2000 Chapbook

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

Fiji Aggressor,December 1998, Hap & Wendy Minshall, Montville, NJ. Vis: 30-90 ft. Water: 82 degrees. Water: Calm. Restrictions: No decompression diving. Do not greatly exceed 60 minutes. Plenty of photo setup room on two large carpeted deck tables. Charging station is 5 steps from tables. Cameras placed onto dive tender deck about 8 steps. Crew helpful handling photo equipment, including initial rinsing after dive. Weather was exceptional allowing multiple dives at sites normally difficult to access. Perfectly designed live-aboard quiet, all cabins large, lots of storage space on dive deck that eliminates ladder climbing when preparing for a dive. Even with 16 divers the boat never seems crowded. Dive tender and transom elevator provided easy entry/exit. Village tour genuine, enjoyable, educational. Villagers have great love for the Aggressorcrew and are eager to learn about every visitor. Ground logistics (airport, bus transport, hotel staging, end-of-week departure) poorly handled compared to the flawless on board operation. Nonstop Air Pacific flights from LA make it easy to get to Fiji, though the return flight was over-booked. (AggressorFleet: Ph: 800-348-2628 or 504-385-2628; Fax: 504-384-0817; e-mail: info@aggressor.com; website: www.aggressor.com)

Fiji Aggressor,January 1999, Steve Ryals (Steve Ryals@aol.com), Middleton, ID. Water 78-82 degrees, Vis: 40-60 ft. Crew pleasant and helpful. Food good. Diving excellent and varied. AggressorTravel Agency very noncompliant and unprofessional. I had to hound them to get documents. Take a lot of extra money. There are a lot of costs and the Aggressordoes not point this out clearly in their literature.

Fiji Aggressor,March 1999, Dave & Bev Brandt, Council Bluffs, IA. Vis: 60-100 ft. Water: 78-86 degrees. Restrictions: no decompression dives, which I violated once. Return with more than 500 psi, which I violated twice. No deeper than 120 feet, on air, less for Nitrox. Stay with your buddy. Always have a safety sausage and a dive alert. After alcohol, you are a snorkeler the rest of the day. Only the last two rules were strictly enforced. Averaged 4 dives/day. Great setup. Our group of 11 had a housed N90S, four RS's, two video setups, three Nik V's and two Sea&Sea along with the crew's cameras and had room to spare. Two large tables with second shelves and space underneath for cases. Photo pro, Rusty, developed film at least once a day. Three portable light tables in the lounge for viewing slides. Some batteries and film for sale. Nikonos V's and accessories for rent. Good crew of 11 with Americans and Fijians. All Fijians we met were friendly. "Bear" was a master at finding critters but all the guides knew sites well. Skiff diving was effortless. Visited 5 areas with multiple sites. "E6" the best dive but only accessible if weather permits. Current on some dives but usually a "bommie" to hide behind. Visibility varied with the tides; crew did a good job of timing the dives with the currents. Great small to medium size critters on almost every dive i.e., Pipefish, nudibranchs, lionfish, eels, (ribbon and morays), scorpion fish, leaf fish, flashlight (or is it lantern) fish, anemone fish. Some large critters - sharks, gray reefs, whitetips (small), one hammerhead, usually deep, 90+ feet, schools of large barracuda, schools of jacks. Great corals, soft and hard. Village tour a must. Friendly people and great music and dancing but watch out for the kava. Food was good and plentiful. If you don't like curry or spicy, mention it or you may go hungry. Plentiful various drinks, including a soda fountain. Rooms large boat standards, plenty of room everywhere on the boat. Plenty of hot water. Some days flat and calm and HOT. Most days rain off and on and some breeze. One crossing was stormy; on a catamaran type boat like this, it's very rough. Bring lots of sun screen and a hat. Nitrox tanks and computers available. Rebreathers available. Good boat and trip.

Fiji Aggressor,July 1999, Lisa Carangelo, Swampscott, MA. Vis: 60-100 ft. Water: 75-77 degrees. Restrictions: max 60 minutes/dive, deepest dive first each day. Floating resort. Fijian and American crew enjoy what they do. Enthusiastic. Excellent food and plenty of it. Warm towels and snacks after each of the 3-4 dives/day for 5 days. Boat did not communicate with us directly before our U.S. departure (3 days before boat boarding), could have let us knew when and where to meet the boat. We arrived at 10 am, boarding is noon so we left our gear and cruised Lautokato to kill time. We could have slept in a bit instead. Koro Island Village visit a treat.

