Trip Report Fiji Feb 2010
I've been traveling for a long time now, and I had two months in Australia during which I didn't need to really be anywhere or do anything. In fact, I didn't even need to be in Australia, so I hopped a flight to Nadi for a couple of weeks of Fiji diving.
The big aim was to see some Hammerhead Sharks, so after reading and talking to some of the folks here, I planned to go to Wakaya through Ovalau Watersports in Levuka. Unfortunately it didn't really work out that way, but I still got some nice diving.
I stayed in Nadi one night and did some planning on the best way to get to Levuka, while still seeing the country. I elected to take a public bus around the north of Viti Levu on the Kings Road, stop in Rakiraki and stay a few days at Volivoli. They have a stay and dive package that is reasonably priced and free internet, so it was excellent for me.
The diving in Volivoli was quite varied. We did one day of two tank dives and two days of three tankers. The three tank days meant that we could go to the Vatu-i-ra area offshore, significantly improving the visibilty. Sites included Mary's Maytag, Black Magic Mountain, and Mellow Yellow. There were a couple of nice drifts here and the current brought in some of the bigger fish grey reef sharks, schools of barracuda and trevally, and a few Spanish Mackarel. I kept an eye out in the blue for my target species, but really the currents and lack of very deep water in the area makes chances slim. The macro was ok, but not that impressive some photogs were very happy to see a Peacock Nudibranch I think Indonesia is far better for this. What WAS really impressive about these dives was the colour of the corals. Even at depth, the colours come out in an extremely vibrant way! To be honest, I'd like to do a couple of these sites when the current is really ripping and see what pelagics show up.
The two tank days were in close to shore, only a few km from the resort. Vis was probably 10-15m here, but on the current side, there was plenty to see. Highlight was probably the daisy-chain of grey reef sharks sitting on a bommie in the current.
I felt the Ra Divers operation was quite decent. The boats were in good shape, traveled fine to the farther sites, the dms were safe and flexible, and staff helpful to those who required.
After 4 days at Volivoli and 8 dives, I decided it was time to move on. Back on the public bus(which is a cool experience in itself) I met a boat at Waidalicey bridge and took a half hour trip out to Caqalai.
Caqalai is a small eco-style resort island south of Ovalau. It offers bures on or near the beach, includes meals and generated power. The snorkeling when the currents move is quite excellent and the diving is solid as well. Unfortunately I was mauled by mosquitos for the majority of the time, and couldn't sleep in the bures. While the diving was good, it wasn't so good that I'd put up with the mediocre food and under-ventilated Bures, so I moved on to Levuka.
Levuka is the former capital of Fiji, and the site of the oldest hotel, the Royal. I stayed there and despite its age, it is very well kept, and rooms were mosquito-free. Its kept a real authentic feel to it, and I remember thinking I wonder if I should be paying in Ingots...
Ovalau Watersports is the dive op in Levuka, and despite some large groups showing up and her boatman needing medical attention, Andrea tried to take care of me. Sadly, due to the weather, Wakaya was out of the question and we only managed 1 diving day. With the promise of even more big groups and even worse weather, I elected to move on. The dive I did get in was the Pipeline dive, where everything not going into a can of tuna is disposed of at 50m. The tube churns out fish bits and for a couple of very sweet minutes at 40m, you can watch the mass of rays, sharks and bony fishes that continually haunt the pipeline. It looks quite like an explosion is going off, with a huge ball of fish live trying to jump on the grenade. An interesting dive, and probably would have been excellent with better vis.
Flying to Suva takes less time than the car ride to the airport. Probably about 15minutes take-off to landing and a max altitude of 1000ft. This is important information if you want to do a morning dive and fly in the afternoon.
