Fiji Trip Report Sept 2008

[wahlaoeh]

Bula Fiji - From one Paradise to Another …
After we bid farewell to the folks in Tonga, eight of us continued on our journey and traveled northwest to Fiji for our much-anticipated “The Big Fish - Shark Dives” at the famed Beqa Lagoon. Fiji has a fascinating history that encompasses centuries of tribal warfare, colonial influences, religious meddling and cannibalism. The country occupies an archipelago of about 322 islands, of which 106 are permanently inhabited, and 522 islets.

The world-renowned Beqa Lagoon offers some pretty handy resort diving, close to Fiji's main island. Once christened "The Mecca of Pacific Diving", Beqa Lagoon (pronounced "Benga") is surrounded by over 350 kilometers of pristine reefs and is considered the soft coral capital of the world. It is known for its tradition of Fire walking and made world famous by its Fijian dive masters who hand feed the resident sharks. The species usually present on these dives include Black-tips and White-tip reef sharks, Bulls, Silvertips, Lemon, Grey reef sharks, , Nurse Sharks, and the occasional Tiger shark. My primary purpose for this trip was to see the Bulls, as well as the massive 5-meter Tiger shark, nicknamed Scarface.

Our journey to Lagoon Resort was lengthy and quite an adventure. The resort is situated in the south of the main and largest Fijian island of Viti Levu. It is 50 kilometers; about 40 minutes drive from the capital of Fiji, Suva, and about 120 kilometers from Nadi International Airport. We departed Vavu’u at 9.15am on Fiji Airlines for Tongatapu and then boarded a 2.5 hours Pacific Blue flight into Suva International Airport. At the terminal, we have to collect our luggage and check-in again although we were flying on the same carrier but on a different aircraft. One of Daniel’s bags containing their dive equipments didn’t arrive in Suva and he wasn’t very happy about that. Connecting on another 40 minutes flight, we finally reached Nadi International airport.

From there, we were picked up and transported on a mini-bus, traveling along the magnificent coral coast on sealed roads. Along the way, we picked up two cartons of local Fiji Bitter beers and stopped over for 10 minutes at a souvenirs store where I bought 3 dresses and 2 packets of kava. Suddenly, about 2.5 hours into the journey, we saw smoke coming out from the engine compartment of our vehicle and promptly evacuated. Although exhausted from the long-lasting voyage, the fun-loving bunch were still in good spirits and were having fun drinking beers and posing for the camera on the pitch-dark road while waiting for the replacement bus. We finally arrived at the Lagoon Resort close to 9pm, after more than 12 hours of traveling. Note: Fiji is one hour ahead of Tonga. We didn’t quite figure out why we had to take the longer route but were all glad that everyone was safe and arrived in one piece. Feeling jaded and hungry, we promptly checked-in and were assigned our rooms before dinner was served. I emptied the bowl of delicious corn and chicken soup, fish and chips and half a serving of ice cream before retiring for the night. The atmosphere at the resort, the room and the first dinner was “Paradise” found as compared to Paradise Resort in Tonga.

A friendly couple, Heather and Jim Sherlock, owns Lagoon Resort. The outstanding Fijian staffs are accommodating and always seem happy to be serving you. So, it’s Bula here, Bula there and Bula everywhere! The resort was originally built in 1988 as a casino and bordello and is nestled among 3 acres of landscaped grounds on the banks of the Qaraniqqio River, which leads out into Beqa Lagoon. It was soundly built of permanent materials and has been lovingly maintained. Gwen and I were assigned to a spacious deluxe room with 3 single beds. All rooms feature air conditioning, a private marble bathroom with a bath, ceiling fans, refrigerators, Cable TV, direct-dial phones and broadband Internet access. The resort also has a full service bar and a swimming pool for lounging in the hot afternoons.

