Beqa Shark Dive - Which Operator?

[NZ Don]

I'd like to hear peoples experiences of the shark dive at Beqa Lagoon, and most importantly, which is the best operator to dive with?

Fiji Shark Dive/Beqa Adventure Divers or
Aquatrek

Naturally, both claim to be the best and the original!

Thank you

 

[fiji_diver]

Hi
Well ignoring claims for originality, which is rather irrelevant, here is my view.
First, there are actually 3 dives. The 3rd is run by Beqa Lagoon Resort and is some distance from the other two, also you need to be staying on Beqa eihter at BLR or Lalati to make it a practical proposition. The two you mention are both run from Pacific Harbour on the main island of Viti Levu about an hour from Suva and 3 hours from Nadi.
Both offer very professional and safe dives.
Differences.
Depth - BAD do first dive at 26-28m and the 2nd at 18m, both from the same starting point and in very close proximity to each other. Aquatrek do both dives at the same place at a depth of 18m. They used to run similar profiles to BAD but changed some years ago to extend dive times and reduce DCS risk. BLR dive is around 24m for both dives
Style - Aquatrek do some chuming at the end of the dive creating a spectacle of swirling fish and sharks several metres off the bottom. BAD don't as far as I know and so you see more of individual sharks. BLR is more like BAD than Aquatrek.
Species. Aquatrek seem to attract a greater variety of species on a regular basis but there is not much in it. You will see plenty of Bull sharks at both with the occasional Tiger, along with reefies, Nurse, lemon and a few others.
The BLR dive attracts Tigers far more often, possibly due to its location near the deep water edge of the lagoons east side ut fewer sharks in total, at least in my experience. I have seen Tigers at all 3 dives, most recently with Aquatrek but it is a few years since I dived with BAD.
Post dive, Aquatrek has the edge as they are based at a small resort with bar and restaurant right there or you can cross the road to the Pearl 5* hotel. With BAD you need to get a ride somewhere, but only a few minutes to the Pearl, Uprising or arts village eateries.
So in a nutshell, you will enjoy them equally I think but I am sure regular divers have their preference and reason for it.
Greg

 

[Manuel Sam]

I dove the Shark dives with BAD in 2006 and with Aquatrek in 2012. I think that what factored most into the my choice at each time was where I was staying. As mentioned in fiji_diver's reply, Aquatrek is across the road from The Pearl Resort, which is where I chose to stay in 2012. In 2006, I stayed at the then-Laguna Resort, but had been shutdown in 2012. It is a bit of a trek from the main road, and that is where BAD was (is?) based. I also had troubles exchanging emails with BAD when I was making my arrangements for the 2012 trip. If not for that, I probably would have gone back to them, since they did pick-ups at The Pearl just the same.

Both operations were very good, and as fiji-diver noted, who was first is not really of relevance.

As also noted by fiji-diver, one difference between the two is/was that BAD went deeper on the first dive, but perhaps as a coincidence, those were the dives when we saw Tigers, including one big, naughty one called Scarface. In addition, when we dove with BAD, all divers were in one straight line on a shelf slightly above and behind the feeder. Don't know if that is still the case. Whereas with Aquatrek, the divers were allowed to form a U, but only those with large cameras (to use as protective shields) were allowed to be at either leg of the "U". If you were on one of legs of the "U", there was no wall to protect your back so your head needed to be like a turret, altho if you were looking for close in-your-face encounters, this was the place to be at.

You might consider diving with both if doing the shark dives is all you wish to do. Back then - don't know about today - each operation did the shark dives on certain days an not on others - maybe so that the sharks wouldn't get too used to just being hand-fed and forget about hunting on their own(?). So if that is the case, you could check and see which days one operation goes out and fill in the days that they don't with the other operation (assuming that they go out on those other days).

 

[NZ Don]

Hi
Well ignoring claims for originality, which is rather irrelevant, here is my view.
First, there are actually 3 dives. The 3rd is run by Beqa Lagoon Resort and is some distance from the other two, also you need to be staying on Beqa eihter at BLR or Lalati to make it a practical proposition. The two you mention are both run from Pacific Harbour on the main island of Viti Levu about an hour from Suva and 3 hours from Nadi.
Both offer very professional and safe dives.
Differences.
Depth - BAD do first dive at 26-28m and the 2nd at 18m, both from the same starting point and in very close proximity to each other. Aquatrek do both dives at the same place at a depth of 18m. They used to run similar profiles to BAD but changed some years ago to extend dive times and reduce DCS risk. BLR dive is around 24m for both dives
Style - Aquatrek do some chuming at the end of the dive creating a spectacle of swirling fish and sharks several metres off the bottom. BAD don't as far as I know and so you see more of individual sharks. BLR is more like BAD than Aquatrek.
Species. Aquatrek seem to attract a greater variety of species on a regular basis but there is not much in it. You will see plenty of Bull sharks at both with the occasional Tiger, along with reefies, Nurse, lemon and a few others.
The BLR dive attracts Tigers far more often, possibly due to its location near the deep water edge of the lagoons east side ut fewer sharks in total, at least in my experience. I have seen Tigers at all 3 dives, most recently with Aquatrek but it is a few years since I dived with BAD.
Post dive, Aquatrek has the edge as they are based at a small resort with bar and restaurant right there or you can cross the road to the Pearl 5* hotel. With BAD you need to get a ride somewhere, but only a few minutes to the Pearl, Uprising or arts village eateries.
So in a nutshell, you will enjoy them equally I think but I am sure regular divers have their preference and reason for it.
Greg

Thanks for taking the time to post such a comprehensive reply! This really helps

 

[NZ Don]

I dove the Shark dives with BAD in 2006 and with Aquatrek in 2012. I think that what factored most into the my choice at each time was where I was staying. As mentioned in fiji_diver's reply, Aquatrek is across the road from The Pearl Resort, which is where I chose to stay in 2012. In 2006, I stayed at the then-Laguna Resort, but had been shutdown in 2012. It is a bit of a trek from the main road, and that is where BAD was (is?) based. I also had troubles exchanging emails with BAD when I was making my arrangements for the 2012 trip. If not for that, I probably would have gone back to them, since they did pick-ups at The Pearl just the same.

Both operations were very good, and as fiji-diver noted, who was first is not really of relevance.

As also noted by fiji-diver, one difference between the two is/was that BAD went deeper on the first dive, but perhaps as a coincidence, those were the dives when we saw Tigers, including one big, naughty one called Scarface. In addition, when we dove with BAD, all divers were in one straight line on a shelf slightly above and behind the feeder. Don't know if that is still the case. Whereas with Aquatrek, the divers were allowed to form a U, but only those with large cameras (to use as protective shields) were allowed to be at either leg of the "U". If you were on one of legs of the "U", there was no wall to protect your back so your head needed to be like a turret, altho if you were looking for close in-your-face encounters, this was the place to be at.

You might consider diving with both if doing the shark dives is all you wish to do. Back then - don't know about today - each operation did the shark dives on certain days an not on others - maybe so that the sharks wouldn't get too used to just being hand-fed and forget about hunting on their own(?). So if that is the case, you could check and see which days one operation goes out and fill in the days that they don't with the other operation (assuming that they go out on those other days).

Great info, thank you! Appreciate you taking the time to share your experience