Could use some Fiji advice - Savusavu and Tokoriki

We're newly certified and off to Fiji for our first independent dive experience. June in Fiji HAS to be better than 48F shore diving off Newport, RI.

We start with a few days at Botaira in the Yasawas, then to Savusavu for a week, then Tokoriki in the Mamanucas for a few days. I was hoping to do one or two dives in the Savusavu area, and the same in Tokoriki. So...

Savusavu - We're looking at Namale and Koro Sun for dive operators. Any feedback on these? And where to go! I know Namena is accessible from Savusavu, but should we go THERE for our first real dive, ever? It seems pretty advanced, but I really don't know. There is very little information about any of these areas. We've been on some horrific small-boat trips in the Galapagos, and don't really want to repeat that experience, but if Namena is the one place not to miss...I'll need convincing.

Tokoriki has their own dive shop, which I hear is very good. They have dozens of sites we could choose from. Do we just go with whatever is thrown at us or are there specific sites that are not to be missed? The goal is to see what makes Fiji special, such as spectacular soft coral and giant clams. I'm more of a critter hound; mantarays, sharks, eels, etc.

We have 3mm shorties. Should we bring them or is this too optimistic for Fiji in June? We're renting most other equipment and could just rent suits there.

I'm looking for a comfortable experience, trusted equipment, patient operators(!), and no hassles but want to see as much as we possibly can! For us, it is a vacation with the chance of diving vs. a dive trip with a chance of vacation (so far, who knows, that might change!)

Many thanks for ANY feedback!

My wife and I stayed at Tokriki in April and I must say the dive shop at Tokoriki is awesome. The owners were gone at the time, but the Villi and Tae were awesome. We got certified there and we ended up doing 6 dives while we were there. We saw a good sized grey reef shark at the supermarket (which i had high expecatations of seeing a lot of sharks) at the very end of our dive. We saw a white tip on an early morning dive at the Magic Mushrooms. For scenery the the nicest dive we did was Dunk's Canyon, tonnes fo colorful reef. We saw a black tip reef shark just snorkelling right off the beach from our hut, right on the wall of the reef. We miss Tokoriki dearly and you should look forward to the friendliest people in the universe there. Be sure to give a shout out to Villi and Tae, as well as Moses & Ramsay!!! Enjoy paradise!!!!!

Back in 2001 I was Jean-Michel's guest at the Cousteau resort in Savusavu. I only dove at the resort as it was booked, but they set me up in a nice hotel in the town for a mere $8/night. I'm not aware of other dive operators in Savusavu, and of course the situation would have changed.

You may be able to dive with the Cousteau facility even if you aren't staying there. Try e-mailing them.

We stayed at Moody's Namena in August 2006 and did our first non-class dives there. The diving was not difficult at all, even the drift dives we did were extremely mild. Moody's is a very laid back facility, relaxing and almost rustic. We loved it. Moody's Namena Fiji