Diving in Lalati, Fiji

[h2o2]

Hello everybody!
I just signed up the forum, which I found seeking infos about Lalati.
As a new threader, I just write something to introduce myself:
I'm form Italy, I'm a Padi rescue diver with approx. 300 dives in Red Sea (Sharm and Marsa), Martinique, Roatan, Maldives, Philippines (Coco Beach), Malaysia (Manado) and in Mediterranean Sea. If everybody just need infos about one of this destinations, just ask and I'll be glad to answer (if I can).
My question: me and my wife are planning a trip to Fiji in June-July (our wedding trip, 8 days), and the travel agency proposed Lalati and Castaway. I was wondering if anybody has some recent infos about the diving center in Lalati Resort.. I already read a lot about the dives in Beqa Lagoon, I just need to understand if the diving center and the staff in Lalati are at the same level as the great dives.
Thanks in advance!

[jake11]

If you are going on your honeymoon then I would go to Lalati and book one of the honeymoon suites. The people who used to run the dive operation now run the whole resort and they are GREAT! Also.. they have a great suluki( not sure of spelling) named Dogg who was fun to watch and pet at the resort. Do the shark dive as it is AWESOME! We saw a tiger shark on ours! The dive center was fine and the dive operation was run really well! They have a great spa there so your wife can get some nice spa treatments! Enjoy yourself! I have not been to Bequ Lagoon resort so I can not speak for that one!

[yudi]

Hi Everyone,

My husband and I are heading this year to Lalati Fiji in July 28 for 8 nights. We are going all the way from Miami so it took me hours of research to come to a conclusion. Lalati Resort is very different from Bega Lagoon Resort, which is supposed to be good as well, but what I loved about Lalati is its seclusion, and you are not with 30 other couples. We are going for our wedding anniversary so we want it to make it special. I am pretty sure it would be very hard to go wrong with any stay in Fiji.

Jake can you explain me a little bit more about Lalati's dive shop? For exaample we have stayed in ANthony's Key Resort in Roatan, and their dive shop is amazing. They have have lockers, and we never had to drag our equipment into the boat. Also when you went there was there something you had to really do and not miss? For example we are doing the private picnic in storm island which is supposed to be amazing, the kava ceremony, the hike to the top of the mountain etc. ANy feedback would be more than appreciated ;)

[jake11]

The first day you take your stuff down to the shop and then they assign you a spot where you keep all of your stuff. Your BC is set up and they will do this every day thereafter. Each day you just head over and grab your wet suit etc. and head to the boat down a long pier. Fairly easy! BE SURE TO DO THE SHARK DIVE as it was super cool!!! Some of our group did the fire walker excursion at Bequa Lagoon resort and liked that. Most of us visited the spa many times! We also did the local village tour. It is very quiet and relaxing and you will like the managers! Great people! Very laid back and very competent! Have a great time!
Hi Everyone,

My husband and I are heading this year to Lalati Fiji in July 28 for 8 nights. We are going all the way from Miami so it took me hours of research to come to a conclusion. Lalati Resort is very different from Bega Lagoon Resort, which is supposed to be good as well, but what I loved about Lalati is its seclusion, and you are not with 30 other couples. We are going for our wedding anniversary so we want it to make it special. I am pretty sure it would be very hard to go wrong with any stay in Fiji.

Jake can you explain me a little bit more about Lalati's dive shop? For exaample we have stayed in ANthony's Key Resort in Roatan, and their dive shop is amazing. They have have lockers, and we never had to drag our equipment into the boat. Also when you went there was there something you had to really do and not miss? For example we are doing the private picnic in storm island which is supposed to be amazing, the kava ceremony, the hike to the top of the mountain etc. ANy feedback would be more than appreciated ;)

[h2o2]

If you are going on your honeymoon then I would go to Lalati and book one of the honeymoon suites. The people who used to run the dive operation now run the whole resort and they are GREAT! Also.. they have a great suluki( not sure of spelling) named Dogg who was fun to watch and pet at the resort. Do the shark dive as it is AWESOME! We saw a tiger shark on ours! The dive center was fine and the dive operation was run really well! They have a great spa there so your wife can get some nice spa treatments! Enjoy yourself! I have not been to Bequ Lagoon resort so I can not speak for that one!

