Dive Review of Paradise Taveuni/Paradise Taveuni Resort in
Fiji and Tuvalu/Taveuni

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Paradise Taveuni/Paradise Taveuni Resort: "Never got to the best parts of Rainbow Reef", Mar, 2024, by Robert Herrick, CA, US ( 2 reports with 3 Helpful votes). Report 13268 has 3 Helpful votes.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Never got to the best parts of Rainbow Reef We wanted to go on a family scuba vacation over my Son’s spring break, and Bluewater Travel recommended Paradise Taveuni as being one of the two best places in Fiji to dive with (the other being Volivoli). We stayed with them for one week. Our experience could be divided into “topside / resort / restaurant” experience – which was excellent – and the diving, which was disappointing in a number of ways. The thing that’s important to understand is that unlike many dive resorts, the owners were not divers first. Allen was a chef previously, and still works in and runs the kitchen. And his wife Terri studied hospitality before opening the resort. The great food and personal attention from staff is what most guests rave about. On the other hand, the diving fell far short of my expectations. The biggest problem is a lack of boats, and only one trip out per day. For the number of guests the resort has, they should have 3-4 boats, and be running 2-3, depending on how the groups are organized. Unfortunately, they only have 2 boats, and unless a dive club or charter is present, usually only run one of them – the Taveuni explorer which holds up to 26 divers. Single large-boat diving might be less of a problem in a location without current, but of course, Rainbow Reef and in fact all of Fiji is famous for the soft-coral, driven by (sometimes strong) tidal currents. The dive sites you get to visit are limited by the capabilities of the least experienced diver. And since everyone in the resort will likely be sharing your boat unless you’re with a dive club that chartered your own boat, there will likely be at least a few beginners or divers over 70 years old who probably couldn’t / shouldn’t be diving the more exposed reefs Fiji is most famous for. So in spite of diving for a week with them, we never got to visit any of the better or more famous parts of Rainbow Reef. In addition to being constrained by the abilities of the least capable diver at the resort, diving is further constrained by the need to be back at the dock by noon or 12:30pm for lunch. No afternoon dives are normally offered, except by special arrangement. Given the limited hours, the slack tide when it’s best to dive will rarely align with the hours that the operation prefers to dive, and they do not customize the diving to match the tide tables. Even though the conditions were great my week, with no wind-wave and calm seas, we were never able to visit the most famous dive sites such as Jerry’s Jellies, Rainbow’s End, or Barracuda Point. The best diving we did included Dakuniba and Cabbage Patch, which were pretty good, but didn’t have any soft coral. I’ll have to come back another time, stay at a different resort further north and closer to Rainbow Reef, and see what I missed. We did dive the “Great White Wall” but it was a disappointment, since it was fully retracted, in full shade, and had 18 other divers bumping into each other on the wall – more just checking off a box, than seeing it at its best. We also dove many sites such as Tabua on Vuna Reef that had more than 70% dead coral, and I thought should be removed from the rotation. Note that you may see more positive reports from divers who came with a dive club, and chartered their own boat, with a more experienced group – many of them did get to dictate the dive sites and times. It was interesting to watch the promotional video on the TV in the restaurant at night and see what we'd missed. The diving is also best during their winter months (northern hemisphere summer months), when they have more sun and less rain, with better water visibility. Visibility the week before we visited, in Mid-March, was only 15 feet. Fortunately, it only dropped to 30' on day, and was 70-100' most of the trip. On the plus side, the house reef was one of the better ones available, and the senior dive guides (A.P. and Papa) are excellent. I also loved talking with Captain Apex, who can tell you the history of Fiji diving back to 1990. The resort topside was great, and I enjoyed the company of the other guests. Prices for drinks, dive equipment, merchandise, services, and souvenirs are all reasonable, and they don't take advantage of the fact that you're captive and without nearby competition. So if you want a low key vacation, are a new diver, and just want some “good” diving, and don’t care about seeing soft coral, or the best of rainbow reef, this could be a good choice. One final note: the owners Allen and Terri divorced a couple of years ago, and have now put the resort up for sale. Any reports from before the sale (including this one) may be out of date after the new owner changes things. One good indicator would be how many boats they own (now only two), and how many they typically run (now usually one), as well as whether they add afternoon boat dives as an option. But Paradise Taveuni is the farthest boat ride from Rainbow Reef, so it makes it harder to offer “quick trips” than from the more central location of the other Taveuni resorts that are right across from Rainbow Reef. But checking for up-to-date information is especially recommended in this situation.
Websites	Paradise Taveuni Paradise Taveuni Resort
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Solomon Islands, Palau, Cozumel, Bali, Hawaii, Roatan, Little Cayman, Bahamas, Cabo, St. Bart's, Bonaire, California.
Closest Airport	Taveuni	Getting There	Fly SFO -> NAN, then connect to TVU, then 1+ hour drive from airport to resort.
Dive Conditions
Weather	cloudy	Seas	calm
Water Temp	80-81°F / 27-27°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	30-100 Ft/ 9-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	You needed to stay with the dive guide, and come up as a group when the first person ran out of air. They also prohibit divers from going deeper than 60' if they don't have an advanced open water certification, regardless of past experience.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	None	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	The biggest challenge for UW photographers is the need to stay with the group, unless you pay for a private dive guide (which is not very expensive - $50 US per day?). There are also challenges getting to the sites with the best photo subjects.

Report currently has 3 Helpful votes

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Dive Review of Paradise Taveuni/Paradise Taveuni Resort in Fiji and Tuvalu/Taveuni

Paradise Taveuni/Paradise Taveuni Resort: "Never got to the best parts of Rainbow Reef", Mar, 2024,

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

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

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

Dive Review of Paradise Taveuni/Paradise Taveuni Resort in
Fiji and Tuvalu/Taveuni