For Left Coasters, it's easier to get to Fiji than the Caribbean; ten hours nonstop from L.A.; airfare and all inclusive weeks at many excellent resorts for under $2500 per person; Air packages can include New Zealand/Australia extensions at little extra cost. Sunflower Air more squared-away than Fiji Air for local flights. Best diving not on big island of Viti Levu; go to outer islands and travel light to avoid getting popped for excess weight. . . . Fijians are polite, friendly, delightful, modest, and religious, so watch your language and wear nonrevealing clothes to town. Have someone teach you guys how to tie a sulu so you, too, can go home in a skirt. . . . New Cousteau resort is the old Nakoro, which has excellent reefs, but other places less expensive and as good or better. . . . wetsuit a staple year round; currents add coolness, just like the wind chill factor. . . . Taveuni has great diving but terrible for beginners; high current velocity damn near daily. Bring a compass, and carry both day and night emergency surface signaling devices (tubes, strobes). . . . Good area for sea snakes, soft corals, stonefish, clown fish. . . . Favorite dives: Fish Factory, Blue Ribbon Eel Reef (yes, they're there), and Great White Wall (vertical and undercut). . . . Weather can be stormy June through September); year round, short, heavy showers possible any afternoon. Year round average temperature 80 or above; nights average 68­69 degrees in winter; bring sweater. . . .

Mamanucca Islands

Castaway Island Resort, July 1997, Graham Eastap, El Paseo, TX. "Great place and unexpected because Eastern Fiji gets the publicity. Not as much soft coral in the Mamanucca Islands where Castaway is, but great accommodation and great and safe place for kids. Saw sharks on many dives (not just the organized shark feed), napoleon wrasse, lion fish, stone fish and the Pacific tropicals (clown fish etc.) Lot of hand holding for beginners but experienced divers can get past that after discussion with Dive Managers Sandy and Brandon. Water 82 degrees."

Taveuni Area

Dive Taveuni, October 1996, Don and Jody Brown, Greenwich, CT. "Hillside resort overlooking Somo Somo Straits, feels like you are a guest in someone's home. Clean and quiet. Take a small van to the shore, small skiff to a large, roomy and stable dive boat. No place to rinse gear. Flat water; 80 degrees, 75-125 feet visibility. Dives are guided and the currents are swift so most dives are drift dives. Great White Wall is beyond belief. Good briefings and hand signals. We had boat problems so got to the sites late. Meals buffet style."

Garden Island Resort, March 1997, Jeff Robertson, Roseville, CA. "Extremely well run and friendly hotel on the beach at the edge of a rain forest, overlooking Somosomo Straights, one of the premier dive spots on the planet. As close to paradise as I've ever been. The diving is excellent, although too restricted for experienced divers due to the varied abilities of our dive group. Garden eels, corals and abundant critters abound. vis: 80­90 ft. water: 84 degrees. Diving restrictions enforced: follow divemaster, diverse dive group all levels. Surface intervals were usually spent exploring deserted islands or snorkeling pristine lagoons. Non dive time spent relaxing around the pool. Hiking to island waterfalls or learning Fiji customs such as the Kava ceremony."

Garden Island Resort, March 1997, James A. Bausano, Redmond, WA. "Soft corals excellent, hard corals excellent. Dive boat fast, clean and comfortable. Max per boat 12, not crowded. Divemasters, three per dive, one topside and two on each dive. One heads tour and two stayed behind for safety. Dive briefings good; profiled for multilevel dive right on. Computer diving allowed. Recommend profiles from briefing, but will allow personal profile according to dive experience. Dive interval good on remote beach one hour. Food excellent. Order from menu with two specials at lunch and dinner (meals included in fee; excellent buy). Rooms clean with air conditioning and fan. Temp daytime 85­89 and night 80­85. Pool clean. Dinner relaxing, sport dress, served from 7­9 with music. Bar open to 10 with free Kava 7­9. 75­100 ft. water: 83­85 degrees."