Many thanks for your feedback, really appreciated.

[yudi]

The first day you take your stuff down to the shop and then they assign you a spot where you keep all of your stuff. Your BC is set up and they will do this every day thereafter. Each day you just head over and grab your wet suit etc. and head to the boat down a long pier. Fairly easy! BE SURE TO DO THE SHARK DIVE as it was super cool!!! Some of our group did the fire walker excursion at Bequa Lagoon resort and liked that. Most of us visited the spa many times! We also did the local village tour. It is very quiet and relaxing and you will like the managers! Great people! Very laid back and very competent! Have a great time!

Hi Jake,

Thank you very much for your feedback. You dont understand I have been trying to convince him to do the dive shark, but we have seen so many attacks by tiger sharks that I am having a hard time to convince him. Well once again thank yoi and I will write a report when we come back.

[jake11]

Oh no! Don't miss those dives!!!!!!!! Total highlight of the trip for everyone!!!!!!! The guys that run it are super safe!!!!!! It is a "must do" dive when you are there!!!


Hi Jake,

Thank you very much for your feedback. You dont understand I have been trying to convince him to do the dive shark, but we have seen so many attacks by tiger sharks that I am having a hard time to convince him. Well once again thank yoi and I will write a report when we come back.

[njcfm]

lalati is great.. dogg is awesome and his owners (the dive masters) are terrific people.

even the house reef is a decent dive.

Say hi to Maki, he is one of those people you only meet once in a lifetime. Mary is also a jewel to be around.

[jake11]

I agree with all of this 100% including the house reef dive. We did one every day we were there!
lalati is great.. dogg is awesome and his owners (the dive masters) are terrific people.

even the house reef is a decent dive.

Say hi to Maki, he is one of those people you only meet once in a lifetime. Mary is also a jewel to be around.

[h2o2]

lalati is great.. dogg is awesome and his owners (the dive masters) are terrific people.
even the house reef is a decent dive.
Say hi to Maki, he is one of those people you only meet once in a lifetime. Mary is also a jewel to be around.


I agree with all of this 100% including the house reef dive. We did one every day we were there!


Thank you guys!
Good news that house reef is decent, I often like to take the day's last dive on house reef!
I will remember to say hi to Maki and Mary for you, njcfm.
Last question: any suggestion about the wet suit in july? Consider that usually I use a 3mm only with water temp above 27 c°.. just wondering if it was better to take the 5mm from home, or a 3mm, or nothing and rent it at the dive shop..
Thanks!

[Shasta_man]

<<but we have seen so many attacks by tiger sharks>> ah...where?

Once you do one of these shark dives, anywhere, you find out how little sharks want to do with humans.

[yudi]

Hi thank you all for your feedback. I will defenitley give them your regards. I am going to try so hard to convinve my husband of doing the shark dive. I promise.


lalati is great.. dogg is awesome and his owners (the dive masters) are terrific people.

even the house reef is a decent dive.

Say hi to Maki, he is one of those people you only meet once in a lifetime. Mary is also a jewel to be around.

---------- Post added May 20th, 2012 at 10:45 AM ----------

Hi Shasta trust me I want to convince my hubby so badly of doing it. We are from Miami, and trust me Florida has a lot of shark attacks, specially bull sharks and tigers. I hope I can convince him :). I am sure it is a once in a lifetime experience.

By the way how is the visibility at the Lalati's lagoon. I noticed in some pictures, it loks blue and others it looks murky depending on the tides...

[jake11]

The viz was okay for shore diving. Not great but not too horrible either. It was better out on the boat dives for sure!
Hi thank you all for your feedback. I will defenitley give them your regards. I am going to try so hard to convinve my husband of doing the shark dive. I promise.



---------- Post added May 20th, 2012 at 10:45 AM ----------

Hi Shasta trust me I want to convince my hubby so badly of doing it. We are from Miami, and trust me Florida has a lot of shark attacks, specially bull sharks and tigers. I hope I can convince him :). I am sure it is a once in a lifetime experience.

By the way how is the visibility at the Lalati's lagoon. I noticed in some pictures, it loks blue and others it looks murky depending on the tides...

