Instant Reader Report
on Aqua Trek / Garden Island Resort in
Fiji / Taveuni on
2002/11
by
Steve Evers , CA, USA
Report Number 030110175206154

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 Palau, Truk, Hawaii, Costa Rica, Cozumel, Grand Cayman 

Dive Conditions

[Unspecified]  

[None]  

Overall Rating

Garden Island resort is located on the Island of Taveuni.  It is the
closest dive operation to Rainbow Reef which is one of the best dive areas
in Fiji.  The resort originally was a Travel Lodge so when I booked my stay
there I thought that the place might be a bit tacky.  I was pleasantly
surprised to discover that the accommodations had incorporated a fair
amount of Fijian ambiance to counter the American style building. 
Granted, the rooms looked like they could have been from any typical
motel, but the restaurant/bar area had a nice tropical feel.  The
restaurant food was unbelievably good.  Breakfast is buffet or cook to
order, and an excellent menu is provided for lunch and dinner.  I highly
recommend going with the food plan when making reservations.  A rather
good house band plays every night in the bar area which is a pleasant way
to spend some time after dinner.  There is no beach at this resort and
that’s a good thing.  The shoreline area is notorious for shark attacks. 
Fortunately that isn’t a problem in the diving area in Somosomo Strait. 
The diving is typically in current, although, on this trip, I did the
Great White Wall twice – both times at the same time of day – the first
time in a strong current and two days later in no current at all!  The
dive operation was OK.  The boats were fine, the briefings were adequate, 
but the guides were not as good as I have seen at other resorts in Fiji. 
Somosomo Strait has strong currents so I would have expected the guides to
be more attentive to watching divers.  On a number of dives the current was
significantly stronger near the surface but became quite manageable at the
bottom.  Because of this a descent/ascent  line was used for entry and
exit. The guides don’t seem to mind swimming into strong currents, but a
lot of divers don’t go diving for the exercise!	 

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