For Left Coasters, it's easier to get to Fiji than to the Caribbean: ten hours nonstop from L.A. Airfare and an all-inclusive week at many excellent resorts can be had for under $2500 per person; air packages can be tailored to include New Zealand/Australia extensions at little extra cost. Hook up with Eco Divers and Sea Fiji: they dive the same reefs as the Cousteau Resort at a third their tariff, offering decent accommodations and two tanks a day for a week for as little as $1400 for two people! For a few more bucks, stay at the nearby Daku Garden Resort, which is undergoing major upgrading. I liked the hotel as it was, so it's bound to be better. Contact Eco Divers at: seafijidive@is.com.fj . . . Also check with other dive travel specialists as they will often run Fiji specials with cheap air.... Sunflower Air is more squared-away than Fiji Air for local flights.... The best diving isn't on the big island of Viti Levu; instead, go to the 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 non-revealing clothes to town. You guys should have someone teach you how to tie a sulu so you, too, can go home in a skirt.... Wetsuits are a staple year-round; currents add coolness, just like the wind chill factor.... Taveuni has great diving but it's terrible for beginners; there's high current velocity damn near daily. Bring a compass, and carry both day and night emergency surface signaling devices (tubes, strobes).... This is a good area for sea snakes, soft corals, stonefish, and clown fish.... Last we heard, Loma Loma, which we consider to be some of the best diving Fiji has to offer, is without a dive operation.... The weather can be stormy June through September; short, heavy showers are possible any afternoon year-round. The year-round average temperature is 80 or above; nights average 68-69 degrees in winter; bring a sweater....

For a full review of the following Fiji destinations, see:

Nai'a- Fiji, Undercurrent- June 1999

Jean-Michel Cousteau Resort, Undercurrent- June 1997

Loma Loma Resort, In Depth- April 1996

Marlin Bay Resort, In Depth- February 1996

Aqua Ventures/Rainbow Reef Divers/Garden Island, May 1998, Kurt Schwarz, Potomac, MD. Booked through Trip-n-Tour, but Rainbow Reef divers already booked up. Signed up with Aqua Ventures. AV would pick me up at 8:30 at resort for a 10-minute ride to Rainbow Reef dive sites. At most five divers, last day I was only diver. Half the days they had 2 divemasters plus boat captain. Since I was the only photographer DM gave me choice of following him and group or staying in one area. . . . Gorgeous soft corals, clownfish, Anthias, grouper, lion fish, hawksbill turtles, four whitetip reef sharks. Surface interval: 60 minutes, back to resort by lunch time. Water: 76-78 degrees, vis: 50-75 ft. . . . Did two night dives with Rainbow Reef divers. Very personable and took a maximum of seven divers. Resort nice, staff friendly. Food some of the best we have had. Especially liked vegetarian choices. Worst tasting pina colada. Island lush, underdeveloped, beautiful waterfalls. Overall great trip.

Cousteau Fiji, November 1997. Mike Steffenson, Davenport, IA. We had difficulty during our stay reconciling your June 1997 review with what we were experiencing. We too had to suffer with garden bures rather than the ocean front ones, but they were spectactularly beautiful and serviced twice a day. At the Ritz Carltons the employees always speak to you when they see you. At J-M Cousteau Fiji they speak to you-by name! The food was wonderful and the service and personal accommodations by the kitchen and service staff were first class by any standard. . . . Only 20% of the guests were divers and the owners were focusing on eco-tourism. Nevertheless, we were satisfied with the dive operation that operates separately from the resort. Our dive equipment was picked up from our bures, set up on the dive boat, removed, rinsed, dried and returned to the boat the next day. We split into groups of ten and six on the two dive boats and had nothing but good experiences. At the end of our trip we met a gentleman who resolved the dilemma for us. He said that your description of the situation was accurate before Ben and Verena Burgoon arrived on the scene as the new managers to clean up the mess. (Ph: 800-246-3451 or 415-788-0150 or 011-679-850188)

Cousteau Fiji, March 1998, Kendall Botellio, AZ. The nicest people in the world live in Fiji! The resort is very nice. Rooms have ceiling and floor fans and walls have shutters to allow breezes in. Diving was very good. Make sure you dive Chimney's and Dream House. Lots of anemones and clown fish. 15-20 sharks in 6 days! Vis: 40-100 ft. Water: 80-83 degrees. Computer was restriction enforced for diving. Great macro and close-up photography. Excellent place to relax and enjoy life!