[jake11]

Not sure of water temps in July??? It was a little bit nippy when we were there. I still think I only wore a 3mm with my 3/5 hood? I would email them and ask what to expect in July! It is getting close ! You must be excited.
P.s.-I just rememberd this. When we were in Fiji( Wananavu ) in August it was very cold there? I wore a 5mm with a 3/5 hood since it got down to the low 70's! This is on the Northern part of the Island.
Hope this helps!
Thank you guys!
Good news that house reef is decent, I often like to take the day's last dive on house reef!
I will remember to say hi to Maki and Mary for you, njcfm.
Last question: any suggestion about the wet suit in july? Consider that usually I use a 3mm only with water temp above 27 c°.. just wondering if it was better to take the 5mm from home, or a 3mm, or nothing and rent it at the dive shop..
Thanks!

[shutsal]

I was just in Taveuni and Beqa with temperatures ranging from 25-27c. Started to get cold in a 3mm towards the end of those 25c dives and I'm usually a heat source. Considering the temperature is only suppose to get colder from now to July you might want to think about a 5mm.

[jake11]

Just noticed that I spelled remembered wrong. I hate when that happens and you can't edit your post anymore!
Not sure of water temps in July??? It was a little bit nippy when we were there. I still think I only wore a 3mm with my 3/5 hood? I would email them and ask what to expect in July! It is getting close ! You must be excited.
P.s.-I just rememberd this. When we were in Fiji( Wananavu ) in August it was very cold there? I wore a 5mm with a 3/5 hood since it got down to the low 70's! This is on the Northern part of the Island.
Hope this helps!

[fiji_diver]

Bula!
Lalati is a great spot. The dive staff are currently in transition but the resort managers have filled the posts as of this week with a couple who I believe are very good. The local staff have not changed.
The shark dive is very safe. Aquatrek are highly professional and you will not feel at all threatened by the sharks, including Tigers if they show up. The caged shark dives the TV like to show are nothing to do with what we offer in Fiji. This is a great way to see up to 12 species of shark, up close in safety.

Wet suits? Have a look at our Fiji temperature info (http://club.skindeepfiji.com/index.php/faq) which should help you


Have a great trip.
Greg

[yudi]

Hi Greg,

Thank you for your feedback. I'm having a countdown already. Considering we are flying all the way from Miami I will make sure I convince my hubby. I've heard great things about Lalati, ans specially the local staff. Thank you.

Sent from my SGH-T769 using Tapatalk 2

[h2o2]

Many thanks guys, a lot of info!


Not sure of water temps in July??? It was a little bit nippy when we were there. I still think I only wore a 3mm with my 3/5 hood? I would email them and ask what to expect in July! It is getting close ! You must be excited. P.s.-I just rememberd this. When we were in Fiji( Wananavu ) in August it was very cold there? I wore a 5mm with a 3/5 hood since it got down to the low 70's! This is on the Northern part of the Island.
Hope this helps!

Jake, time is running so we can't wait to be there.. we'll leave for Australia on 24th June, then have a 15-16 days trip around there and then, finally!, we'll be in Lalati.




I was just in Taveuni and Beqa with temperatures ranging from 25-27c. Started to get cold in a 3mm towards the end of those 25c dives and I'm usually a heat source. Considering the temperature is only suppose to get colder from now to July you might want to think about a 5mm.

Thanks shutsal.
Usually I'm not a very-hot-diver.. In Philippines (27° water!) I was the only one who wore a hood.. :-P
I'm definitely thinking about a 5mm.



Bula!
Lalati is a great spot. The dive staff are currently in transition but the resort managers have filled the posts as of this week with a couple who I believe are very good. The local staff have not changed.
The shark dive is very safe. Aquatrek are highly professional and you will not feel at all threatened by the sharks, including Tigers if they show up. The caged shark dives the TV like to show are nothing to do with what we offer in Fiji. This is a great way to see up to 12 species of shark, up close in safety.
Wet suits? Have a look at our Fiji temperature info (http://club.skindeepfiji.com/index.php/faq) which should help you
Greg

Many thanks, Greg. Shark dive is one of my targets, I will not surely miss it.
Glad to know that the new dive staff is good!
Just wondering, if you know: we'll have many luggage-weight troubles because of our 15 days in Australia before our departure for Fiji, so I have to decide: do I bring my diving stuff from home (and probably leave home some other things) or do I rent at least the suit and the bcd in Lalati? Do they have good availability and quality?
Thanks in advance.

