Diving in Lalati, Fiji

[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.

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[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.

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[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.