Garden Island Resort, April 1997, A. & J. Larson, Maple Grove, NM. "Food good but unhealthy due to fat. Several guests including both of us ill with gastroenteritis; one required antibiotics for diarrhea. Fortunately we brought drugs from home as unavailable on the island. Staff friendly. Beautiful but "3rd world" island. Beautiful soft corals, but fish and pelagics very disappointing except small reef fish. No bugs. No night life. Pool contained with high surf yet no storms at the time. Typhoon Hugo in March damaged shore areas and mild to moderate damage to reefs. Diving limited to same close areas even if repetitive and not particularly world class. vis: 50­70 ft. water: 82 degrees. Current may dictate dive site, but wonder why we didn't go a little further than 10­15' from resort? O­rings on tanks with 4 major failures in one week, but all above water. No video or photography service. Not for the inexperienced or unfit divers as currents could cause serious problems."

Garden Island Resort, May 1997, Mel Cundiff, Boulder, CO. "Good soft corals, but overall diversity of corals/critters not up to par with good Indopacific diving (e.g.. PNG, Indonesia). Accommodations minimal 2*. Not set up for drift diving in an obvious drift-diving environment. vis: 25-50 ft. water: 78 degrees. Divers often have to swim against currents."

Garden Island Resort, August 1997, Gary D. Gibbs, Modesto, CA. "Able to dive own profile with computer. Diving excellent. Lots of colorful and beautiful soft corals. Lots of fish, clown fish in the anemones, leaf fish, triggerfish, lion fish, tropicals, not many eels. Currents strong in the Somosomo Straits. Dive operation tries to choose locations where the current doesn't affect the dive negatively. However, sometimes they misjudge. First dive we jumped into a 4 knot current. 3 divers missed the drift line on the return and had to be picked up. No drift dives. No mooring buoys. Boats anchor in the coral and tie a weighted line for safety stops off the back. The anchor and weights are destroying the reef. . . . Hotel is good, but not plush. Food is good. Do not purchase the package meal plan. You can do better purchasing meals separately. Bank next door for currency exchange. Go to the water slide and the waterfalls; physically fit should hike to the third waterfall. Gorgeous. Jump off the cliff into the water for a thrill."

Garden Island Resort, August 1997, Michael & Sandy DeRousse, Santa Barbara, CA. "Beautiful Island. Watch out for large groups - 14 divers too many for most sites. Even splitting groups a problem as divers eventually converge. Some broken corals especially at "The Ledge". vis: 50-90 ft. water: 74-75 degrees. Bouma Falls and Des Vouex Peak worth seeing. Helen working hard as new Asst. Mgr. Church service at Mission worth hearing. Dive sites selected at last minute, depending on conditions, tides. Missed "Great White Wall."

Forbes Laucala, October 1996, Brett Valette, Superior, CO. "Staff love children! We took our one year old son; They arranged full time baby-sitting, no extra charge. We needed fruit yogurt for him. They delivered it by boat the next day. Our son had his birthday on the island. They made a cake and had a party for him. The staff loved him like their own son. We never worried. The diving is excellent, the staff are first class. vis: 80-100 ft. water: 80-82 degrees. Private first class huts on the beach. Dive staff most accommodating. Many dives was just my wife, me and our own divemaster!"

Forbes Laucala, April 1997, Bob & Diane Chambers, Danville, CA. "Some staff not very friendly. Irene a great coordinator of plans. Had to tell them at dinner what we wanted to do the next day. Food really good. They ask if you have any diet restrictions, be sure to mention dislikes (e.g. curry). Managers were not seen during our entire stay except at pick up from and delivery to airport. At time to settle the bill, no one asked if we enjoyed our stay, in fact, it seemed like they couldn't care less if we had fun or not. Very strange. vis: 50-60 ft. water: 78-80 degrees. Dive operation disappointing. Some guides were rude and cut the dives short regardless of air remaining. We were not asked where we wanted to dive and were taken to the same sites several times even though we asked to go to specific sites. Boat crew ate most of the food and drinks on a couple of days. They chattered amongst themselves and pretty much ignored us. Too far to go and too expensive to be treated badly on the diving."