[fiji_diver]

Hi
I am not sure what rental gear Lalati has, but I have not heard any bad reports. Personally I would take your own suit especially if you have a 5mm - many rentals are 3mm here. BCD and Reg - resorts gear should be fine but a good idea to tell them in advance.
Greg

[h2o2]

Hi
I am not sure what rental gear Lalati has, but I have not heard any bad reports. Personally I would take your own suit especially if you have a 5mm - many rentals are 3mm here. BCD and Reg - resorts gear should be fine but a good idea to tell them in advance.
Greg

Greg,
I think I will follow your advice and bring my suit from home..
I send an email to the diving (I only found a generic diving at lalatifiji.com, hope that's the right one) and ask them which is the best for us.
Any further advice about the dive site not to miss and anything else remarkable is appreciated.
Thanks again!

[jake11]

We added on New Zealand when we went to Fiji. We stored all of our stuff at a hotel in Fiji for no charge.( 2 weeks) If you are going back through Australia you might be able to do the same thing. We also did this when we went to PNG. We left our land based luggage in Cairns at the hotel we stayed at and picked it up when we returned. ( also ..no charge) We had one person rent gear at Lalati ( just the regs and bcd) She brought her own mouthpiece. Hope this helps.

[h2o2]

We added on New Zealand when we went to Fiji. We stored all of our stuff at a hotel in Fiji for no charge.( 2 weeks) If you are going back through Australia you might be able to do the same thing. We also did this when we went to PNG. We left our land based luggage in Cairns at the hotel we stayed at and picked it up when we returned. ( also ..no charge) We had one person rent gear at Lalati ( just the regs and bcd) She brought her own mouthpiece. Hope this helps.

Thanks jake, we'll try to do the same.
I was not able to get an answer form the diving, maybe I used the wrong address.. Anyway I got my suit, so we'll see.
We are leaving to Australia, we'll be in Lalati from 10th july more or less, so I don't know if I can write again before our return: thanks to everybody, I'll post our experience as soon I will be able to do.

Good dives!

[yudi]

Hi well I hope you have an amazing trip:)

I contacted.management at Lalati, and they recommend for guests to bring a 5 mm wetsuit, but I forgot to ask if they rent them.

I am leaving on July 28, but it will be awesome to hear your experience before I leave.

Sent from my SGH-T769 using Tapatalk 2

[Seaduced]

Bula! We just returned from Lalati on the 21st of June. I think I met h2o2 on the 19th, there was an Italian couple arriving.

The water temp was 79-80F on every dive, that's warm enough for a skin and fleece hood for me. Air temp about the same. The resort staff, dive staff and management are great. We had 28 folks, with 24 divers and worked with us at every turn to accommodate the group.

We saw sharks on almost every dive, but definitely do the shark dive, words cannot describe the event. I did the dive twice. One tip, if you have a camera, don't use the flash. The backscatter and masses of close fish will under expose the sharks in the distance. Also, try to get at the end of the line of divers, in the center, the swarm of fish will block your view of the sharks. On the end, you can clearly see the sharks as they enter and exit the swarm. The DMs said they haven't seen the Tiger shark for a couple of weeks. They suspect he may have been finned, it still goes on in the area. During our dives we saw White Tip, Black Tip and Gray Reef Sharks. On the shark dive, along with the reef sharks, add Silver Tip, Lemon, Bull and Nurse sharks.

We had 8 teachers in our group, they enjoyed the trip to Waisomo village to visit the Beqa Island school. Be warned, they will sing a song for you and will expect you to reciprocate. One of our teachers stepped up and organized rounds of "Row, row, row your boat."

Several of us went to Lalati Village and were treated to a Kava ceremony. Be sure to take the sunset cruise and talk the captain into going to Bat Island when the flying foxes are leaving for the night.

