| Fiji | |
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 Dive Kadavu/Matana Resort, April 1999, Ray and Betty Peterson (rpete@pacbell.net), Walnut Creek, CA. Vis: 75-100 ft. Water: 83-85 degrees. Sunny, rainy. 50 min. first dive, 50 min. second dive. First trip to the South Pacific and an all-inclusive resort; exceeded our expectations. Grass air strip, no cars, no roads, no stores. Short boat ride to Matana, which can handle about 20 guests. 7 during our week. Food good and plentiful. Service outstanding. Bob and Renna, the owners and many staff joined us most meals and kept us entertained. Bure was large and comfortable and included a refer supplied daily with water. Fresh flowers daily. Plenty of room to spread out; large covered porch, steps from the ocean. Lionfish and clown fish on our first dive. Unicorn fish, Moorish idols (Dive Kadavu's lofo fish), blue ribbon eel, morays, garden eel, soft corals in all colors, nudibranchs, blue and yellow starfish. Wall covered with soft yellow corals. Feather Star the prettiest night dive ever. All day 3 tank trip to Ono Island and Astrolobe Reef. Swift current nearly rips your mask off if you turn the wrong way. Great dive. Surface intervals on deserted beaches with juice and snacks. Toured the village next door with the resort director, Cava, the village chief's son. Real Fijian village. Very basic lifestyle. Cava sang at the Kava ceremony and we drank kava. Fijians are the friendliest people we ever met. (Ph: 011-679-311780 Fax: 011-679-303860)
Dive Kadavu/Matana Resort, June 1999, Jack Haverty, La Honda, CA. Vis: 80-100 ft. Water: 75-78 degrees. Wonderful place to relax. Nine bures on the beach. Like visiting your family. Easy diving. 30 foot diameter "Ball" of trevally, 100 barracuda to the side and four seven-foot reef shirks cruising below (where our group of 4 divers and guide lay on the bottom).
Dive Kadavu/Matana Resort, June 1999, Mimi Wong (mimi.wong@dhcmail.com), St. Paul, MN. Vis: 60-100 ft. Water: 79-80 degrees. Cloudy, water: calm. Restrictions: 60 minutes, 110 feet. Excellent dive and resort operation. Laid back quiet where reading and hanging out constitute the surface interval. No roads and electricity is on only from 7 am to 10 pm. You dive, eat and rest! Divemasters thorough and watchful. Reefs in great condition, large sea fans and soft corals. Lots of colorful tropicals, sharks (white and black tipped) every dive. Diving is easy; current only one dive. 3 tank dive to Ono and Astrolabe Reef. Awestruck by the breathless beauty of the reef around Ono Island. Accommodations basic but adequate. Our bure was a duplex and the bathroom had mosquitoes as ceiling was open to the outside. Ask for newer oceanfront bures where bathrooms are enclosed to cut down on mosquitoes and potentially noisy neighbors. Lunch and dinner were great; Sera the cook accommodated food preferences. Meals are family style so you get to know your fellow divers and the staff. Unique close relationships with the Fijian village next door. You really get to experience the Fijian lifestyle and perspectives.
