My wife and I are making our first trip to Fiji in June 2007. I think we have narrowed our choices down to Beqa Lagoon or Wananavu. I'd love to hear a compare/contrast of the two from folks who have been to both. Which has better diving? What are the group sizes? Which has the better shore dive? Will I be able to get 4 boat dives a day at both resorts if I'd like to? Is June ok for bothplaces?
I was leaning heavily towards Wananavu but Wiggsy's trip repert has got me second guessing myself.
donacheson
December 8th, 2006, 08:07 PM
My wife and I are making our first trip to Fiji in June 2007. I think we have narrowed our choices down to Beqa Lagoon or Wananavu. I'd love to hear a compare/contrast of the two from folks who have been to both. Which has better diving? What are the group sizes? Which has the better shore dive? Will I be able to get 4 boat dives a day at both resorts if I'd like to? Is June ok for bothplaces?
I was leaning heavily towards Wananavu but Wiggsy's trip repert has got me second guessing myself.
I've never dived Beqa Lagoon, but have dived Wananavu many times. You won't get 4 dives a day at Wananavu, usually 2 but maybe occasionally 3. The runs to the best sites are about an hour long and the dives can sometimes be challenging (current), but IMHO, worth it.
ScubaSista
December 11th, 2006, 02:04 AM
Aloha gdenny,
I have dived both places. I have dived in Beqa several times and Wananavu once, but I have dived them both this year - Wananavu in March and Beqa in June. In a word...BEQA!!!
June is an excellent time to visit Fiji, for either place. Our shop takes a group every May and another every June.
Neither place offers 4 dives a day. Each place offers two-tank dives in the mornings. At Beqa Lagoon, the shore diving is also excellent so after your first two dives and lunch, you can head out for your own leisurely dive and then take yourself on a night dive (or sign up for one off the boat) after that.
I have a lot more to day, but just pm me for more specifics and I'll be happy to answer.
Timotheus
December 15th, 2006, 03:10 PM
I'd say neither. Take the puddle jumper flight over to Taveuni. To get the best diving, you have to put up some effort and get off the main island. Beqa is barely off the main island and I heard it is a bit dived out. Also, you can't expect visibility to be as good as it is on the outer islands. Beqa does have a shark dive that is great, but that could get a bit old doing it more than once. I stayed at Garden Island Resort on Taveuni last July and loved it. Very nice rooms and great diving. I saw soft corals in colors I never knew existed. The absolute best Fiji diving is on a liveaboard - i.e., the Aggressor or Naia. I also did the Aggressor last July. You'll certainly get your four dives per day with them! IMHO If you're flying all the way to Fiji, you might as well do the best!
Bill Fisher
December 15th, 2006, 04:21 PM
Hello...I recently did a trip to Beqa Lagoon Resort that you may be interested in reading. I think wherever you go though, you will love Fiji ! Have fun...
Bill
I'm in LAX right now trapped here 2 days because of brain dead staff of Air Pacific, if you fly, go Air New Zealand or Quantas all the way.
I've been to Beqa twice before, everyone talks (drones on about) Beqa lagoon resort, I MUCH prefer the Kulu Bay Resort just around the corner of the island which gives you much better personal service. The other is much more commercial and developed/run down.
First time to Taveuni for 7 days if our plane leaves on time. We'll be staying at Maravu resort there.
Did I tell you how much I FREAKIN HATE Air Pacific right now?
gdenny
December 18th, 2006, 03:15 PM
RH, Sorry to hear about your delay's. I'd love to hear which you prefer when you get back. BLR or Maravu. Maravu was on my shortlist for a honeymoon in 2003 which turned into 2 weeks in Belize. Would also would like to hear about your SP 350 set-up as I'm outfitting the same camera before I go. I hope you are there by now!