What did we see in the water? The only thing I was looking for and didn't see was a frog/angler fish, otherwise we found the rest. Including sea snakes, giant clams, and blue ribbons eels. More nudibranchs and butterfly fish species than you can shake a stick at. Definitely, do dives off of the pier, (the water was clearer when the tide was coming in) and follow the reef to the left. There is a blue ribbon eel at 22 FSW (high tide) and a LARGE grouper.

[yudi]

Bula Seaduced,

Thank you very much for your detailed comments, and feedback. We are so excited, and cannot wait to go. By the way did you do the picnic where it takes you to the private island. I saw the pics of the island and it looks stunning. I think I have almost convinced my husband on doing the Shark Dive, so we will see. We are defenitely planning on doing everything you mentioned sunset cruice, village etc. By the way I am confused with the villages. From what I understand you went to 2 villages Waisomo village and Lalati. I was planning on buying things that the kids could use so now I am confused which village people normally go to. If you can help with this I would appreciate it.

Vinanka

[Seaduced]

Hi Vinanka,
Lalati resort offers a trip to both villages. We brought pens, pencils and other supplies for the school. Another lady brought some reading glasses for Lalati village. From our group, several went to each village.

[yudi]

Awesome. Thank you. This was very informative.

Sent from my SGH-T769 using Tapatalk 2

[jake11]

Great trip report Seaduced!

[h2o2]

Many thanks Seaduced!
We are now in Sydney, we'll leave for Lalati within 2 days: just can't wait!
I'll write our experience as soon as possible!
Thanks to everybody for your information and support!
Good bubbles.

[h2o2]

Well, guys, I'm back from Lalati.
Where to start? Maybe from the end... I'm definitely disappointed.
After reading some rewievs, especially from seaduced (BTW, I saw your DesertDolphins red stickers inside the diving boat..) I did expect something really different.
I'll go by steps, maybe it's better.
- the resort: "luxury accomodations", every webpage says. Well, maybe one year ago it was a luxury accomodation. Now it's a decent accomodation which all the staff people (really, really friendly and helpful, this I have to say -with some exception as I'll say later) trying to mantain at their best. Common spaces are clean, gardens are tidy. But our cottage (a seaview, not Honeymoon) was really dirty, it was dirty when we arrived and it remained dirty until we leaved, bathroom more than the rest, with furniture which needed maintenance, window with broken glass, housekeeping whose best-cleaning-possibilities-concept is give a rapid sweep to the floor around everithing which rest on it.. Guys, I've traveled a little bit around the world, I've been in a lot of different accomodations, from a backpackers' room with one wc for 4 floor, to a 5 star plus spa resort, I'm experienced in that.. This is NOT a luxury accomodation at all, and as accomodation is less confortable and clean than some other similar jungle-like-resort really cheaper I've been (for example in Philippines);
- the resort staff: as I said, with the only exception of the housekeeping of our cottage (maybe we've been unlucky? who knows.. but other guest who travelled with us on our way back to Nadi, seemed to think the same), all the others were really friendly, helpful and efficient;
- the managers: helpful and efficient the girl (sorry, I forgot her name); only seen but never heard a word from Paul; friendly the dog;
- restaurant: the best thing in the resort, really tasteful;
- the diving center: poor logistic (no showers, rinse basin always dirty, centre often closed with nobody around), poor diving equipment (I had my own wetsuit and fins, but my wife not: there were only two or three 3mm suit, in poor conditions, really difficult to wear for a woman as they were man's fitted; only a pair of fins of her size, which seemed to came from the WW II; no bcd for her size, an S like 99% of woman, only 1 bcd of my size, M like 50% of man; regulators which have seen better days);
- the diving staff: the first day, when we try to choose the equipment we needed, the onyl man in the diving center was a staff boy, friendly but zero capable to give answer different than "no" (I asked to change my mouthpiece 'cause I got my own.. "no", he said. "why?" I asked. "bacause it is already assembled", the answer). The second day, a real guide (or she was the diving manager? nobody told us) arrived (Sarah). A good guide, a good divemaster. We had two or three dives with her, in the lagoon (bad weather, bad sea, impossibile to go outside). The visibility, obviously, was terrible, and the dives were nothing more than a way to accomplish our diving will. The day after finally! the weather was getting better so we arranged for a two tank dive outside the lagoon: finally the guide was sick and the plan changed, so no two tank dive and only a single tank dive guided by the stuff guy I mentioned before.. Nice, but nothing memorable. I asked for almost a week to arrange a shark dive, but It was impossibile to do. The first days, because of the weather (also when there were no wind they told that the weather did not permit to exit the lagoon.. this point is not possibile to confute, since we have no idea of the sea condition outside the lagoon). Two days before our departure because the guide was sick. The day before our departure, because shark dive is impossible to arrange on Tuesday. And in my opinion, this attitude well describe the habit of the diving.. they were not really upset when we asked to arrange a dive for the next day, but neither happy to do that, just like it was a difficult they prefere not not have. Surreal, in some ways. I've been diving for more than 10 years, in many different country, with more then 50 different diving center with different managers and maybe 1hundred different divemaster. Well, this is the first time in all my life I had this sense I described: not to be a coustomer longing to dive as much as possible, with all the staff longing to bring me to dive, but to be a difficult the diving preferred not to have.
Before the final considerations, to be honest I have to say that the weather did not help, with a lot of wind almost all days. But, for the last time: I experienced bad weather conditions before, and in all other occasions I always had the best dives for that possibilities, with all the staff making their best to dive as much as possibile. And not because I claim to dive at all costs, but because the staff did all that was possibile (and sometimes impossible) to make it happen. And only for the good reason (not money, I'm not a supermillionaire, not fame, I'm not a writer): passion, to dive and to share diving experience. This is what i think.