Cousteau Fiji, June 1998, Nadine Allen, Albuquerque, NM. Exceeded our expectations! Staff was superb, friendly and accommodating. New Managers Ben and Verena from California were accessible and doing a great job. Dive operation excellent. Divemaster Jerry and marine biologist Lauren made every dive special. Long boat ride to Nsonisoni Pass and Namenalala Island but diving was great. Evening slide shows and a great library of marine biology books. Fijian style bures beautifully furnished and comfortable. Openair dining room with fresh and healthy cuisine, artfully presented. AA luxury property that caters to divers. Soft corals awesome. Vis: 50 ft. Water: 78-79 degrees.

Crystal Divers, 1998, Frank and Maureen Reichmuth, Santa Rosa, CA. 2.5 hours by taxi from Nadi. No need to mourn the departure of Dan Grenier from Loma Loma for here are a spectacular combination of soft coral and hard corals, reef fish and pelagics on sites newly discovered by Dan and unexplored by existing dive operations who have not ventured to the outer reef. Neptune Gardens is a series of bommies in 80' of water and rise to within 15' of the surface for hanging out during a safety stop. Bommies are carpeted with layers of brilliant multicolored soft corals, pristine hard corals, bubble coral, sea fans, tunicates, rock scallops, tridacna clams, and teaming with thousands of bright anthias and fusiliers. Abundant pipefish, nudibranchs, shrimp, crabs and flat worms, three lion fish, juvenile sweet lips, stonefish, morays, coral rock cod, semicircle and emperor angelfish, bannerfish, and batfish. Bring wide angle lense to capture the lapis blue and purple sea fans as large as ten feet. Encountered trevally, wahoo, snappers, jacks, blue jellyfish, and schools of pick handle barracuda. During safety stop, we would hang on the bommie in the current and be awash in anthias and entertained by the schooling barracuda and trevally. I bumped into a Queensland Grouper 6-8 feet long and maybe 800 pounds that left me breathless. Observed a Bumphead Maori Wrasse maybe 200 pounds. White tip and grey reef sharks on nearly every dive. A sea turtle and schools of bumphead parrot fish and titan triggerfish. Charybdis Reef is 20 miles long and unexplored except for Dan and the dive boat Nai'a. Wall dives in the middle of Blight water-keep an eye out for large pelagics. Never Ending Story Chapter Two: soft coral trees 3-4 feet tall in 120 feet of water. Gray reef and white tip sharks cruised by, along with wahoo 5-6 feet long, schools of unicorn fish, pelagic trigger fish, jacks and trevally. At Water Colors we found gardens of black coral and giant soft coral. One pinnacle had two caves thick with large multicolored soft corals and sea fans all intertwined. Water comfortable 81 degrees, vis generally cloudy 40-60 feet with some days exceeding 100 feet. . . . Accommodations great. Rented a house down the beach about 200 yds from Dan's house and had meals prepared by Dan's Fijian wife Alisi who is a gourmet cook and Lynette Mercer. Three bedroom house was artfully decorated, clean and comfortable. Caretaker Marioni served our meals, did our laundry and cleaned the house every day. After diving, most days were spent on the deck overlooking the water or walking the beach collecting shells. Air ranged from 78-80 degrees and there was a constant breeze. Two resorts within 10 minutes: Wananavu Resort with a beautiful view of Nananu-I-Ra Island, swimming pool, gardens and restaurant and Mokusigas Resort on Nananu-I-Ra Island with similar amenities. Locals interesting and friendly. . . . We depend on Undercurrent to make us aware of these great diving opportunities; let your readers know about unique operations like Dan's before they fade away. (www.crystaldivers.com or e-mailing :crystaldivers@is.com.fj)