Dive Kadavu/Matana Resort, August 1999, Lisa Carangelo, Swampscott, MA. Vis: 50-75 ft. Water: 75-77 degrees. Restrictions: 50 mins. max; 500 psi at surface. Excellent staff, friendly and helpful. Large bures with amenities facing lovely beach. Delicious food, traditional Fijian lovo one evening (eating while sitting on the floor) with breadfruit leaves as plates! A treat. Favorite site: Evil Trench. Shallower dives lovely. Soft corals and reef fish all over. Surface interval on the beach with milo/tea/coffee/water and sweets. No laundry done for you but they provide detergent so you can do your own. Permanent marker dive site slates made briefings quick and easy. Spacious boats not full, so plenty of space. Bob & Reena, owners and managers Steve and Kiley made us feel at home. (Ph: 011-679-311780 Fax: 011-679-303860)
Marlin Bay, November 1998, Mary Jane Mesojedec, Chesterland, OH. Vis: 60-100 ft. Water: 77-79 degrees. Weather: sunny, water: calm. Most dives less than 100 ft. Coral bommies rise from the ocean bottom. Extremely colorful and full of life. 10 couples, 2 were nondivers. All but one loved it. Bures face the ocean: views will take your breath away. Watched the moon set into the ocean as the sun rose over the mountain behind our bure. Kitchen opens early enough to get coffee and relax on your own front porch. Breakfast at 7 am. Fresh fruit, eggs, French toast or fluffy pancakes. Service with a smile. Boat leaves 8:30. Manasa was our divemaster; quite entertaining. Two of the divers: first ocean dives. Manasa took them by the hand if they were stressed. By the end of our 12 days they felt very comfortable. Tons of colorful reef fish, anemones, giant clams, spotted ray, one manta, a few reef sharks, turtle, free-swimming sea-snake that wrapped around my leg without me knowing it until the rest of the group told me back on the boat! Illili, another divemaster quietly, got it off me! Many beautiful archways loaded with fans. Some current at frigate passage. Dozen ribbon eels at "Manasa's Favorite." Leaf fish at pearl rock. Many lion fish, scorpion fish, large lobsters, napoleon wrasse, Spanish dancers, nudibranchs, starfish, crowns of thorn munching coral too. Many triton have been harvested that are the crowns natural predators. La-la the cook is wonderful. Food 5 star quality: fish, lamb shanks, rack of lamb, filet mignon, chicken in wonderful sauces, veal, squid that tasted like abalone. Desserts to die for, chocolate sauces that make Hershey's taste like wax! Locals provide entertainment, singing native songs around bowl of kava (dishwater served in a wooden bowl). Resort is one of the best for peace of body and soul. Due to lack of rain the water needed to be shut off at night to let the wells recoup, the compressor was broken so the staff took tanks to Suva everyday for fills. Ken, the resort manager made us feel like family along with the rest of the staff. Took us to an uninhabited island for snorkeling-world class. Take the trip into the village to see the children at school take some little toys, they really enjoy the treats. The day we left we all cried and still do each time we view out video tape as the staff sings "isa lei." (Ph: 800-542-3454 or 011-679-304042, Fax: 011-679-304028)
Marlin Bay, June 1999, Joseph Hearst (hearst@ix.netcom.com), Danville, CA. Vis: 20-100 ft. Water: 78 degrees. Sunny, windy, rainy, cloudy, dry. Water: calm, choppy, currents, no currents. Chose Marlin Bay because of wonderful reviews in Undercurrent. Many things are still true: diving is great for inexperienced divers, accommodations comfortable, the people nice. Couple of things have changed, somewhat for the worse. They have a new chef, who is young, imaginative and enthusiastic. But his cooking is uneven. Some meals were great; I especially liked the salads at lunch. Some were mediocre: nice Thai peanut sauce used on the lunch salad was also on the dinner meat. My wife thought the fish was dry, I thought the chicken was tough. Food good compared to a dive resort, but compared to a good restaurant it was adequate at best. Two boats, only one worked properly. Nice big boat, but with 28 divers things got complicated. Smaller boat had mechanical problems and was very slow, so when people had to be sent to Pacific Harbor they had to use the big one, and we had to dive in two shifts, morning and afternoon. Vis and current were bad in the afternoon. I understand they have a third boat that was being repaired. Weather and diving conditions were variable. Great trip, and would recommend Marlin Bay. But it isn't perfect.
Marlin Bay, July 1999, Thomas E. Orred, San Diego, CA. Vis: 40-100 ft. Water: 78-80 degrees. With past diving in Fiji off the Nai'a and at Forbes Island, diving Beqa Lagoon falls short in soft corals, pelagics and water clarity. Beginning divers would have no difficulty diving. Beauty of the well manicured resort and comfortable bures, make it a comfortable resort, even with only two tank dives a day. Afternoon and night boat dives are a small fee and require four or more people. Food quality and presentation an epicurean delight. Unfortunately, between meal snacks didn't exist. Cost of liquor and soft drinks prohibited indulgence at the mini bar, so bring your own from duty free facilities at Nadi Airport. Fijians are the warmest people in the world. That makes this an easy resort to relax at, away from the hustle and bustle of the outside world.