One positive thing to say: the bill was really honest, they made us a rich discount.

Anyway: at last, during our diving vacation we had 7 dives in total (4 for me and 3 for my wife).
If we were interested in saving money (for the dives, because the rest of the stay was not cheap at all), this would be a quite good week.
But our first goal was to dive, and about diving I have to say this is one of the worst overall experience I ever had.
Only unlucky-times? Maybe. This is our experience: I hope who will be there after us will be more lucky.
About that, I'm so curious to hear yudi experience..

Well, guys, ,sorry for this long & bothering report, but this is all I had to say.
Happy bubbles.

[yudi]

Thank you very much for your report, feedback is always appreciated. As I read, and read my eyes kept on getting bigger, and bigger. I am sorry about your experience. I am praying my experience to be different. We only have one vacation a year, and considering we are flying all the way from Miami I am hoping only, but good things. As far as weather conditions that will be out of my hands also, but will defenitely share my experience. Thank you very much for your feedback, and diving is our main priority as well.





Well, guys, I'm back from Lalati.
Where to start? Maybe from the end... I'm definitely disappointed.
After reading some rewievs, especially from seaduced (BTW, I saw your DesertDolphins red stickers inside the diving boat..) I did expect something really different.
I'll go by steps, maybe it's better.
- the resort: "luxury accomodations", every webpage says. Well, maybe one year ago it was a luxury accomodation. Now it's a decent accomodation which all the staff people (really, really friendly and helpful, this I have to say -with some exception as I'll say later) trying to mantain at their best. Common spaces are clean, gardens are tidy. But our cottage (a seaview, not Honeymoon) was really dirty, it was dirty when we arrived and it remained dirty until we leaved, bathroom more than the rest, with furniture which needed maintenance, window with broken glass, housekeeping whose best-cleaning-possibilities-concept is give a rapid sweep to the floor around everithing which rest on it.. Guys, I've traveled a little bit around the world, I've been in a lot of different accomodations, from a backpackers' room with one wc for 4 floor, to a 5 star plus spa resort, I'm experienced in that.. This is NOT a luxury accomodation at all, and as accomodation is less confortable and clean than some other similar jungle-like-resort really cheaper I've been (for example in Philippines);
- the resort staff: as I said, with the only exception of the housekeeping of our cottage (maybe we've been unlucky? who knows.. but other guest who travelled with us on our way back to Nadi, seemed to think the same), all the others were really friendly, helpful and efficient;
- the managers: helpful and efficient the girl (sorry, I forgot her name); only seen but never heard a word from Paul; friendly the dog;
- restaurant: the best thing in the resort, really tasteful;
- the diving center: poor logistic (no showers, rinse basin always dirty, centre often closed with nobody around), poor diving equipment (I had my own wetsuit and fins, but my wife not: there were only two or three 3mm suit, in poor conditions, really difficult to wear for a woman as they were man's fitted; only a pair of fins of her size, which seemed to came from the WW II; no bcd for her size, an S like 99% of woman, only 1 bcd of my size, M like 50% of man; regulators which have seen better days);