Nai'a,September 1998, Peter Hartlove, Longmont, CO. Vis: 80 ft. Water: 76-77 degrees. Nothing negative. Nice sized rooms, great photo room, Christian (formerly with Marlin Bay) was consulting so the food was killer, great desserts! Cat & Rob run a first class operation, happy crew, village visit, kava party with the crew, great music! Diving quite varied. Sharks, good assortment of fish, excellent soft corals, great teenie stuff Cat is great at spotting. Needed full 3mm plus another layer. Good timing with currents. (Ph: 011-679 450382, Fax: 011-679 450566, e-mail: naia@is.com.fj)

Nai'a,November 1998, Cynthia & Natasha Starkovsky, San Diego, CA. Vis: 25-75 ft. Water: 77-82. Poor weather. Failure of air conditioning and persistent stench of sewer in our cabin. After two good diving days at E-6 and Nigali, the owner announced that we would explore "new" dive sites, which he seemed to feel required the presence of the Nai'a.For four days, we moved from one disappointing and/or marginally diveable site to the next. (a 122' drift dive in current so strong that nothing could be observed and a night dive on an open ocean, tiny bommie with strong surface currents, a dive no one took). Our equipment left in the hands of the crew did not fare well. Twice our tanks fell out, at depth, and twice we had o-ring problems. The Nai'aoffers 3-4 (sometimes less) dives a day. The owner said that after dinner nightly dives are not "normally" done. Food is spartan and tasteless. (We left this ship hungry and we are not big eaters.) Miserable trip.

Nai'a,November 1998, Andy Molnar, W. Haven, CT. Top rated live-aboard. Accommodations and food first class. Engines a bit noisy. Site selections excellent. Briefings complete and informative. Rob runs a first rate operation. Highlight is the knowledge of the diving and customs by Rob, Rusi, and Cat Holloway. Her ability to find critters is amazing. Her enthusiasm was transferred to the staff and guests alike. Evening meals were like a get together of friends or family, not like dinner with strangers. Very nice.

Nai'a,December 1998, José Kirchner, Carmichael, CA. Vis: 15-60 ft. Water: 79-82 degrees. Experienced divers allowed own profiles and planning, unless guide was requested. Surface when you are ready, and a RIB picks you up on the spot! Should instruct staff on camera handling (carrying between dive skiffs and camera rinse tanks). Rob Barrel and Cat Holloway do a great job hosting divers. Fijian crew is friendly and willing, food is very good. Sites carefully selected (vis impaired considerably), and passenger interests catered to (e.g., macro, etc.) A village visit with sevu sevu ceremony and a meke are offered. Pilot whales, a few mantas, lots of sharks (some white yips and a large school of grey reefies in Nigali Pass). Nitrox available; you let them know in advance so they can load enough oxygen for all who want to use Nitrox. Topnotch live-aboard with topnotch crew; the RIB skiff use is brilliant! Not the best place for newly certified divers due to strong currents and dive conditions. Take your Dive-Alert and a decent safety sock (Nai'awill provide a super-size vinyl one).

Nai'a,December 1998, Mary Ann Kirch, Santa Cruz, CA. Vis: 70-100+ ft. Water: 82-84 degrees. No dive restrictions. Diving was spectacular. Reefs in pristine condition, anchors in the sand away from the reefs. The staff professional, friendly and knowledgeable. Excellent briefings on sea life. Divemasters available to anyone needing assistance. Dove our own profiles. They require each diver to carry a safety sausage and use a computer. They provide if you come without. I am a vegetarian and they fed me well! Food is always a challenge for me but not on the Nai'a.

Nai'a,March 1999, Walt & Angie Redmond (endo@jump.net), Austin, TX. Vis: 80-150 ft. Water: 83-84 degrees. Cloudy. Water: calm, choppy. Great enclosed camera room with plenty of room for everyone. Fantastic diving and boat. Second trip aboard the Nai'a.Crew accommodating; new menu suits any appetite, plentiful food. Days consisted of eating, diving (4 dives/day) and sleeping. Nitrox available. Saw nudibranchs, flatworms, lionfish, leaf scorpionfish, sharks (reef, white tip and black tip), eels, clams, octopus, schooling barracuda, bigeye trevally, rock cod, clown triggerfish, blue ribbon eels, colorful hard and soft corals. New, larger rigid bottom inflatable Zodiacs easily holds 10 divers, divemaster and driver. Easy diving. Visited a Fijian village where the Nai'apassengers were the guests of honor at a traditional Fijian ceremony, complete with leis, singing and dancing, exchange of gifts, and drinking kava. Ron, captain and owner, is a hands-on operator and we appreciate the way he runs the operation.

Sere-ni-Wai Aggressor,June 1999, Bruce Petrarca. Vis: 60-80 ft. Water: 74-75 degrees. Week of bad weather, overcast, windy and choppy. No preparation for current. Zodiac not configured for pickup. Nine divers, average age 50-55. If you missed the mothership in the current, the response was to tow you back with the Zodiac. Night dive on wall led by divemaster went down current. Telling him when that I was to 1000 lbs led him to continue downcurrent. I finally left the group at 800 psi and got to within 30 yards of the boat when the air quit and I did an emergency ascent. Got towed back by the Zodiac. Not what I expect out of a live-aboard! (Aggressor Fleet: Ph: 800-348-2628 or 504-385-2628; Fax: 504-384-0817; e-mail: info@aggressor.com;website www.aggressor.com)