Crystal Divers/Nananu-i-ra, June 1998, Dave Miller, Morro Bay, CA. Dan Grenier's new location has great diving! a leisurely 2-1/2 hour cab ride up the island. Vis 50-60 feet and no big stuff. Current could be really brisk, so not a good place for beginners. Inertebrates? A dream come true! I suspect the poor visibility is caused by a soup of plankton; an unbelievable variety of life. No one has seriously dove this area before.

Dive Kandavu/Matana, November 1997, Bill Hollister, Healdsburg, CA. No roads, no TV, no phones. Comfortable bures in gorgeous setting. Well-managed operation with new managers. Fijian hospitality and laughter are delightful. Bommie just off beach, good snorkeling. Vis: 40-70 ft. Sites 10 minutes. Crew knowledgeable friendly, and flexible. Wonderful soft coral, wide diversity of hard coral. Riots of colorful fish, nudibranchs on every dive. Most of the time I was the only footprints on one of several lovely, long beaches strewn with shells. (Ph: 011-679-311780 Fax: 011-679-303860)

Dive Taveuni/Garden Island Resort, March 1997, Arthur Graf, San Antonio, TX. Spent 20 days diving in the Somosomo Strait area and stayed on Taveuni. Garden Island Resort: slightly run down, but under new ownership and working to bring the resort up to standards. . . . Meals were very good, plenty of fish, cooked well with different sauces. Lobster three nights. . . . Rainbow Divers a good operation. Resort is just across the channel from Rainbow reef, Great White Wall, etc. They are setting up for Nitrox. Divemasters are first class and know the currents, which is very important. All gear is washed and dried by staff after each days diving. Dive boat is standard, with plenty of room and powered by two outboards. . . . Dive Taveuni Resort: first class, very good food and lush surroundings, diver operations could use some work. 10 minute drive to the boat anchorage, 40 minutes to Rainbow Reef area. Dive boat is a cat powered with two outboards. Dry cabin, lunch served on onboard. Excellent divemasters. You handle your own gear. . . . Both resorts dive the same area. If you do not like current stay away. Late February and early March is off season and the dive boats and the reef are nearly empty. Try to get there in the dark of the moon as that is when the currents are minimal. (Dive Taveuni Ph: 001-679-880411 Fax: 001-679-880466) (Garden Isle PH: 001-679-880286, Fax 001-679-880288)

Forbes Laucala, August 1997, Karen & Kevin Mortazavi, Plano, TX. Colder and cloudier than expected. We bought sweatshirts at the gift shop. Water was cold: 75-77 degrees. Service outstanding. They catered to every need. Stayed in individual cottages, each had own cook /housekeeper. Free daily laundry service, stocked bar in each room. Food very good. Dinner served at Plantation House with other guests. Set own activity schedule included diving, fishing, sailing (all inclusive). Diving was outstanding. Vis: 75-150 ft. Lots of sharks, huge anemones, beautiful soft coral, lots of tropicals. Island was beautiful. People friendly. (Ph: 800-FORBES5 or 011-679-880077, Fax 011-679-880099)

Garden Island Resort, July 1998, Kathy & Jim Bausano, Sequim, WA. New facility for E-6 processing; camera rentals; permanently installed rinsing tanks for cameras at the dive facility; need to improve camera storage on the boat. Two boats with dual 150 Yamahas; no breakdowns; sites are within minutes of the resort and every day you can dive a new and exciting site. Half the rooms have been refurbished with beautiful furniture and queen-sized beds; the food was excellent, service is beyond compare. Fijian hospitality. New management is on the right track and doing a good job. Diving was excellent. (Garden Isle Ph: 001-679-880286, Fax 001-679-880288)

Garden Island Resort, September 1998, Allen Guisinger, Redmond, WA. Water 79-80F. All OK except dives were hurried; too little time spent at depth. Food-mediocre.