- the diving staff: the first day, when we try to choose the equipment we needed, the onyl man in the diving center was a staff boy, friendly but zero capable to give answer different than "no" (I asked to change my mouthpiece 'cause I got my own.. "no", he said. "why?" I asked. "bacause it is already assembled", the answer). The second day, a real guide (or she was the diving manager? nobody told us) arrived (Sarah). A good guide, a good divemaster. We had two or three dives with her, in the lagoon (bad weather, bad sea, impossibile to go outside). The visibility, obviously, was terrible, and the dives were nothing more than a way to accomplish our diving will. The day after finally! the weather was getting better so we arranged for a two tank dive outside the lagoon: finally the guide was sick and the plan changed, so no two tank dive and only a single tank dive guided by the stuff guy I mentioned before.. Nice, but nothing memorable. I asked for almost a week to arrange a shark dive, but It was impossibile to do. The first days, because of the weather (also when there were no wind they told that the weather did not permit to exit the lagoon.. this point is not possibile to confute, since we have no idea of the sea condition outside the lagoon). Two days before our departure because the guide was sick. The day before our departure, because shark dive is impossible to arrange on Tuesday. And in my opinion, this attitude well describe the habit of the diving.. they were not really upset when we asked to arrange a dive for the next day, but neither happy to do that, just like it was a difficult they prefere not not have. Surreal, in some ways. I've been diving for more than 10 years, in many different country, with more then 50 different diving center with different managers and maybe 1hundred different divemaster. Well, this is the first time in all my life I had this sense I described: not to be a coustomer longing to dive as much as possible, with all the staff longing to bring me to dive, but to be a difficult the diving preferred not to have.
Before the final considerations, to be honest I have to say that the weather did not help, with a lot of wind almost all days. But, for the last time: I experienced bad weather conditions before, and in all other occasions I always had the best dives for that possibilities, with all the staff making their best to dive as much as possibile. And not because I claim to dive at all costs, but because the staff did all that was possibile (and sometimes impossible) to make it happen. And only for the good reason (not money, I'm not a supermillionaire, not fame, I'm not a writer): passion, to dive and to share diving experience. This is what i think.

One positive thing to say: the bill was really honest, they made us a rich discount.

Anyway: at last, during our diving vacation we had 7 dives in total (4 for me and 3 for my wife).
If we were interested in saving money (for the dives, because the rest of the stay was not cheap at all), this would be a quite good week.
But our first goal was to dive, and about diving I have to say this is one of the worst overall experience I ever had.
Only unlucky-times? Maybe. This is our experience: I hope who will be there after us will be more lucky.
About that, I'm so curious to hear yudi experience..

Well, guys, ,sorry for this long & bothering report, but this is all I had to say.
Happy bubbles.

[h2o2]

Thank you very much for your report, feedback is always appreciated. As I read, and read my eyes kept on getting bigger, and bigger. I am sorry about your experience. I am praying my experience to be different. We only have one vacation a year, and considering we are flying all the way from Miami I am hoping only, but good things. As far as weather conditions that will be out of my hands also, but will defenitely share my experience. Thank you very much for your feedback, and diving is our main priority as well.

yudi, I really hope that our was only bad luck and wish you the best.
To tell the truth, I was not sure if it was a right decision to write this review before your trip, I didn't mean to give you any influence in your opinion and thought if it was a better idea to wait until your return.. but finally I decided to write it because a)it's just my experience, and maybe your will be completely different, and b)if it can be useful for you or for anybody else and improve your stay while you are there, it's better to know also a negative opinion.
Anyway: good trip and good dives!

[yudi]

Hello everyone,

Well we returned from our trip, and took a little bit longer to reply since I have been trying to settle in again.

Fortunatley I have only but great things to say in overall about Lalati. I'll cover different areas.