Marlin Bay, August 1999, Sally Lewis, Steamboat, CO. Vis: 20-75 ft. Water: 75-79 degrees. Nice accommodations, great service, wonderful food. People of Beqa island were great to share their culture with us. Gourmet chef ensured 5 star food. Diving was inhibited by a beginner group on our boat and weather conditions. Some dives were great, but not as expected for Fiji. Weather cooler than expected and rainier. Wish we had long sleeves and pants.
Marlin Bay, August 1999, Ronald L. Bailey (rlbailely@rbnet.com), Roanoke, VA. Vis: 60-100 ft. Water: 78-80 degrees. Fourth trip to Marlin Bay. Excellent service as usual. Rained on and off. Two newer/large dive boats. Excellent food. Diving good. Seas up on some days. Saw first sea snake! Great place. $1769/per diver from L.A.
Marlin Bay, August 1999, Mark Fischer, Keizer, OR. Vis: 60-100 ft. Water: 79-81 degrees. Restrictions: 130' max recommended. Food incredible! The local staff is warm, friendly, helpful, unobtrusive. Resort is clean, quiet and relaxing. Took me 3 days to slow down from my pace as a dive shop owner to the calming, restful pace of the lagoon. While there was never a lack of entertainment available, I chose "hammock testing" several times to diving with no regrets. Naigaini IslandNaigani Island, May 1999, Lee Chapman, H/Beach, CA. Vis: 60-150 ft. Water: 80 degrees. What a find! 5th trip to Fiji and this was 'The Best'. LaucalaFiji Forbes, June 1999, Hilary Surratt, NYC. Vis: 35-65 ft. Water: 77-79 degrees. Dive restrictions: Depth and surface interval. Best diving experience I have had. No other divers at the resort (except my buddy), so each dive (part of an all-inclusive package) turned out to be a private charter. Boat had a captain, mate, diving instructor, and divemaster. All equipment was provided and in excellent condition. All sites excellent, and some in near-virgin territory. On the expensive side, but worth it. Wish I would have arranged to stay longer than the seven-day minimum. They even laundered and dried our wetsuits for the trip home! (Telephone +679 88-0077; Fax +679 88-0099) Nananu-I-RaCrystal Divers/Wananavu Beach Resort, November 1998, Karl and Mary Schneider, Anchorage, AK. Dan Grenier has set up his own operation on Nananu-I-Ra Island off the coast of Viti Levu near Raki Raki. Wananavu Beach Resort, on the main island, is a few minute's boat ride from Dan's operation. Dan has scouted out sites over a larger area than other operators. Although there were only two of us on two days (two tanks in the morning), Dan picked us up at the resort right on time and took us to sites up to 12 miles away. Crew of three with two in the water every dive. He constantly pointed out things we might have missed and we stayed down as long as our air would allow. Open boat spartan but functional. 30+ foot jet powered dive boat on order. Diving was very good. Saw most of the things we had seen the week before on the Princess II, plus a lot we hadn't. Diversity of brightly colored soft corals was as good as the best we had seen. Soft corals were the largest. Great variety of fish, including potato cod and other large groupers. Good variety of nudibranchs and small critters. Serious diving with relaxation at a comfortable, informal resort. (www.crystaldivers.com; e-mail:crystaldivers@is.com.fj)
Crystal Divers, December 1998, Marty Dawson, San Ramon, CA. Vis: 50-80 ft. Water: 82 degrees, calm, no currents. Surprised by the numbers of beautiful, healthy hard corals, huge soft corals, and enormous sea fans. Visibility wasn't the best. Lots of subjects for macro. I had been diving on the Fiji Aggressorand had many reefs to compare these with. The reefs around Nananu-i-ra were every bit as good. And Dan and Alisi run an operation that caters to the individual. Stay in private homes, no resort-type activities. They take care of cooking meals and cleaning. All the guests have to do is dive, eat, and relax! Sea kayaks, a gorgeous white beach, hammocks to swing in.