Forbes Laucala, May 1997, Jeff & Sherry Hotham, Phoenix, AZ. "Paradise. You live in a spacious bure away from your neighbor. Your bedroom is air conditioned and you have your own personal bure girl who cooks breakfast to order anytime, takes your laundry, keeps your fridge and bar stocked, brings meals and accompanies any member of your party during the day if requested. Maximum of 20 guests on the island at any one time. We often found ourselves the only 2 on the dive boat which was sent out with a staff of 3. Several days we stayed out all day so a sumptuous picnic was prepared. Dives were guided, never rushed, computer profiles allowed and the scenery was superb; a close second to Palau with better soft corals but not as many fish. vis: 70-100 ft. water: 80-82 degrees. All inclusive including unlimited boat diving. But be ready to pay mucho for overweight (20 kilos) charges if on a full flight to any out island."

Laucala/Daku, February 1997, Harold "Hal" Mozer, Bellevue, WA. "Lacaula Island: lovely diving and relaxing. Some wonderful dive sites with gorgeous displays of the soft coral and a nice variety of critters. The food was very good, the diving very good to excellent, the accommodations excellent, and the general atmosphere was 'lifestyles of the rich and famous" at a price comparable to a good live-aboard. It probably isn't high powered enough for the gung-ho 4-5 tank a day live-aboard diver, but was sure a fine week for my wife and me. . . . Didn't dive at Daku Resort at Savusavu, but snorkeled at the resort - better than I had expected. Enjoyed the resort."

Matagi Island Resort, October 1996, Don and Jody Brown, Greenwich, CT. "Water 80 degrees, vis 75 to 125 feet. All dives are guided; surface with 500 psi. Guides not interested in pointing out anything of interest -- until the owner told them to. Very unsociable on boats. Also group of 10 divers was put on different boats for no reason. Night dive off-shore nice and easy. One of our guests noticed a piece of equipment missing from BCD at the time of departure; sent to us at our next destination a few days later. Food a great disappointment after a week at Marlin Bay. Forget the coffee! Bures were ok but had large roaches, spiders and crickets."

Northern Lau Group

Loma Loma Resort, October 1996. Bill Myers, Bob Dabkiewicz, Pittsburgh, PA. "Place is magical. Not only is it possible to see anything that inhabits the ocean on these pristine reefs (locals say may have even seen great whites outside the reef), but the locals who work here are happy in a magical sense. Dan/Ben are the best. Forget the rest. Any diver who doesn't get Undercurrent/In Depth is a fool; if I didn't I would not know of this place "Five Stars Plus" for finding this one. It's the find of a lifetime. Also, Bob is a beginner. There are many areas for beginners and most dives are easy in slack current, but the fun is when it rips."

Loma Loma Resort, January 1997, Don Acneson, Silver Spring, MD. "Loma Loma was everything I expected after reading Undercurrent reviews. (I would have rated the quality of the food as "5" had I not been to Bougainville Resort in Vanuatu first.) Lynette and staff did a marvelous job. Only reason I rate the dive operation "4" instead of "5" was that the big outboard on the dive boat went south while I was there and couldn't be repaired before I left. Some of the runs to dive sites were long and others weren't attempted. vis: 80­100 ft. water: 82 degrees. Diving restrictions were 130 ft. and buddy (guide)."

Loma Loma Resort, March 1997, Fred Kolo, NY, NY. "Diving pristine, beautiful and never dived until a couple years ago. Sharks just about every dive. Hard corals fine. Fish life abundant and varied but not dense. Can be considerable current; wonderful roller coaster ride across a wall of yellow soft corals in one pass. No single dive went to top of my lifetime list, but it was week of superb diving. . . . Operation excellent, rarely more than 6 divers, and likely to have the boat to yourself. A tough aluminum open boat perfectly designed for local conditions, but not the place for arm chair divers. vis: 30-80 ft. water: 80-83 degrees. Divemaster set profiles, but ok. . . . Resort quiet, beautiful, isolated on a small island in the lagoon several hundred yards from the main island which is also quiet and isolated. Bures are large and attractive, luxurious. Food fresh and delicious. Very special place. Manager Lynette will leave in June. Flights only a few times a week."