All our meals were included in the dive package. All breakfasts were the same, with fresh fruit, yogurts, cereal, juice, coffee and tea, with toasts. Lunch and dinner were varied and the serving was huge so I usually asked for half a portion. There were 2 choices to pick from per meal. Lunch menu includes beef burger or chicken sandwiches with salad and fries, beef stir-fry or curry chicken with rice for main course. Dinner menu includes a choice of salad or soup (tomatoes, spinach) for starters, lamb chops with mashed potatoes, pepper steak with greens or assorted pastas for mains. Desserts are either raspberry cake, ice cream served after lunch and dinner. The food was fantastic but I did not like all of them, particularly the super thick dhal soup and over-powering tomatoes soup.

Sharks are Friends …
We dived with Beqa Adventure Divers (Beqa Adventure Divers - Welcome to Fiji-Sharks.com), a professional on-site dive operation, which specializes in the world famous Big Fish feeding and the soft coral reefs of the Beqa Lagoon. The shark diving team on the Shark Dive is the original shark feeders and has been conducting the Shark Dive in Beqa Lagoon since 1998. The shark feeding is carried out in a very safe and controlled way, the feeders are incredibly experienced and know the individual animals’ characters. The shark dive is conducted at an innocuous hard coral reef named Beqa Channel within the Shark Reef Marine Reserve and about 30 minutes from the hotel. Beqa Adventure Divers are the trustees of the Shark Reef Marine Reserve and have formed partnership with two local villages and the Fiji Government dedicated to the protection of sharks and has the sole rights to dive this reef. Every diver that dives this reef must pay a FS$ 10 which goes to the villages to compensate them for not fishing on the reef and for protecting it from other fishing boats.

Our itinerary for the next 3 days will be 2 shark dives on Day 1, 2 reef dives on Day 2 and another 2 shark dives on the final day. I only came to learn from Daniel on the trip that we were at the peak of the low season for Bull sharks and would be lucky to see just a few. The high season for the Bulls is from Jan-Mar and accordingly to the dive crew, you can expect to see 10-20 of them in a single dive.

On the way to the Beqa Channel on the first day of diving, Pedro, the lead dive guide, gave us a thorough dive briefing with detailed map on what was about to take place. All divers must wear full-length wetsuits and gloves. We were to descend in a group, stay down and behind the wall when watching the feeder hand feed the big pelagic fish. We were told that the first dive would be a “lure” dive to attract the bigger guys like Bulls, Silvertips or the elusive Tiger shark and then the second dive will be the Real thing! The two shark dives will be conducted at different segments: The first dive will at “The Arena” at 30 meters for 17 minutes, and ascending up to “The Den” at 8 meters for the remaining time of the dive and then followed by safety stop. The second dive will be at the “Take Out” at 16 meters for about 35 minutes before hitting shallower water for safety stop.

 

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As soon as we arrived at the dive site, we were told to geared up and the crew began chumming by throwing dead fish heads into the sea. Within seconds, large school of giant trevally, red snappers and rainbow runners was seen splashing on the surface, fighting vigorously over the bait. It’s this commotion, together with the fish scent that attracts the sharks.

One by one, we jumped off the boat via giant strike entry, re-grouped at the surface before descending together with the four guides and two feeders. The feeders carried with them two huge bins full of dead fish and once in the water, I was overwhelmed to see the huge clouds of hungry fish scrambling around us, all trying to filch a piece of food from the feeders’ bin.

The first level of the shark dive took place at 30 meters on a reef ledge next to the drop off into the abyss of the Beqa Passage. We immediately took positions, kneeling down and hiding behind the constructed coral wall, waiting anxiously as Rusi, the lead shark-feeder entered “The “Arena”, about 2 meters in front of us. With his hands covered with mesh gloves, he began hand-feeding the gigantic ball of pelagic fish with fish scraps from a plastic bin. Soon, a few gray reef sharks and a couple of nurse sharks joined the never-ending streams of trevally and red bass. The pelagic fish were trained to come from left to right and only the obedient ones will be fed! I was at the end on the left-hand corner of the wall and 10 minutes into the dive, one of the safety guides ushered me down onto the floor in “The Arena” near to Rusi. Finding myself in the middle of a shark feed, my heart was thumping really fast as I watched in awed and excitement while trying to capture this magnificent moments on my camera. As I went busy clicking away, a 1.5-meter nurse shark suddenly swam right towards me, almost knocking into my camera before it slipped over my head and away to the outer edges of sight. Holy sh**! I squealed.