Crystal Divers, May 1999, Betty and Ray Peterson (rpete@pacbell.net), Walnut Creek, CA. Vis: 40-80 ft. Water: 82-85 degrees. Sunny. Water: calm. Restrictions: 500 lb. safety stop. After reading about Crystal Divers in Undercurrentwe knew it was our next destination. Sites are pristine. They stayed in the water until the last diver was ready to surface. On most dives the boat followed the divers and we surfaced next to boat. Little or no current on most dives. Bommies covered with fish, sea fans and coral even at 15' making safety stops part of the dive. Nudibranchs, clams, crabs, pipefish, batfish, morays, stone fish, reef shark, white tip shark, clownfish, sweetlips, big puffer. We rented a great house from Julie and Mike, Dan's partners. Sunset beautiful. Did most of our own cooking but had Dan's wife Elisse prepare dinner one night, great food. Friendly neighbors; went to a pot luck one night. Truly a piece of paradise.
Crystal Divers/Wananavu Beach Resort, April 1999, Michael Krueger (agrimark@agri-mark.com), Fargo, ND. Vis: 50-100 ft. Water: 80-86 degrees. Sunny. Water: calm. Restrictions: Depth limits, safety stops, minimum air at exit. Subject matter excellent, especially for macro. Went to Fiji to dive with Dan Grenier at Crystal divers based on previous reports in Undercurrent.I wasn't disappointed. Water warmer than normal limited the number of pelagics. Dan is finding new sites all the time. Amount and variety of reef life was amazing. Soft corals spectacular. Remote location, bring a good book. Dan is a very good divemaster. He's cautious and observes divers on an easy check out dive before going to more challenging sites. Wananavu resort is 5 years old and very nice. Good food, friendly staff and nice bures.
Crystal Divers/Ra Divers/Wananavu Resort/private rental house on Nananu-I-Ra Island, July 1999, Lisa Carangelo, Swampscott, MA. Vis: 75-100 ft. Water: 75-77 degrees. Wananavu Resort, 12 well-laid out bure's with spacious bathrooms and ceiling fans. Delicious food, fish/meat/vegetarian options, buffet and lovo nights are a treat. Management and staff answered 'no worries' to every request and handled quickly. Lovely pool overlooking the bay good for afternoon siestas. Ra Divers located there, but don't bother to dive with them unless you are a beginner. Better option for discerning divers Crystal Divers on nearby Nananu-I-Ra Island. They pick you up in AM and deliver you back and dives will be impressive! Dan, Mike and Julie (owners) do a fabulous job pleasing all divers. Once confident of your abilities, there are few restrictions; will accompany you to point out critters, if you'd like. Never Ending Story: deep nearly vertical wall with a swim through and 3-4' tall soft corals, breathtaking in its unspoiledness. Other sites equally unspoiled. Also, rented a house on nearby Nananu-I-Ra with maid/cook service for a week (One week minimum for house rental). Nice to have our own place and walk down beach to dive center, Home-like meals/atmosphere for meals. Rotated dinners among the 3 houses because we all enjoyed each others' company. (Crystal Divers@crystaldiversgis.com.fj)
Ra Divers/Wananavu Resort, March 1999, Sue Sepelak (sepelak@erols.com), Columbia, MD. Vis: 50-80 ft. Water: 83-86 degrees. Dive restrictions: 100 max. Best reefs were 30-80 ft. Comfortable cottages, friendly staff and fun environment. Ra Divers was excellent. Dive guide Papu was top notch. Went out of his way to show divers a good time. Could dive as often as we wanted. Ra Divers were accommodating and very safety conscious. Reefs were beautiful mixture of soft and hard corals. Most reefs had a mixture of high relief (pinnacles) and swim throughs lined with beautiful multicolored soft coral. Large Napoleon wrasse and sharks. Visibility was not its best. (Telephone +679 69-4511; Fax +679 69-4545) Savusavu-Vanua LevuCousteau Fiji, March 1999, Dave & Bev Brandt, Council Bluffs, IA. Vis: 60-100 ft. Water: 80-86 degrees. Sunny, dry. Water: calm. Restrictions No decompression dives. Return with less than 500 psi. No deeper than 120 feet on air, less for Nitrox. Stay with your buddy. Limited camera storage and work space, a problem on the day trip when lunch and film changing are involved. No camera rinse tank on board, but a freshwater shower. Large rinse tanks at the shop, plenty of plug-ins for chargers. Resort and shop are staffed mostly with Fijians, the friendliest people we've met anywhere. Resort is spacious, landscaping excellent. Lots of flowers. Bures are clean, large, with large bathrooms, comfortable beds. No A/C, but usually a breeze at night and at least two fans. Great sleeping until the birds chime in about 6:00 AM. Food outstanding. 