Marlin Bay, January 1998, George A. Bogard, Rowlett, TX. Arrived in the midst of three cyclones. After first two days seas became too rough to dive and visibility too poor to see. Vis: 10-50 ft. Water: 80-82 degrees. Dive restrictions: 100 ft.limit. Soft coral and critters were fantastic. The resort was great and took excellent care of us during the storms. (Ph: 800-542-3454 or 011-679-304042, Fax: 011-679-304028)

Marlin Bay Resort, March 1998, Kathy Babitzke, Garden City, KS. Our trip was enjoyable because of hospitality of Fijian people. Our trip was clouded because a timeshare representative was on site full time and was a nuisance. He told tall tales about the island when asked a genuine question. He took numbers of our group on a "20 minute" hike to the waterfall that turned out to be a 1.5-2 hour hike up a steep mountain and back down. Two of our group were in danger of collapse but he ignored this and laughed at the out of shape divers. Food was excellent if you like seafood and lamb. Desserts were to die for. Diving was either very good or very poor depending on the site. Water: 78-80 degrees. Vis: 30-80 feet. Site of resort is beautiful. I would more recommend this resort for relaxers instead of divers.

Marlin Bay Resort, March 1998, Gil Williamson, Kettering, OH. Sunny with occasional showers. Water fairly calm with some strong current at tide changes. Water 82 F and I wore a 3MM wetsuit. Vis. was 70 to 100 ft. Generally the diving was conducted in groups but you can dive your own profile. We saw one or more white tip sharks on most dives. Lots of reef fish and larger fish such as unicorn fish, grouper, rabbit fish, etc. During my stay they were between managers of the dive operation, but the divemasters carried on very well. George the owner was ever present and the staff was incredibly friendly and committed to quality service. Some dive sites were infested with Crowns of thorn starfish and no longer dived. Still plenty of good sites. Overall it was a good experience; shot 700 slides that I shot. Recommend that you have a message while there-a 7 on a scale of 1 to 5.

Marlin Bay Resort, April 1998, Steve and Renee Gollehes, Kalispell, MT. Best food, service and some of best diving in the Pacific. Vis: 75-100 ft, water: 80 degrees. Great diving and be pampered at the same time. Remote with no night life, but the local Fijians will treat you like family.

Marlin Bay Resort, June 1998, Nadine Allen, Albuquerque, NM. Relaxed resort. Fijian style bures at water s edge. Gourmet cuisine by Chef Michael Hayslip. Dive operation small and personal. Divemasters read currents and are expert at finding whatever you want to see. Small boats, sometimes only my husband and I with divemaster. 5-10 minutes rides, longest was 20 min. Reasonable prices. Expect currents and get in good shape!

Marlin Bay Resort, June 1998, Steve and Pam Ellingson, Atherton, CA. Private bures comfortable and well appointed, food gourmet. Resort is on a long beach, with plenty of room for exploring. They will pack you a lunch and drop you off at uninhabited islands for however long you like. Everyone is courteous and attentive. Diving is very good for a land-based resort in Fiji. Trip about half hour on a boat with plenty of shade and room for gear. Dives typically several bommies in one area, one wreck. Fish life and soft corals plentiful. Gray reef sharks on two dives, and whitetip reef sharks on several. A few rainbow eels. Seta, the main dive guide, lets you dive your own profile, and provides assistance where needed. Inexperienced divers in our group, but they did not influence site selection. Typical day is two dives, back for lunch. No one is in a hurry. Reef in front of resort; lots of interesting small critters, such as transparent shrimp, mantis shrimp with their companion gobies.