Soon, our bottom time was up and we ascended to the second level of the shark feed. Up in “The Den", smaller shark species like White-tip Reefs and Black-tip Reefs were found circling, completely at ease with the presence of the divers. Then, they instantly joined in frenzy and together; they put up a reality show showcasing the survival of the strong versus the weak in the underwater world.

Back aboard the boat, the group was contented and looking forward to the next dive hoping to see the bigger sharks. During the hour-long surface interval, hot tea was served and we chatted with the Fijian dive masters. From them, we learnt that there was never an incident involving a shark bite during the shark feed in the past 10 years at Beqa Lagoon. Only the giant trevally bites! And so, I affirmed my belief that sharks are our friends if we respect them in their natural habitat.

The second dive took place at the “Take Out”, halfway down the reef slope at 16 meters where most of the feeding occurs. Again, the huge ball of large pelagic fish and few nurse sharks immediately entertained us with a show, which was both exciting and intriguing. They soon kept their distance, and we soon learned why. The Bulls have arrived! They were about 4-5 of them and each one about 2.5 meters. They looked impressively massive even from a distant. As soon as the fish scraps were out of the bin, the Bull sharks took the bait and then began devouring the food. One of the bulls after swallowing the huge chuck of bait cruised closer to within one meter from me with its wide mouth still agape. I could see clearly row upon row of its huge triangular teeth and small eyes. Wow, what an intense moment, what a thrill! This one just seemed curious, but not aggressive and I never felt at all under threat. I missed capturing this truly magical close and personal moment due to the shutter lag on my camera. Damn! This magnificent creature then glided slickly over my head before disappearing into the blue.

Most of us went into few minutes of deco-stop for this dive, as everyone wanted the dive to last as long as possible. Big smiles of contentment were painted over our faces after the adrenaline rush of this dive as we motored back to the hotel, ready for lunch and a big kava party after that.

We returned to dive the shark dive again on Day 3. It was raining, gloomy and the sea condition was windy and rough. The dive plan was the same as the first day so dive briefing was only given to the newcomers in the group. Despite the lousy weather, the visibility looked better than the first day. We had the usual large fish action at “The Arena” with a handful of nurse sharks. There was also some really cool White-tip and Black-tip reef shark action at “The Den” but I was not able to make good photograph from my spot. I then decided to swim away from the feed with the permission from a safety guide nearby to make some photographs of the cruising sharks before ending the dive. The exit from the water was slightly different from the first day due to the harsh surface conditions. We were instructed to ascend up the rope one at a time towards the side of the boat, removed our BCDs and hand-over to the dive master on the surface before kicking and then sliding up the side of the boat.

The winds were blowing stronger and after enduring the cold during the hour-long surface interval, we re-entered the water. Much warmer, I felt. Descending down to 16 meters, we waited and waited but besides seeing the same huge ball of trevally, red bass and many playful surgeonfish swimming around us and trying to nibble our gloves, no shark was in sight. After 25 minutes, two Bull sharks appeared but kept their distance and only came in a few times to feed from Rusi. I didn’t get a good look at these big guys. The legendary Tiger shark evaded us again! We ended the dive feeling somewhat disappointed but everyone was in full agreement that we were lucky to have participated and experience the best shark dive in the world. Not quite yet but I’ll be back!

A Kaleidoscope of Colors and Shapes …
You can’t call yourself diving in Fiji if you have not dive the reefs! The Fiji archipelago is encircled by pristine coral reefs, offering thousands of scuba dive sites and its underwater vistas are the stuff of fantasy. Steep drop-offs, magnificent reefs, shallow lagoons, stunning canyons and swim-throughs decorated in vibrantly colored soft corals, sea fans and feather stars await you.