2 or 3 entrees, usually meat, fish, and vegetarian, all delicious. Good variety, soups, salads, bread, good ingredients, many grown at the resort, choices of spicy or mild, good preparation. The best desserts. Laundry service everyday included, and I needed it because of heat. Island tours available. Dive shop outstanding. Friendly and helpful staff. Gear loaded by staff onto the boat and assembled, unloaded and rinsed and hung to dry. Guides knew the sites well and pointed out critters. Allowed guests to dive their own profiles. Great small and medium sized critters: Pipefish, anemone fish, nudibranchs, lionfish, leaffish, scorpionfish, ribbon eels, turtle, small reef sharks, schools of anthias. A large sharks and cod on the day trip but mostly 90+ feet. School of barracuda, jacks, on the day trip. Great corals, soft and hard. Some strong currents but not like Palau. Biologist on staff for questions. Full time child care person with great activities for children: snorkeling, crafts, hikes. Staff greets you at the Nadi airport on both legs of the trip. We had airline problems and she resolved them. A great resort and dive operation. (Ph: 800-246-3451 or 415-788-0150 or 011-679-850188)
Namale Resort, March 1999, Sue Sepelak, Columbia, MD. Vis: 50-80 ft. Water: 81-85 degrees. For honeymooners, not serious divers! Diving was restricted to 2 dives in the morning. We couldn't even bribe the dive operators to take us out in the afternoon. Night dives were out of the question. Diving was considered an "activity" equated with volleyball and horseback riding. Dive sites were limited. Coral pristine, varied and colorful. Few large fish; many little fish, angels, schools of fish of all varieties. Resort was beautiful! People were friendly; food was gourmet and accommodations (bures) were comfortable. (Telephone: 800-727-3454 (800-727-FIJI) or +679 85-0435; Fax +679 85-0400) TaveuniAquaventure/Maravu Plantation Resort, December 1998, Andy Molnar, West Haven, CT. Vis: 30-70 ft. Water: 80-83 degrees. Well run, friendly hotel with excellent services, food and personnel. Aquaventure Divers a great disappointment. Very controlling of dive profiles, limiting depth and time plus herding you in groups. Divemasters were uninterested in diving or showing divers anything of interest. One divemaster was more interested in grooming his nails, then leading the dives. I found more stuff to show him and my fellow divers than the masters did combined, prompting one to ask me if I used to lead divers. Very sad and a big disappointment. Also, unable to arrange more than two tanks of diving/day, though I was told prior to travel that it would be no problem. I expect to be able to dive 3-5 times daily. (Telephone +679 679-88-0555 or +679 679-88-0556; Fax +679 679-88-0600)
Garden Island Resort, September 1998, Cheryl Schmalul, Issaquah, WA. Vis: 70-100 ft. Water: 80 degrees. People friendly, happy and made us feel at home. We were spoiled! (Garden Isle Ph: 001-679-880286, Fax 001-679-880288)
Garden Island Resort, February 1999, James McMeins, Carnation, WA. Vis: 50-100 ft. Water: 84-86 degrees. Weather: sunny. Currents. Maximum depth given for each dive by guides but not to concerned as long as less then 130.' No freshwater rinse tank on boat and no table. Second time we've been to Garden Island. Currents really bad at times and divemasters should have alternate recovery plan, especially newer divers. No leeway on divesite times to adjust for tides (week of full moon and large tidal variations). Had a talk with a manager and he is trying to make adjustments, but his guides live outside the resort and the last bus leaves at 4 pm so he is constrained on the timing of the dives. Glad we were there 2 years ago as the current was perfect for the Great White Wall. This time no current until after getting off the wall. Great value, A/C in the rooms.