Loma Loma Resort, July 1997, Peter Waldron & Alenka Chadwick, Iowa City, IA. "We chose Loma Loma based on information in the 1997 Chapbook and were not disappointed. Time spent getting to this small island is rewarded by the unspoiled diving and staying on an island populated by fruit bats, with walking paths, and stars from horizon to Horizon (the major nighttime entertainment), as well as Frazier the wonder dog. Accommodations are individual bures decorated with tapa cloth including a large living room, mosquito netting over bed (not needed), and beverage stocked refrigerator (no charge for the beer). Food excellent, served family style, and prepared from island grown produce. The staff friendly and helpful. Diving is not 'till you drop; getting over the shallow reefs two dives a day can take 6 plus hours. Boat is flat bottomed which can make for uncomfortable rides in choppy seas, but the destinations proved unforgettable (brown footed booby escort). Ben, the divemaster, is a knowledgeable naturalist both above and below the water. Most of the diving was deep and drift, along dramatic walls, with opportunities for pelagic and macro photography. No camera rinse tank board. Sharks (mostly white tips, one gray reef) on most dives, schools of barracuda and unicorn fish, tuna, lionfish, and close encounters with manta and hawksbill turtle. Four types of nudibranchs, bubble coral, carpet anemones, 20' sea fan, and the potential for nautilus shells on the beach. . . . Spend a night in Suva to get a break before the long flight back to the US and explore that harbor city (home to a far flung Carnegie library). The Fiji Museum has the rudder of the HMS Bounty, a huge Fijian sea going canoe, and a good gift shop."

Loma Loma Resort, August 1997, Michael & Sandy DeRousse, Santa Barbara, CA. "Great diving with Ben. Had a personal mission to ensure we saw everything possible, and in Northern Lau group that's a lot! Discovered and named a new dive site. Weather could have been better, but some protected sites. No night diving. Lagoon poor for dives - outside reef too difficult to navigate at night. vis: 40-100 ft. water: 76 degrees. "Never Ending Story" - favorite site even though tides wrong for our dive (knew this in advance) but a great dive. Only 2 divers first 3 days. . . . Bay of Islands and South Beach beautiful. I surprised my wife with a Fijian birthday celebration as mentioned in one of your reports. Absolutely recommended. Will never forget it."

Vanua Levu Area

Jean Michel Cousteau Resort, November 1996, Randy Smith, Carmel, CA. "Two glorious weeks. Food outstanding, varied and beautifully prepared. Diving extraordinary. For a novice diver I felt absolutely safe and comfortable and as my ability increased, I was allowed to push the envelope of experience. Not one single dive did I feel held back or abandoned. Divemasters and crew exemplary, equally concerned with safety as with providing adventure and excitement. Experienced divers were free to dive their computers. Accommodations worth the expense and the staff made me feel so at home there were tears upon departure."

Jean Michel Cousteau Resort, May 1997, Vilma L. Kohn, Cleveland, OH. "Run by Aussie, Gary Alford, the dive operation has well equipped boat which carries a maximum of 12 divers. Predive briefings are complete and divemasters accompany a group, if needed. Equipment available for rent and one's own equipment is stored in locked on­shore room while you're a guest. Everything is put on the boat and removed for you and placed into your own pre­assigned lockers. Divemasters, some of whom are Fijian, couldn't be more solicitous. Diving includes wall reefs, bommies, and a seamount "the size of a soccer field". vis: 80­150 ft. water: 84 degrees. Diving restrictions enforced were 130 ft. max. Naturalist from the Cousteau resort accompanied us on one trip (2­tank, all day, with sumptuous lunch aboard) and showed us some small life we'd otherwise have missed. Very ecologically concerned. Abundance of reef fishes of every variety. Evening lectures and videos by Cousteau on conservation, plankton and coral reefs."