On Day 2, we made two dives at the local reefs. Our first dive was at a dive site called Seven Sisters. Seven Sisters is said to be a site with seven easily discernible pinnacles, but it is not an easy task to identify exactly where these seven start and end. Underwater, the magic never lets up, offering a plethora of soft corals, hard corals and macro life; this pinnacle is literally a fish magnet.

The fish life in Fiji outshines Tonga by far. There were many large shoals of fish and the variety is spectacular. There was no shark on this dive, but plenty of amazing creatures that kept us entertained. There were many tropical fish like wrasses, angels, damsels, surgeons and snappers streaming by, and an astounding array of macro critters like Zanzibar shrimps on whip corals, orang utan crabs in bubble corals, as well as pipe fish, nudibranchs and flatworms lying on the sandy bottom. The shallower reef was filled with many different anemone fish cuddled coyly amongst the anemone tentacles, surrounded by legions of colorful anthias, fusiliers and basslets. When I was doing my safety stop, one of the dive masters found me an anemone with some newly hatched Nemo’s eggs and the female anemone fish tending her eggs was seen bravely charging out to confront us when we hovered too close by. I spent the last few minutes of the dive watching nearby, totally enthralled and moved by the motherly love portrayed by this female anemone fish. It was a nice leisurely dive after all of the intensity of the previous day’s shark dives.

The second dive was at a site called the Golden Arches and this site live right up to its name. The reef has a series of arches and swim-throughs covered with golden yellow soft corals and magnificent sea fans. After we descended, we swam through a large swim-through with many big trees of gorgeous gorgonians growing densely on the underside. Then, we gently finned over and round the reef, between ridges and small bommies, all the while having our eyes feasting on the sheer splendor of its underwater rainbows.

The Kava Party …
While the diving is superb it would be a shame to leave Fiji without sharing in the culture of its hospitable people. In Fiji, drinking kava is one of the foundations of Fijian life and the social cement that bonds society. Made from the ground root of the yaqona pepper plant (Kava - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia), the mildly narcotic, mud-colored earthy beverage is enjoyed in ceremonies as well as casually nearly everywhere you go in the country. It has a mildly anesthetic effect so your lips may tingle or feel a bit numb when you try it.

The most important aspect of kava drinking is psychological. Sitting around a bowl in the village, exchanging talanoa (conversation, chat) and listening to the guitars hammer away is a very pleasant experience. Most importantly, the act of sharing a bowl creates an invisible bond between the participants. The visitor feels a warmth and acceptance among complete strangers that is normally associated with family or close friends.

Well, the kava parties that we had were unlike the traditional kava ceremony performed in the Fijian villages. I had my first taste of the kava drink in Tonga when Daniel invited a Fijian guy, Tim to help us make the kava beverage at the hotel. Daniel is a non-alcoholic but he loved the kava drink after drinking it in Fiji prior to our trip. He said he was feeling “high” after drinking 2 bowls. We had 2 kava parties in Tonga on our last 2 evenings and I had 6 bowls on the first evening and 11 bowls on the following evening but didn’t feel anything. Hence, I was called the “Kava Queen”. But I believe that drinking this somewhat “spiritual” drink gave us good luck and we had the best whale encounter on our last day!

In Fiji, kava flowed profusely. We had kava party with the dive crew everyday starting from late afternoon till night. Our new Fijian friends even brought us to a local village to buy the “Real” stuff. Wonderful Fijian hospitality is the hallmark of the Beqa Adventure Divers and welcoming us into their community, Pedro would spin the poison offering “low-tide”, “high-tide” or “Tsunami-tide”, and then passing the kava bowl from one person to another, we had some wonderful time drinking kava and sharing stories while listening to the Fijians singing along to the beautiful tunes from the guitar boy or sometimes CD player.

Dreams do come true, sometimes twice better …
While my primary aim for this trip was to swim with humpback whales in Tonga but I’m glad that I did the Fiji extension. Fiji is one magical, friendly, musical, and stunningly beautiful place. I left the country with great sadness but with superb memories of great diving and friendships of my new Fijian friends.

Photo link: Jovin's Cool Photos!! :: Fiji - Beqa Shark Dives Sept 2008