Bill, great report. I can only imagine how impressive that was. That's one of the tough things about my decision. My wife/buddy says she is not really ready to sit on the ocean floor surrounded by sharks while someone intices them with bloody fish. So the shark dive is out. It sounds like that is a highlight for many who choose Beqa.
Am I just splitting hairs at this point? Will the diving anywhyere in Fiji (BLR, Wananavu, Maravu) be better than Belize, Cozumel, Curacao?
DesertEagle
December 18th, 2006, 04:06 PM
gdenny,
Comparing Fiji to the Caribbean is something like comparing the wild jungle to a petting zoo. I think David Doubilet actually made up that analogy. They are very different. I prefer Indo-Pacific diving because of the colors.
I was contemplating the same decision back in May. In the end, I chose to dive out of Wananavu. My decision was based on a number of sources. Virtually all the reviews in Undercurrent were positive. Eric Cheng from Wetpixel visited a few years ago. On his website, there are photos from Taveuni, Wananavu (Bligh Waters) and Beqa. His page is www.echeng.com
I went in September which is a very dry time. We didn't have any rain and the seas were calm. Wananavu is in a very isolated area, about 2 1/2 hours from the airport. Imagine a little resort just over the hill from all the sugar cane fields. The scenery is beautiful, but being dry time it didn't look like Hawaii or Tahiti. I'm not sure if Beqa would look the same.
My understanding is that sharks are the big attraction of Beqa. For that, I will probably go next year. For reef diving, the Bligh waters are hard to beat. The area between the two big islands is where the liveaboards go. With the right boats, it's where only a few day operators go. I used Kai Viti Divers. They have two jetboats, each with plenty of room. One of them is the original Crystal Explorer.
I've added a few photos to my Fiji galleries on Pbase:
www.pbase.com/krancer
Rocky, best of luck with Air Pacific. My flight over was fine (get a seat in row 27, the first row of economy). The flight back was delayed and crowded. My hotel in Nadi told me I needed to be at the airport 1 1/2 hours in advance. I knew better and arrived almost 3 hours early. There was already a line almost out of the building. The previous night's flight to LA had been cancelled, so everyone was trying to get on my flight.
RockyHeap
December 19th, 2006, 04:08 AM
Quick update on my fiji adventures.
Air Pacific was full up.........so we upgraded to first class and were even lucky to get the seat......thank god for a visa card.....but all our plans are 2 days late
Get into nadi, and the inner island flights are booked up too.....I'm not going to be trapped in an airport anymore, I WANT TO DIVE!!!!!
Pull out the Visa Card again. (thank you alaska airlines card and points per $, we'll most likely get another trip out of the thousands we put on the card so far)
On Taveuni right now, COUP in nowhere to be seen, GO TO FIJI EVERYONE, the hotels are at 25% full)
Not too impressed with Maravu, don't get me wrong, its nice, but sorta run down and not that clean. Haven't seen one ground crew guy or anyone sweeping up dead palm frawns (sp?) Did 2 dives today, SAW MY FIRST HUGE MANTA RAYS......3 of them, 8-9 & 10' wing span, and one had a frisbee sized 12" diameter shark bite out of the trailing edge of its wing. Leaf fish, huge lion fish, TONS of red/pink/orange soft corals of course, but the mantas were the high light.
All in All, we're really looking forward to Kulubay.........thats the standard we compare all places to, but our choice may not be yours.
SP-350 and Ikelite DS125 in ikelite housing passed the first empty dive test (of course thats when the mantas showed up) so now working on the exposures in full manual mode and TTL. The strobe casts a nice warm tone to the pictures. I'll post some when we get back first week of 2007, or PM an email and I can send some dirrect to you. SP-350 at full resolution is almost 4 meg a picture, but I've shrunk some down to the 400k file size if your in-box can take them.
BULA, time for another fiji bitter.
