US$20–US$34
Stay6 nights, a mid-range double, sharedabout US$309–US$510
Food7 days eating outabout US$342–US$637
Totalabout US$1,270–US$2,440

Guided dives are not priced yet: we have no sourced price, so it is not in it. Prices from public sources, checked in 2026.

Where to stay: Papeete

Ad Links marked Ad may pay us if you book. You pay the same, and they never change a score. How we earn

Closest

Papeete

about 5 min by car · 33 places to stay

about US$114/nightcountry average

See 33 places to stay in Papeete · Booking.com

About Papeete its beds, food and every spot near it

About US$114 a night is our estimate of the country's average 2-star double room that month: not each town's price, and not a quote. Drives are estimates. Prices are about, in US Dollar (USD): our pound figures at the European Central Bank's rate of 2 November 2026.

Getting there: about 19h 55m

About 19h 55m door to door from Chicago

Fly MDW → PPT, changing at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), then 25 min by road

An estimate, one way; the journey never changes the score.

In the water

Dive centres nearby

The nearest named dive centres and shops within 25 km, in a straight line; training agencies where the map states them. Listings, not a recommendation. Dive centres: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Credits

What you might see

Animals divers and surveys have recorded within 2 km of this site in the last 15 years. A record says someone saw it here, not that you will.

  • Humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliaeWhale or dolphin

    Seen in 3 records.

Records: OBIS (Ocean Biodiversity Information System, IOC-UNESCO) and GBIF.org (1 November 2026, doi:10.15468/dl.jeesns), from the datasets named here, CC0 and CC BY records only. Names: WoRMS and GBIF; common names from the Catalogue of Life, the GBIF Backbone and Wikidata. Largest datasets here: iNaturalist Research-grade Observations; Programme CROMIS: carnet de plongée en ligne de la FFESSM-Observations d'espèces subaquatiques collectées par les utilisateurs de CROMIS; Données Mammifères de l'association Te mana o te moana en Polynésie française. - Données Mammifères marins de Polynésie française de Te mana o te moana; Fish Specimens of Graduate School of Bioresources Mie University. Credits

This week's visibility and the current no free forecast gives. Ask a dive centre before you book.

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