Fiji Trip Report Dec 08

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outpost31

Contributor
Messages
118
Reaction score
28
Location
Surrey, UK
# of dives
200 - 499
Bula Everyone,

Here is my trip report to Beqa, Kadavu & Taveuni in Dec 08, hope it's helpful.

BEQA
When I arrived at The Uprising Resort in Pacific Harbour late at night it was chucking down with heavy rain, i was tired after an 1h20m taxi ride from Suva, very hungry and alone. After ordering my meal a waiter sat down at my table and chatted with me until my food arrived. It was a simple gesture but it made a big difference and set the tone for my short stay there. The resort is beautiful and excellently managed, the large dorm bure clean and spacious, the many staff were very friendly and helpful and always remembered my name. They let me keep my dive bag and camera at the reception which was manned 24hrs a day which gave me great peace of mind. All things considered i'll give this resort 5 stars..highly recommended.

I dived with Aqua-Trek, who came and picked me up, and I did the 2-tank shark feeding dive. The diving could not have gone better, 1st dive saw a 14ft pregnant Tiger shark within a few metres, 2nd dive saw many Bulls and 1 Lemon shark which all came within 1ft of me as the DM allowed me to sit next to him as he fed them fish heads from a wheelie bin, coz I had a camera/video. The dive was very professional, DM's friendly and helpful, overall a fantastic experience that I highly recommend and will never forget.

Kadavu
After flying into Kadavu we got on a trunk to the coast where we took a small boat for the 30min journey to Matava Resort for 6 days (4 days diving). The place is very nice, very quiet and relaxing, with no other resorts nearby. I had a small bure to myself just metres from the beach, which was simple but clean and very comfortable. The meals there were all different and very nice, staff friendly and eager to help. They have power during the day to charge your batteries but no internet connection. Other than diving you can go visit a beautiful waterfall but be very careful as one slip could be nasty. Or you can book a walk with the medicine man who tells you of the plants he uses and takes you to his village for Kava, i did both and definitely recommend them. Two non-divers went fishing and caught a spanish mackerel and giant travelly, we had the mackerel as sashumi which was one of the best things i've ever eaten.

Diving was good, saw soft coral, nudibrachs, white-tips, stonefish, barracuda and much more. Missed a manta on my 1st dive by a few mins, but on the last day i saw one, vis not perfect but watched it for a few mins.

Then flew to Nadi, stayed 1 night at The Bluewater resort, which boasted best food of all backpackers. I only had 1 meal but it was very good, restaurant quality rather than backpacker. There were 3 fijians by the pool offering Kava and singing classic songs with a guitar like bob marley and eagles, you name it they could play it. Only there 1 night but really enjoyed it, very well run place.

Taveuni
After booking to dive and stay with Aqua-trek at the Garden Island Resort, a month later they emailed saying they had sold it and were now renovating the place. After panicking i emailed back to ask where i stood with my booking. The people running GIR apologized and offered to book me into next door. As The First Light Inn didn't have a dorm they payed the extra to put me in a single room. As GIR had no guest except me, i had the DM's full attention and they spent all their time showing me many things to photograph that i would have missed. The staff and dive shop were very good but there was another problem.

I had emailed Aqua-trek when i first booked it, telling them what gear i needed to rent and asked for prices. When i got there to dive tho Aqua-trek had not passed this info to GIR so i had no dive computer, which really annoyed me! Again, GIR sorted the problem by renting me one of the own personal computers. When it came time to pay i found that my gear quote was half of what it should be, which obviously put me in a bad position. Again the owners were very kind and met me halfway with the cost. Also, as the area isn't near other resorts, getting to places for dinner became difficult but the owners gave me a lift to the only near place to eat that night and picked me up. With limited access to computers for dumping my photos onto a usb and checking my emails, the owners also let me use their own personal computer. Aqua-trek screwed up big-time but the owners did everything they could to make my stay enjoyable, which i was very grateful to them for.

The diving (6days) was excellent, saw many great things, beautiful soft corals, blue spotted ray, turtle, banded sea snake, dived great white wall, very happy with the diving and the staff. GIR is probably renovated now, l recommend diving there and staying as the owners did everything they could to make my stay pleasant while the place was being redone.

If anyone has any specific questions please ask or msg me and i'll be glad to help.

Thanks to all those whose posts helped me narrow down fiji as the place to go and where to stay and dive. My trip was unforgettable and, overall, i have no regrets just fantastic memories! Cheers!
 
The experiences you describe with people and problems resolved are why we love going to Fiji. Glad to hear you had a great time. Hmmm...I must get down to the shark dive...
 
Hey Outpost31 -

Thanks for the report. How did the diving in Taveuni compare to the other locations that you visited? Also, what was your experience with the currents?
 
The diving in Taveuni was excellent, due to the currents it had more soft coral there than anywhere else i went. The currents in Tav weren't anything to worry about, the DM's only took us to places that were safe so, if the currents were too strong for that particular site they would take us to another, i didn't experience anything very strong in Tav. In Kadavu I did experience some strong currents and, as I haven't had much experience with it, it took a bit of getting used to as I was trying to photograph things and not bump into anything at the same time. Out of all the places i went i think I saw the most variety of coral and marine life in Tav, i definitey recommend it.
 
Thanks for the information, outpost31. These are the 3 locations we researched for our upcoming trip. We chose Taveuni so I'm glad to read your review.

Anything else you can report on Taveuni (restaurant information, topside activities, etc.)?
 
Bula outpost31,

Thanks for your report. I spent 10 days at Kadavu during my trip to Fiji late last year also and echo your experiences. I missed the mantas and we had a few weather & rough seas/current issues that impacted the diving but had a very relaxing time. I Especially enjoyed the meals, staff and guests. I had a honeymoon bure to myself on the hillside with a great view of the water.
 
Thanks beed2112 - great pics!

We've contacted Dive Taveuni for our trip too. Did you leave the resort for any land activities? I know Paradise Taveuni is down on the southern tip of the island... just curious if you made it up to Bouma National Heritage Park, etc.
 
Bula Cawhite,

Well, below the First Light Inn rooms there were a couple of shops and a small cafe, down the road there was one restaurant (closed on mondays) which I used a lot. If i wanted to go elsewhere for dinner I'd had to pay twice the cost of the meal in taxi fares so I only went twice to a very nice restaurant north of GIR, almost hanging over a cliff with great views of the sea, good food, can't remember the name tho.

From where I was staying there wasn't a lot nearby to do, except for the local waterfall which I heard about but never got to. There really isn't a lot close by to GIR, but it didn't bother me as my main reason for being there was diving and I was running low on money anyway.

I'm sure if you stayed in other areas they'd be more topside activities, i guess i depends on how much money you got and what you want to do. One thing I have neglected to say is Fijians are some of the friendliest and welcoming people I've ever met, someone would always approach you for a chat and would often go out of their way to help you. The diving was unforgettable in Fiji but it's really the people that 'make' your holiday and by that measure Fiji was fantastic!

Here are some of the photos/video that won't load on this site:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26811451@N04/

hope the link works, if not look for "Outpost31" under people.
 
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Thanks for sharing the photos / video, outpost31. Can't wait to go and can't wait to meet the people of Fiji, as well.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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