Thankfully when we arrived the weather was grat during our stay. We had stayed on the front beach bure, and it was just perfect, and beautiful. Very spacious as well. The housekeeper did a great job on maintaining our bure clean. The staff Rush, Ala, Chantelle, Lui, Paul, Kirsti are among the best staff I have ever come across in my life. They went above, and beyond to help us with anything we needed, and made sure we were extremely satisfied.

Dive center - Lalati is very fortunate to have hired Ian and Zara as divemasters. They are excellent, and were able to take us to take to awesome diving spots. As far as the equipment I cannot really comment since everytime my husband, and I travel we bring all of our equipment. I did speak with them, and they mentioned they were bringing in new equipment into the shop. It was great to wake up every morning, and have breakfast, and ready to go diving. As soon as we got in the boats all we needed to take care of is making sure we were on time, and going through our buddy checks. The dive sites were among some of the best we ever dove. Lots of fish, soft corals, and more corals. I must admit my first dive was so incredible,a nd beautiful that I came up with 200 psi something that has never happened to me in the past as I am very cautious with my safety, but I guess I got carried away with so much to see. We mainly came here to dive, and I am glad we chose Lalati because it was awesome to be in a big boat, and never be crowded. Throughout our entire stay we dove with a couple from Australia who had over 300 plus dives, and having dove the Great Barrier Reef they admitted to us that the diving they had done in Bega Lagoon was the best they have ever done in their lives.

I loved Lalati so much that I would return in a heartbeat. As a matter of fact Mark, and I would love to renew our vows in Lalati :)

Thank you everyone for all your posts, and Dan I hope you would have had a better experience, and I am glad Mark and I enjoyed the best vacations of our lives.


yudi, I really hope that our was only bad luck and wish you the best.
To tell the truth, I was not sure if it was a right decision to write this review before your trip, I didn't mean to give you any influence in your opinion and thought if it was a better idea to wait until your return.. but finally I decided to write it because a)it's just my experience, and maybe your will be completely different, and b)if it can be useful for you or for anybody else and improve your stay while you are there, it's better to know also a negative opinion.
Anyway: good trip and good dives!

[h2o2]

Hello everyone,

Well we returned from our trip, and took a little bit longer to reply since I have been trying to settle in again.

Fortunatley I have only but great things to say in overall about Lalati. I'll cover different areas.



Well, yudi, I'm really happy for you.. And really unhappy for us. It seems we were in Lalati in the worst week of their recent history. no divemaster, no equipment, no dives, no clean rooms.. Maybe they've learned form their mistakes, maybe they were only in a work-in-progress period. In this last case, it should have been enough for us to know that, and if someone told us "guys, be patient, we'll do our best but something will not be as it should..", we'd understand that. But nobody did, and our opnion remains the same.
in any case, thanks for your experience and have good dives!

[jake11]

H2o2,

I think the big difference at Lalati are the rooms. We too were in a seaview room and the other part of our group were in the beach front rooms. There was NO comparison in the rooms! Their rooms looked very luxurious and ours was not that great! Oh well... we just hung out on their patios most of the time!

[yudi]

Hi Jake,

I totally agree. We stayed in the ocean room and honestly it was really big and nice, but like.everything else it.came at a much higher price almost 1300 usd difference. The honeymoon rooms were so beautiful that it made our room look bad lol. Either way I must say Fiji in overall is not cheap, and should not be compared.to places in southeast Asia. For example I've stayed in a 3 star hotel in the Maldives, and paid 5 star resort prices compared to other places in the world. After Bega Lagoon we left to the Yasawas, and while the room was a little bit nicer than Lalati we payed double the money. This being said I think Lalati is an amazing place with great prices considering is in Fiji.

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[cbm32]

Not all places in Fiji are over priced. As a matter of fact I am kind of a cheap bastage and I found that Fiji offered some fantastic bargains. You just have to look for them and screen out the haunts of the upper crust. In spite of the air fare being well over twice as much I can do Fiji for far less than Hawaii. It's not even close.

[yudi]

I agree that not all places are overpriced, but you do get what you pay for. That is just my opinion. Some islands in Fiji if you want to stay in them you better get ready to.spend some money. Is like Indonesia it is so cheap to stay in hotels, buy if you want to go to Waikitobi get ready to spend money. I agree.about Hawaii, it is very expensive.

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