Garden Island Resort, March 1999, Betty and Placido DosSantos, Green Valley, AZ. Vis: 40-80 feet. Water: 82-84 degrees. Maximum duration suggested but not enforced. Maximum depths enforced for deep dives. No rinse tanks on boat but one at shop. Destination best for wide angle shots of soft corals. Resort is well-run and a good value. Rainbow Reef is in front of the resort so boat rides were usually 10 minutes. Aqua Trek Divers is efficient and professional service-oriented business. Two nice aluminum boats for two-tank trips that depart at 8:30 a.m. and return 1:30 p.m. Divemasters unload, wash, and hang and store your dive gear, then load it on the boat. Hard corals at many dive sites have experienced serious decline since my trip there in 1992. Annie's Bommie, Great White Wall, and Small White Wall are exquisite for soft coral, macro life and healthy numbers of tropical fish. Ledge: exciting to watch large numbers of jacks and trevally pursuing huge schools of fusiliers and anthias. At some locations, hard corals have been decimated by the starfish so effort is to dispose of the starfish. Saw mantas, a white tip reef shark, turtle, sea snake, blue ribbon eels, beautiful emperor angelfish, and a spectacular little "comet" or marine beta. Strong currents make this diving challenging and risky for novices. Lavena coastal walk, Bouma waterfalls, and thrilling natural waterslide near the hotel. Resort's restaurant is only good eatery for miles. If you are adventurous, try the $2 fish lolo at the fish market across the street. Garden Island Resort/Rainbow Reef Divers, April 1999, Ray Pettigrew, Napa, CA. Vis: 60-100 ft. Water: 80-84 degrees. Restrictions: Stay with group for tour, then on your own until you run out of air. Fijians the friendliest on earth. Their enthusiasm is infectious. Resort is not fancy, but adequate for divers. Food very good; lobster 3 times in a week. No other place nearby to eat. Package a good buy. I had been intimidated by what I read about the current through the Somosomo Strait. Rainbow Reef Divers did an excellent job picking sites and current was only a small problem once. Took care of all gear. It was on the boat, set up and waiting after the first day. Surface interval was spent on a deserted tropical island. Diving excellent. Coral varied and beautiful. Sea snakes, ribbon eels, turtles, squid, octopi, clams, leaf scorpion fish, manta rays, lion fish, reef sharks, anteater fish, Titan triggers, clowns and triggers. Guides did a good job pointing out less obvious sites. Down side: they dropped anchor on the reef. Once they figured you knew what you were doing (1 dive) they left you alone. Took day trips to Bouma Falls and a natural water slide. Both were worth the trip.
Garden Island Resort/Aqua-Trek, May 1999, Karin Zahorik & Annie Kuileseid, San Francisco, CA. Vis: 50-75 ft. Water: 80-82 degrees. Guidelines on safety were given, especially regarding currents. Glen and Noreen Dziwulsky, managers of the Garden Island Resort, made our vacation, because they incorporated local people and local culture into the Resort. Excellent Fijian homecooking. Locals working there were the nicest people we've ever encountered on a trip. Down-home approach, nothing snobby. Glen & Noreen are working to preserve the local culture, which is wonderful, and treat guests like personal guests in their home. Diving was top rate. Excellent divemasters, very safety conscious, thorough briefings of each dive site.
Garden Island Resort/Aqua-Trek, July 1999, Lisa Carangelo, Swampscott, MA. Vis: 50-75 ft. Water: 75-77 degrees. Good quality American-style hotel. Bit of a cattle car operation, everyone on same dive profile, etc. but worth it to dive in Somosomo Straits. Divemasters very nice; everyone safe even with currents.
Garden Island Resort, August 1999, Marilyn Petrenas, Colorado Springs, CO. Water: 82-84 degrees, Vis: 80-100 ft. 3 mm suits would have been acceptable, 5 mm a bit of overkill. The staff of hotel and dive operation are friendly and accommodating. No nightlife except local musicians every night at the resort. Try some Kava! Enjoy the desserts. Overall, best trip ever!