Matagi Island Resort, December 1997, Richard Lehach, Larchmont, NY. Very nice resort, secluded on own island, no a/c was biggest complaint. Dive operation professional. Selection of sites left something to be desired. Some were great. 100+ visibility good, coral and fish. Otherwise very poor 30 ft visibility and badly damaged by last years hurricane. water: 79-81 degrees. Restriction enforced for diving were rec.limits. (Ph: 800-3MATAGI or 011-679-880260, Fax: 011-679-880274)

Matagi Island Resort, April 1998, Mike Bray, Mission Viejo, CA. Best all inclusive resort we've experienced. The dive operation is excellent; well-conditioned boats, helpful crew handles your dive gear, allows computer diving and knows their reefs and water conditions. Several sharks, clownfish and lionfish; soft corals were spectacular. Vis: 75-100 ft. Water: 78-80 degrees. 110 ft. depth limit . . . . Accommodations comfortable and quiet. The grounds have 10 guests bures which have 220 v electrical outlets and a stocked wet bar. A large bure housed a common dining area; all meals were tasty and elegantly prepared. Each evening had live entertainment except Sunday, and on most occasions guests joined in singing and occasional dancing. Staff friendly, good humored, they were like family after a week.

Matagi Island Resort, July 1998, Marty Dawson, San Ramon, CA. Group of 9 fairly experienced divers. After the first day, let us dive our own profiles; never chastised for staying down too long. We followed our computers conservatively. Divemasters Leslie, Tiko and Jason were terrific. Led us to great sites and pointed out terrific critters. Entertained us with laughter and music (ask Leslie to play the wrenches!). On boat, no fresh water for cameras or work area for changing film. Resort has a big rinse tank specifically for cameras. Disappointed with broken hard coral, red algae and many crowns of thorns on many dives, but they took us to some awesome walls: Noel's Wall, Yellow Wall, Motui #3. Barracuda, sharks, turtles, huge humphead wrasse, nudibranchs and flatworms, sea snakes, Vis: 60-70 ft. Maximum depth suggested, no time requirements. Times and depth logged after each dive by crew. Fairly windy and cool, but no humidity. Water 76 degrees. Resort staff fantastic: made us feel like more than just guests; tried to do everything we asked always with a smile and vinaka. Got a lot more for our money than we had counted on. Picnics at Bouma Falls and Horseshoe Bay (Great snorkeling), visited staff's village, mekes, lovos, kava ceremonies, kayaking, hobie cat sailing . . . all included in the price! Resort is lovely and even though it was full, we rarely ran into other people. Reconfirm your return flights. We did and still had trouble with Air Fiji and Air Pacific.

Moody's Namena Island, August 1997, Gregg Sheridan, Moreno Valley, CA. My wife and I were just certified and this was our first trip out of the country. 6 hrs to Honolulu and 6 more hours to Nadi in Fiji and one hour in a seaplane, which was beautiful. Moody's Namena in the Northern Island group was great. Only 6 bures with a max of 12 guests (no kids). One dive boat with glass bottom; not a spectacular boat but it was only 15-20 minutes to the dive sites. Only four guests on the island, which was cool. Diving easy. One tank after breakfast and one tank after lunch. They did everything; we just onto the boat and put our stuff on at the site and jumped in. After the dive they unloaded, cleaned and stored everything. Beautiful fish, visibility incredible. We dove with two local guys who knew where to look for hard to see fish like blue ribbon eels and leaf scorpion fish. No dive restrictions. Bottom was about 110 ft. where most dives were. Easy shore diving with reefs everywhere. Vis: 100-150 ft. Water: 78-81 degrees. . . . 110-acre island with 100 acres set aside for preserve for nesting blue-footed boobies and green sea turtles. Owners are from Pennsylvania. Food is great: NZ lamb, tuna steaks, wahoo steaks, banana pancakes, lots of fruit grown there. Bures were very private with Fijian hardwood, floor to ceiling sliding doors, x-large king bed, two bathrooms with salt water toilets, coffee & tea and fresh ice water in a thermos every day. No electricity in Bures, but their generators will charge batteries. They do your laundry twice a week. Propane lanterns in Bures and no a.c., but a nice breeze every day. Veranda all around and all bures are ocean view (4 on cliffs and two on the sandy beach side). They will take you to whatever dive site you want. This place feels like being at home with relatives. You can hike all over the island; four secluded beaches. The only drawback was 104 stairs down to the dive boat. They don't carry stuff for rent. . . . Weight limit on the seaplane was 15 kilos then $5 every extra kilo, but they forgot to charge us. (Ph: 011-679-813764, Fax: 011-679-812366)

