Trip report Fiji

[Andreni]

In July we did a liveaboard in Fiji on board of the Fiji Siren.

Last spring I have been a board of the Philippine Siren, so I had high expectations and was not disappointed. The cabins are very big with a lot of storage facilities, so is the saloon with 5 couches and a big TV. The Food, the service and the crew: as always fantastic. Rani, the cruise director, takes good care of his guests and you feel that he still likes his job.

For the diving, the guests are split in two groups of max. 8 divers with one dive guide each. The dive sites are max. 5 minutes ride by tender from the big boat. You can do up to 3 day dives and 1 night dive during a normal dive day (without transfers). We dived Vatu-i-Ra, Wakaya, Gau, Namena, and Taveuni and saw a lot of sharks (including Hammerheads), Mantas and huge schools of fish. Also shrimps, crabs, eels, clown fish etc. can be seen on almost every dive site. And the best part is the soft corals in every possible colour and the small anthias. Unfortunately at some dive sites especially in the North the damage of the typhoon is visible.

What I really liked were the land excursions. One time we visited a village close to Gau to have a look how local life is. I really felt welcomed and not in some kind of tourist trap. The second land trip was to the date line, which was also very nice.

As I love to dive in a region with a huge biodiversity I missed to see some more critters in Fiji. But the corals, the sharks, the locals and the experience on board of the Fiji-Siren were worth the long journey.

I put some pictures on my Flickr-Account: https://flic.kr/s/aHskF92JMb .

 

[drrich2]

Your photo album is worth a click over & look at, in case anyone else reading your post is wondering. So, somebody fed a bull shark? Whew! Nice shot. Interesting to see fish that look so much like what I see in the Caribbean, yet are subtly different (e.g.: I see fish resembling sergeant majors and Nassau & tiger grouper, yet they are not).

I have no experience in that part of the world. How did Fiji compare against other dive destinations you've been?

Richard.

 

[ScubaJill]

Fantastic shots! What kind of underwater camera rig do you have/did you use? And what kind of post production editing did you do, if any?

 

[Andreni]

After the LOB we spent a few days in Pacific Harbour and did a shark dive where they feed Bullsharks. It was good to see it once but i wouldn't do it again. I prefer to see the sharks during a normal dive.

I have been diving in Dominca but otherwise have never been to America. So it's hard to compare. Biodiversity in Fiji is much lower than in the coral triangle where i usually dive. There where a lot of grouper, sharks, barakudas, turtles but not too many critters. I'm happy that you like my pictures.

 

[Andreni]

@ScubaJill
Thanks a lot!

I have an OM-D EM-5 with two Inon-Flashes. Sometimes I correct the white balance and do some cropping. Most of the times i don't do anything. I'm sure there would be a lot of ways to make the pictures nicer but i like them "natural".

 

[Cajuncru Diver]

Thanks for the report. We are leaving in two weeks headed back to Taveuni and your pics make me not able to wait until we get back there.

ps: How bad is the extent of damage to the reefs in that area?

 

[Cajuncru Diver]

Your photo album is worth a click over & look at, in case anyone else reading your post is wondering. So, somebody fed a bull shark? Whew! Nice shot. Interesting to see fish that look so much like what I see in the Caribbean, yet are subtly different (e.g.: I see fish resembling sergeant majors and Nassau & tiger grouper, yet they are not).

I have no experience in that part of the world. How did Fiji compare against other dive destinations you've been?

Richard.

Richard--you need to bite the bullet and go!!!!!!!!!

 

[stronj1]

Andreni, can you be more specific about your favorite places for biodiversity within the coral triangle? It seems to cover a pretty big area. I haven't visited this area because of the length of the flights but would like to see some of the life there one of these days.

 

[crabbyfiddler]

In July we did a liveaboard in Fiji on board of the Fiji Siren.

Last spring I have been a board of the Philippine Siren, so I had high expectations and was not disappointed. The cabins are very big with a lot of storage facilities, so is the saloon with 5 couches and a big TV. The Food, the service and the crew: as always fantastic. Rani, the cruise director, takes good care of his guests and you feel that he still likes his job.

For the diving, the guests are split in two groups of max. 8 divers with one dive guide each. The dive sites are max. 5 minutes ride by tender from the big boat. You can do up to 3 day dives and 1 night dive during a normal dive day (without transfers). We dived Vatu-i-Ra, Wakaya, Gau, Namena, and Taveuni and saw a lot of sharks (including Hammerheads), Mantas and huge schools of fish. Also shrimps, crabs, eels, clown fish etc. can be seen on almost every dive site. And the best part is the soft corals in every possible colour and the small anthias. Unfortunately at some dive sites especially in the North the damage of the typhoon is visible.

What I really liked were the land excursions. One time we visited a village close to Gau to have a look how local life is. I really felt welcomed and not in some kind of tourist trap. The second land trip was to the date line, which was also very nice.

As I love to dive in a region with a huge biodiversity I missed to see some more critters in Fiji. But the corals, the sharks, the locals and the experience on board of the Fiji-Siren were worth the long journey.

I put some pictures on my Flickr-Account: https://flic.kr/s/aHskF92JMb .

Beautiful photos! It makes my heart happy to see all the soft coral and the ocean so pleine de poisson. Thank you!

 

[Andreni]

Regarding coral damage: it's hard for me to be specific about the extent as I've never dived in Fiji before. There were some dive sites in the north of Viti Levu (Vatu-i-Ra) where we saw big patches of destroyed reef. In my opinion there was less damage around Taveuni as we had a lot of dives with fantastic corals. I think you have to go and watch for yourself.

Regarding biodiversity: I really love to dive in Indonesia. Wherever I dived, the biodiversity was huge. For me the overall winner is Raja Ampat as you have healthy corals (soft & hard), huge schools of fish, various sharks (including Wobbegong & walking shark) and lots of small critters. Compared to ten years ago more and more divers are heading to Raja Ampat these days and I truly hope that everybody is taking care to keep this place as described above. But also Komodo, Sulawesi and Bali are really nice to dive. It depends what you want to see underwater..

Thanks for the compliments for the pictures!