DesertEagle
December 19th, 2006, 11:39 AM
Rocky,
Glad to hear you made it to Taveuni! Overall I thought Air Pacific was okay. I wasn't too thrilled to wait in line forever in Nadi. The airline should have added more check-in counters. The good news is that they have ordered Boeing 787s to replace the 747s. Newer airplanes, higher humidity levels and higher cabin pressure should make for a nicer flight.
I would definitely be interested in seeing your photos.
caringbah
December 22nd, 2006, 04:51 AM
What type of diving are you after? We have dived Beqa & Mana Is and while the reosrts were good the diving wasn't great. Why not think about East Malaysia - Layang Layang or Sipidan?
gdenny
December 22nd, 2006, 02:39 PM
[QUOTE=DesertEagle]gdenny,
www.echeng.com
www.pbase.com/krancer
QUOTE]
Wow, thanks for the links. I have yet to see soft corals in these colors on a dive. There are some shots with more fish than I have ever seen in one spot also. No more petting zoo for me.
Caringbah - My wife and I will be leaving our one year old with Grandma. :(
I guess what we're looking for is the best diving we can get to (Pacific, no Hawaii) at a reasonable price with a day or less in travel time. The non stop flight from LAX can get me to Fiji quicker than I can get to the Carribean through MIA or DFW with layovers. We each have just under 100 dives so it won't take too much to impress us. My wife won't do a liveaboard. I guess we're just looking for excellent, resort based, reef diving that is Better than what we have dived thus far. (Cozumel, Curacao, Belize, Monterey...brrr) If Wananvu or Beqa is good for a first trip to Fiji it makes life easier with interisland flight, weight restrictions etc.
We're after soft corals, interesting reef formation, loads of fish, and in particular anemone's with their resident clownfishes. I would also like to have a good chance of seeing a shark. I don't want myself or anyone else to feed it and it won't ruin the trip if I don't see one.:D I wouldn't sacrifice great vis for it either.
I've read some on the currents in the Bligh Waters. Can anyone compare this to the currents in Cozumel? Are these currents a bit stronger/trickier with lots of up/down drafts? Is it leisurely drift diving where everyone goes the same direction?
DesertEagle
December 26th, 2006, 10:59 AM
Once you go to the Pacific, you will be spoiled. It is totally different from anything in the Caribbean.
The main reason I went through Wananavu was to dive the Bligh Waters. I used Kai Viti divers because they were said to know the tides and currents very well. For example, we did a morning dive at G6, which is a fantastic site (it's my favorite). I asked if we could do the afternoon dive there. The captain explained that with the tide changing, the currents would be tricky. Instead we went to another site. The afternoon was also a drift dive. There was a strong current, but we swam with it, not against it. If you have 90 dives, you won't have any problems.
You can see anemones everywhere.
CCreature
December 26th, 2006, 01:16 PM
I just came back from diving in Fiji. First on the Aggressor and then Beqa. Beqa is not the best diving in Fiji, but it's still enjoyable. There can be strong run-off from the main island into Beqa laqoon making the the vis not great. I strongly recommend a live aboard or Taveuni for diving. Beqa Lagoon Resort was wonderful for relaxing after a week on a live-aboard. But the diving was ho-hum in comparison.
Jim Kerr
December 26th, 2006, 03:34 PM
Great report Bill,
I really loved the part of the Tiger shark doing a head stand on the camera lens. Now I'm even more excited! I'll be going there in Nov with a group out of Sacramento. From the report Hodge Podge gave though it sounds like conditions will be a little less than ideal during that time of year. Thanks for the tip on the dive sites being better further out. I'll be sure and mention it to our group leader to be sure we get the most for our money.
gdenny,
Since you're from the area if your plans are flexable there's plenty of space available on this trip. This is a "very" fun group! If you're interested you can PM me for more info. If not then I hope you'll post a trip report and tell us what you thought of it when you get back.
Hello...I recently did a trip to Beqa Lagoon Resort that you may be interested in reading. I think wherever you go though, you will love Fiji ! Have fun...
Bill