Sea Sports/The Fijian, October 1997, Bob & Gayle Bringas, Gaston, OR. They provide shuttles from hotels. Dive boats are aluminum flat top catamarans. Full line of rental equipment. Punctual, friendly and professional. Took guests to dive sites appropriate for the experience level of most of the group. Know before you go; The Fijian is the largest hotel in Fiji. Vis: 50-60 ft. Water: 76-78 degrees. (Ph: 011-679-50225, Fax: 011-679-520239)

Sea Sports, November 1997, Ernie Krumbein, Munster, IN. Fijians are the nicest and most friendly people I have ever met. Dive shop and personnel are sincere about divers having a good time. Prices are reasonable. Food and service at resort is A-one. Vis: 70-100 ft. Wtr: 79 degrees. (Bad: 10 hours is a long time to fly from LA to Fiji).

Sonaisali Island Resort, Fiji, December 1997, Angee Silliman, Hillsboro, OR. Resort was nice, but dive operation (Dive Sonaisali) was very lacking. Resort was at capacity, but we were the only certified divers so often got stuck with the snorkeling group or with resort divers. Small boats with no ladders (my husband had to haul me up onto the back platform to get me in each time). Good fills, but we usually came up with almost half our air. Dives usually no more than 40 feet max. We felt like the dive operation was just out to get the most money they could, in the easiest way possible. . . . The two local dive guides were nice, but definitely not eco-divers. They occasionally stood on coral and often took pleasure in harassing the marine life (mostly the anemones and anemone fish). They were good about setting our equipment up and getting it ready each morning, but we often did not get out on the water until after 10:00 a.m. (a little too laid back). No pre-dive briefings. Also, most sites not moored. The divemaster (from Australia) is just a face man who tries to talk people into getting resort certified. I heard him say to a dive guide, when parents wanted to go out on a boat when their sons were doing their first resort-certified dive, that he should try to charge them for a snorkeling trip if they wanted to go. He also took out 4 resort divers by himself one day and let them dive down to 60 feet, which we did not think they were ready for. Our greatest frustration came from the promise of certain good dive sites for the next day, but when the next day came, we would go somewhere else (usually because they decided to send us with the snorklers). Once they took us to a site that was outside the barrier reef with rough surf. The diving there was good, but several first-time snorklers were afraid to get in the water and were seasick by the time we came up. . . . We bought a 10-dive package before we went, so they knew they could take us wherever we wanted because we wanted to use up our dives. When we wanted to add a few more dives later in the trip, they wanted to charge us a higher price per dive price than for our 10-dive package. We finally convinced them to charge us the same price as our 10-dive price (S40 Fijian apiece each dive with exchange being about $1.45 Fijian for $ 1.00 U.S.), but charged us $90 Fijian apiece for a night dive. They told us they had to charge such a high price because they were still trying to get their dive operation going. . . . Diving was much better at some sites than others. Some sites very alive and healthy, while others had patchy life. They told us a hurricane had gone through in April '97 and had done some damage to the reef. We did see 3 white tip sharks at a site called The Supermarket where they do a shark feeding twice a week. Other highlights were nice soft corals, a couple of rays, one turtle, and lots of pretty little fish.