Australia or Fiji? October 2010

[hammerhead man]

If you move from one place to another you will lose a day of diving. My recommendation is that you find a place and stay there. As noted in my previous post, we loved Beqa Lagoon Resort. The diving was great, the shark dive was incredible, and the resort was great. The rooms are very nice and the food was wonderful. The rooms were large and comfortable but the water pressure at times was not quite up to par and the air conditioning was somewhat weak but we had no problems. We loved it so much, we recommended it to our local dive shop and he has booked a trip for Jul 2010 (I will be on that trip and can't wait to get back!!!).

Regards,

Bill

 

[dawndives]

Thanks! I actually have been looking online at BLR and other resorts. I am going solo so cost is big - everyone's comments are definitely helping me figure out where to think about staying!

Dawn

 

[hammerhead man]

Interestingly, I was late in getting my commitment to the dive shop and the trip was sold out (the trip was sold out in 2008 for the 2010 trip) so I called the BLR USA office and looked into what the cost would be for a single room. The rep told me, at that time, that a single would cost an extra $300 for the 10 days our group would be there. I thought that was very reasonable since the trip with the diving was several thousands of dollars for double occupancy. Long story short, my wife decided to come along and I was able to get a room for the double price. I'm not sure how much extra a single occupancy would be today though.

Regards,

Bill

 

[Fiji Dive Guy]

Bula Heymo,

I just saw your post so sorry for the late input, but I have dived both GBR and Fiji several different times in the month of Oct. In my experience, the weather on the GBR is best in Oct, so it would be a great time to go. I’ve been all the way out to Shark Reef when the ocean was completely glass. You should plan on taking a liveaboard though, and if possible getting all the way out to Osprey Reef. The day boats don’t really get far enough out. It is sort of apples and oranges to Fiji though.

I disagree with some of the other postings that you have to do a liveaboard to get to the best sites in Fiji. Admittedly, the liveaboards do go to some great sites, but there are a number of them that are accessible from land-based resorts and others that the liveaboards don’t even go to. The big advantage that the liveaboards have is the quantity of diving they offer, but usually at the expense of Fiji’s other attractions (culture, activities, etc.).

Personally, I think that Fiji offers more both from a diving perspective and as a destination than you could get in Cairns or Port Douglas..

 

[Wiggsy]

Hey Hammerhead man - we're going back to Beqa too in July 2010! When will you be there? My group are there July 4 - 13. We could only get a limited number of bures due to another large group being in attendance....? Will our visits coincide? Would be just fantastic to catch up with you and compare notes since our last trip! I've been pretty fortunate since we last met and dived Tonga (Humpback Whales aplenty); North Sulawesi (Siladen Island Resort and Spa - highly recommend this place - brilliant colourful biodiverse diving) and just last August, Sipadan (North Borneo - masses of Barracuda, Trevally, Black Tip Reef Sharks and Turtles). Our July trips 2007 and 2008 were both to Siladen, but now it is time to return to Beqa in 2010. I've researched far and wide but really can't find anywhere that matches Beqa (or Siladen for that matter) for value, quality and professionalism. Looking forward to it and hope to spend some quality time with that Tiger Shark again.

 

[hammerhead man]

Hi Wiggsy, our group leaves Jul 13 and stays until the 25th. It doesn't look like we will see each other. I wish that we could be there at the same time. It was absolutely wonderful diving with your group. We have a group of 27 going on this trip. I can't wait!!!!!

Regards,

Bill

 

[Scubagolf]

We just returned from a week at BLR, Oct 15 - 24, 2009. This is a very nice resort with a great staff. The diving is very good and the food better than OK, but certainly not spectacular.

FYI, NOAA has a surface sea temperature station in the Beqa Lagoon that tracks the water temp on a daily basis. Here is the link:

NOAA Coral Reef Watch Time Series Graphs

The NOAA graphs give the surface sea temps in Beqa Lagoon on a near real time running day-to-day basis, with historical data going back a number of years. It was pretty much 76 degrees at depth +/- 1 degree the entire week we were there in mid-to-late October. You can look at the days you plan on going back over the past years and plan your exposure protection accordingly. I dove a 3mm full with a 3/2 hooded vest and got cold towards the end of the week. But that's me. I will say that just about everybody was a bit surprised at the water temp.

 

[Papa_Bear]

Global Warming!

 

[NTSilver]

I am in the planning stages for a trip to Fiji in Aug 2010. I know El Nino is predicted to be bad in Cocos/Galapagos area of the Pacific. Does anyone know if this will affect Fiji?

 

[Zod066]

In my opinion, if you are looking for single lodgings, then you could dive Bass Point Shellharbour (the Arch is a great dive) on a single 1hr drive south of Sydney. Then I would go a live aboard (I've done the Spoilsport). Great boat, very professional and world renowned. You can check out his website at

http://www.mikeball.com/

I would highly recommend this operator. If he's still running out of Townsville, then the Yongala wreck is not to be missed.

If you're interested in diving Shellharbour, drop me an e-mail. I'll show you the best sights myself. But beware - don't worry about the sharks, stingrays or orca's - the cuttlefish are the worry LOL. Check this out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo53ErZgkRw