Nukubati, March 1997, Ken Smith and Lucia Christopher, Sausalito, CA. "Pricey ($500+/couple/night, including meals), new, unique, small and private island, a dying coconut plantation owned by the Steiner family, a real rainbow coalition with German, Fijian and East Indian ancestry dating back 150 years (the resort is under separate management). An hour drive from Labasa (or an hour boat ride) or 90 minutes from Savusavu, on Vanua Levu, Fiji's second largest island. . . . Four splendid one bedroom cottages, comfortable wicker furniture, refrigerator with soft drinks, separate bedrooms with queen sized bed, private porch, cd player and cds, 30 feet from the beach, poor to middling snorkeling; so remote not an electric light from Vanua Levu at night. . . . Open air Great House has library, bar, private bay view dinner tables and among the best delicious light food in Fiji, by a chef trained at the culinary academy in Suva; breakfast - eggs with fruit salsa, light pancakes, paw paw and passion fruit; lunch, lightly battered fish and taro chips, cream of chicken soup, - dinner; sauteed lobster medallions, or beef, chicken or vegetable curry, stuffed mud crab, seafood terrine, fresh green beans, red cabbage, spinach, all beautifully prepared, desserts to die for, including a home made ice cream, served by a shy, smiling staff. . . . Aussie dive operators were off island, so dove with young family members Voggnie, Allan, and Salote and taciturn father Jacob, who has a movie-star-smile; good divers, but not trained guides, didn't brief, and not used to tourist divers. More wild than usual Fiji diving, better outside the reef - half hour plus boat ride - than inside; nice walls, great range of hard corals, limited soft corals, abundant reef fish - plenty of fire dartfish, swarms of anthias, one day a dozen bumphead parrot fish, chevron barracuda schools, great barracuda, array of butterfly fish, whitetips to five feet most dives. Visibility from 30 to 100 feet, water 80 degrees. . . . I suspect I didn't see the best dives, but what I saw measured up to everywhere on Fiji but the best: Loma Loma. . . . Rather than fly to Labasa, have the resort arrange a cab to and from Savusavu; it's under $50/one way - your driver will be a Steiner-clan member - and the drive is beautiful. Any travel agent can get you there, or simply type Nukubati on your Web Finder.

Viti Levu Area

Dive Connections/Fiji Palms, May 1997, Jeff & Sherry Hotham, Phoenix, AZ. "Stayed on the main island of Viti Levu by Beqa Lagoon. Dive Connections picked us up and had a good divemaster, but their 2 boats left me wanting better. Small boat was fast but you were totally wet before your 1st dive and it provided plenty of bruises. Big boat roomy but used only when full; difficult entry ladder. Diving not as good as Laucala, but if the budget rules this is a good destination; airfare half of that to Palau. vis: 30-50ft. water: 80 degrees."

Marlin Bay, February 1997, Ed and Bobbi Stuckenhoff, Buffalo, WY. "Wish we had known the water would be so wonderfully warm. Greatest food we've ever had at any resort. Kind, caring and friendly (and genuine) staff. Beautiful grounds. Turn-down service with a flower on your pillow. A massage on your own porch. Beautiful no-current diving, fabulous fish. Water 83 degrees, must have a minimum of 700 psi at the end of the dive and no touching the coral. Finest all around dive resort we've found. Truly paradise."

