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Dive Review of Qamea in
Fiji and Tuvalu

Qamea, May, 2008,

by Christina & Alex, CO, USA ( 1 report). Report 4091.

No photos available at this time

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Accommodations 4 stars Food 5 stars
Service and Attitude 4 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving 3 stars
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ N/A
Beginners 5 stars
Advanced 4 stars
Comments This is essentially a lovely four-star resort (by USA standards) in the north-east part of Fiji, though it's officially designated as a five-star property in Fiji. A friendly driver meets your plane at the Taveuni airport and escorts you and your luggage to the boat dock for the quick trip to Qamea island. After a nice orientation tour and refreshment you are shown to your bure. We stayed in the 'Honeymoon Bure' and it was well worth the extra money for the upgraded facilities and most of all the privacy (which is not available in most of the standard beachfront bures). During our stay we visited the Premium Villa and it's spectacular and we highly recommend it for it's size and near complete privacy away from majority of the resort. The staff at Qamea are extremely warm, kind, and amazingly remember your name from the first introduction. The food was delicious and the kitchen accommodated our dietary allergies (but needed to be reminded before each meal). Internet access is available (per minute charges apply) at a communal computer room (internet access is slow but fine for a quick email home). The dive manager and entire dive staff are wonderful and knowledgeable. The diving is full service with all gear set up, rinse, and storage. The dive shop facility is adequate with a rinse tank and cool water shower (but no restroom facility as all the bures are close-by). There is no dive shop sales so make sure to bring everything you need from home (ie extra batteries, defogger), but equipment rentals are available should you need. The dive boat has a covered area with more room than is needed for the quantity of divers. Over 5 days of diving, there was 1 dive for which we had 8 divers, split into 2 groups of 4 with a guide each. On 3 dives, there was just the two of us with a dive guide. The diving has a good variety of: hard coral, beautiful brightly colored soft coral, pinnacles, walls, and pretty tropical fish. This is not a destination for pelagics though there were many white-tip reef sharks and barracuda; we have heard that at times there are mantas although we did not see any on this trip. We chose not to take the optional full day trip to the Somosomo Straits, as we will be visiting the Somosomo area next year. As in many land-based diving facilities in Fiji, there was no Nitrox available. Dive times are based upon your air consumption (with none longer than approximately 75 minutes). The surface interval for the morning 2 tank dive, is done back on shore at the resort, as all the dive sites are very close-by. Surface intervals were extremely casually paced and often 75 minutes in length. Private afternoon or night diving is available upon request (for an additional fee). Overall impression: if you want to get away to dive and relax this is an excellent location where the staff will take good care of you. This is not a dedicated dive resort, so expect to encounter many honeymooners, snorkelers, people coming just to relax. For those i your group who don't dive, there is a daily adventure trip planned (extra fee) to various interesting locations (waterfalls, pearl farm, local village, jungle hikes, etc). Happy diving!

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 26-50 dives
Where else diving Beqa Lagoon Fiji, Wakatobi Indonesia
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather windy, rainy, cloudy Seas choppy
Water Temp 83-84°F / 28-29°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 50-60 Ft/ 15-18 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions Surface with 500 PSI
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? N/A

What I Saw

Sharks 1 or 2 Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles None Whales None
Corals 5 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 2 stars Large Fish 2 stars
Large Pelagics 1 stars

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subject Matter 4 stars Boat Facilities 1 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 3 stars Shore Facilities 1 stars
UW Photo Comments No fresh water rinse tank on dive boat. No area on dive boat to prep camera. No special area on shore for camera prep other than your bure. Some of the dive guides love to lead UW photographers.
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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