Matagi Island Resort, March 1999, James McMeins, Carnation, WA. Vis: 50-100 ft. Water: 84-86 degrees. Sunny, windy. Water: calm, no currents. Divemasters set limits but if you didn't exceed 130' and followed your computer no problem. Shore diving dive your own profile. No camera accommodations on boat or at shop. Healthy and colorful hard corals 3-4 miles offshore. Accommodations great, they launder your clothes everyday, staff is friendly, knew your name by dinner the first night. Secluded resort with lush tropical landscaping and nice beach. Shore diving is unlimited but so-so as house reef is 75% dead. Dives east of the Island near Motualevu reef are spectacular for their colorful hard and some soft corals, especially the Yellow Wall. Diving between Matagi and Taveuni more soft corals but also much bleached and dead corals. Fish life abundant. (Ph: 800-3MATAGI or 011-679-880260, Fax: 011-679-880274)
Matagi Island Resort, April 1999, C.S. (Nick) Ferris, Arvada, CO. Vis: 40-80 ft. Water: 82-84 degrees. Social atmosphere couldn't be better. Meals, attitudes, friendliness, entertainment great. Native-style bures were cleaned every day. Cats and chickens stalked the extensive grounds, toads at night. A pretty Fijian woman named Tonya announced breakfast every morning by pounding out drum rhythms that Gene Krupa would have envied. Boat diving on steep reefs with numerous species of hard and soft coral, and tropical fish. Organic debris in water limited vis to 40 feet in some places, however no hindrance to watching 3 kinds of clown fish in their anemones. Currents mild, plenty to see between 30 and 70 feet, not much big stuff only a couple of sharks and rays. Divemasters friendly and cooperative. No onboard water tanks to soak cameras. At the beginning told divers should come back with 800 psi. That didn't last long, but I can't imagine what prompted such an idea, given the tranquil conditions.
Matagi Island Resort, July 1999, Lisa Carangelo, Swampscott, MA. Vis: 60-75 ft. Water: 75-77 degrees. Resort lovely. Thatched roofed traditional bures with plush amenities. Food plentiful and delicious, choices at lunch and dinner; hot breakfast or cold buffet. Diving was very poor. Dive instructor/manager recently departed; local divemasters willing, but choice of sites less than stellar. Perhaps catering to honeymooners who want a quick boat ride to dives instead of longer rides to pristine sites. They do not travel to Somosomo Straits to dive (too long a trip until new, faster boat arrives) though they advertise going there. We left early to dive Somosomo Straits.
Reef Resort, Sea Sports, January 1999, John Crossley, Midvale, UT. Water: 80-82 degrees. Having previously dived Taveuni and Kadavu, I tried a discount package deal to Fiji from Los Angeles. Reef Resort was one of several moderately priced hotels on the "Coral Coast" of Fiji. Great service and great value on the food for a week. Excellent and friendly staff. Sea Sports Ltd. based at the Shangra-La Fijian Hotel. Very professional and a great value. Free pickup at nearby hotels and 2 dives before lunch. 2 flat bottom dive boats functional with room for 8-10 divers. Diving was better than expected with healthy hard corals, lots of tropical fish and decent (40-80 ft) vis. Snorkeling good at a high tide. (Telephone +679 5-0044)
Swiss Fiji Divers, Summer 1999, Thomas Woltmann (tompm@ozemail.com.au) Fair visibility, you dive in a fish bowl on just about every dive, fantastic fish life including pelagics. Best operation: Swiss Fiji Divers Taveuni. Good dive shop, best boat practices in Somosomo Strait: no anchor, no weighted shot-line. Thumbs down for Aquaventure: they're the cheapest company, but to save money on fuel (Tania, the manager told me), they anchor on live coral on most dives, plus use a shot-line that is too long and drags through the coral. Myopic dive operator. Coconut Grove thumbs up, best food on Taveuni, food heaven for vegetarians, a rarity in the South Pacific. (Ronna at coconutgrove@is.com.fj) Tovutovu Resort: new road is passing the bures within a few yards.
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