Marlin Bay, April 1997, Bob & Diane Chambers, Danville, CA. "Food excellent, but tiny portions, even for 120 lb. women. New food plan: pay only for what you eat. Breakfast choice of two pieces of toast or "full breakfast" which was good but still small. Juices extra. My big-eater husband was still hungry after lunch on day and asked for seconds. We were charged for another lunch. Appetizer was "bhoojah", sort of Fiji trail mix, not what we expected from the advertising. Beqa is home of the fire-walkers, but the resort was not full and we saw no fire walking (perhaps it would cost the resort too much and they wouldn't do it for less than a full house). Diving repetitive, not worth a whole week. Lots of dead coral and many crown of thorns starfish. However, the dive guides and boat captains tried to get us to sites we wanted to see. They were accommodating and let us dive our computers, only asking that we have 500 lbs. of air when we began to surface. vis: 30-60 ft. water: 78-80 degrees. Manassa an excellent guide and delightful to talk to about the history of Fiji."

Marlin Bay, April 1997, Eugene Levin, Sunnyvale, CA. "Lodging in very nice deluxe "bures" right on beach. Lovely views and sunsets from private porch. Food was good, but not up to famous gourmet standards of prior chef, Christian. Staff was outstanding in every way. Diving was just OK., not great. About 45 minutes each way. Poor vis (perhaps due to bad weather), some current, but not like Taveuni. Better Fijian diving available at Kadavu, on live-aboards and of course at Taveuni."

Marlin Bay, June 1997, C. Douglas Rorex, Olney, IL. "Loved Fiji. People were warm, friendly and helpful. Loved the diving, the soft corals, the abundant fish life, and the critters were simply overwhelming. Sensory overload underwater. . . . Resort was superb. Comfortable accommodations, extremely pleasant staff: kayaks, village tours, fishing, nature hikes, pool, village church services, volleyball, massage, kava ceremonies, fire walking. . . . Two tank boat dives in the morning either in lagoon or on fringes of the reef. Sometimes current so we could opt for another site, drift dive or dodge the current behind the bommies. Joeli, our divemaster, could find anything for which you asked. Did three night boat dives during twelve days; excellent, but activity at night not as intense as the Caribbean; however, the critters make up for it; big, butt ugly sponge/decorator crabs on Star Reef. Some coral damage, especially in shallows, from a past storm. Whitetip reef sharks on about every other dive, an occasional Blue Spotted Stingray, but the real attractions were the abundant soft corals, Lion Fish, Clown Fish in colorful anemones, Leaf fish and a cast of thousands. Dozens of strange nudibranchs, flatworms and crabs. Most dives sixty feet or less. Most intense life between ten and forty feet. Bottom times always over an hour and frequently seventy to eighty minutes. Water 76­77 degrees and most of us wore at least a 3mm wetsuit. Vis ranged from 70 to 100 feet. Diving restrictions enforced were 100 ft. Fairly flexible regarding diving solo. Weather mostly sunny, but often wind, some surge. Not everyone liked the shore dives. I did. Vis ran 10 to 35 feet. Many of the same critters near the shore except a number of them were juveniles. Two inch juvenile Lion fish whose wings were still fused, juvenile lobsters, coweries, hermit crabs, and large snails, spotted snake eels, some nudibranchs and some anemones, in the shallow water, among the sand and grass. . . . Food was excellent. Always options for the main course and the deserts ­­ Christian made hot chocolate soufflé I would kill for. . . . I am not a finicky eater and might fall into the ranks of culinary barbarians, still I didn't hear anyone complaining about the food. . . . Downside: Flying all day, then all night, crossing the International Dateline and God knows how many time zones takes its toll. . . . No moorings at the dive sites so the boats anchor in coral. We were told they now had the tools to install sub­ surface buoys and would begin doing so soon. They should. Buoys will reinforce their otherwise excellent attitude toward the reef and its inhabitants. We loved the people, the islands and the diving."

Marlin Bay, September 1997. Don and Jody Brown, Greenwich, CT. "Accommodations clean and spacious. Food wonderfully prepared by Chef Christian and served elegantly with a sense of humor. Quiet resort, friendly staff. Water choppy; 78 degrees, vis 60 to 100 feet. Need a bigger boat as a group of 10 filled it. Had motor problems while we were there. All dives are guided. Divemaster knows the sites and waters. Tour of the local village and school and bring small gifts for the children."

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