Hio Wall

Hio Wall runs along Niue's north coast where the limestone shelf breaks abruptly into open ocean, descending from 10 metres at the reef top to beyond 400. The vertical face is laced with crevices sheltering soldierfish, lionfish, and resting whitetip reef sharks, while the blue water column off the wall draws spinner dolphins and, from June to September, humpback whales so close that divers in the shallows can hear them singing without hydrophones. Visibility here is among the best on the island, often running 50 to 80 metres, and the wall's exposure to the north means it picks up the clearest oceanic water.