My last stop on the Fiji tour was Uprising in Pacific Harbour. The resort is quite nice by Fiji standards and when the Fiji Experience people are not there, the dorm is quite spacious. You can walk to town from Uprising, where there is a bank, some shopping, and a couple of decent restaurants. The dorm at Uprising has about 20 bunkbeds in a big room. It sleeps well with multiple fans going at night, but I can't speak well to the security of the place, as I had both my flip-flops and dive computer(!) stolen during my stay. I did shark dives to Beqa from here, both with Beqa Adventure Divers and Aquatrek. Both have pros and cons, but I really preferred Aquatrek for the far superior and more personable dms and the better dive site. It should be said though that BAD has better rental gear and boats. Both were quite similar in price and structure, but Aquatrek seem less of an assembly line and more of a personal experience for the customer. The bit of current at Aquatrek's site made for better visibility, and we were able to see a Tiger Shark on the last day because of this.
Some pictures of various parts of the country:
fiji pictures by Thailandrocks - Photobucket
Some final thoughts on Fiji:
It seems that there is some world class diving to be had there, but you either have to be rich or lucky to find it. I was on a budget and time frame that didn't allow me to go to Kadavu, Taveuni, Namena, or where I had intended to go in Wakaya. Perhaps someday I'll return in the less rainy season with more money.
Fijians are really nice people, giving generally good advice and trying to be helpful. I can't count how many times I was invited to a Kava ceremony, and I appreciate them all.
The corals were some of the nicest I've seen, but the macro was few and far between(relative to SE Asia),
If you really want to see and dive all of Fiji, you're going to need a couple of months. Getting around on public transportation isn't bad(although on Fiji Time) and can be an adventure in its own right.
The political stuff that used to scare off tourists is nonsense. I saw no trace of rioting or violence in any place I went to.
Aside from the dive computer, which was likely stolen by another backpacker, Fiji is quite safe for an astute traveler.
There are better value diving spots in the world, but I never felt that I was ripped off(especially now that I'm back in Australia) or overcharged for things.
I hope this helps anyone considering going to Fiji.
I've been traveling for a long time now, and I had two months in Australia during which I didn't need to really be anywhere or do anything. In fact, I didn't even need to be in Australia, so I hopped a flight to Nadi for a couple of weeks of Fiji diving.
The big aim was to see some Hammerhead Sharks, so after reading and talking to some of the folks here, I planned to go to Wakaya through Ovalau Watersports in Levuka. Unfortunately it didn't really work out that way, but I still got some nice diving.
I stayed in Nadi one night and did some planning on the best way to get to Levuka, while still seeing the country. I elected to take a public bus around the north of Viti Levu on the Kings Road, stop in Rakiraki and stay a few days at Volivoli. They have a stay and dive package that is reasonably priced and free internet, so it was excellent for me.
The diving in Volivoli was quite varied. We did one day of two tank dives and two days of three tankers. The three tank days meant that we could go to the Vatu-i-ra area offshore, significantly improving the visibilty. Sites included Mary's Maytag, Black Magic Mountain, and Mellow Yellow. There were a couple of nice drifts here and the current brought in some of the bigger fish grey reef sharks, schools of barracuda and trevally, and a few Spanish Mackarel. I kept an eye out in the blue for my target species, but really the currents and lack of very deep water in the area makes chances slim. The macro was ok, but not that impressive some photogs were very happy to see a Peacock Nudibranch I think Indonesia is far better for this. What WAS really impressive about these dives was the colour of the corals. Even at depth, the colours come out in an extremely vibrant way! To be honest, I'd like to do a couple of these sites when the current is really ripping and see what pelagics show up.
The two tank days were in close to shore, only a few km from the resort. Vis was probably 10-15m here, but on the current side, there was plenty to see. Highlight was probably the daisy-chain of grey reef sharks sitting on a bommie in the current.
I felt the Ra Divers operation was quite decent. The boats were in good shape, traveled fine to the farther sites, the dms were safe and flexible, and staff helpful to those who required.
After 4 days at Volivoli and 8 dives, I decided it was time to move on. Back on the public bus(which is a cool experience in itself) I met a boat at Waidalicey bridge and took a half hour trip out to Caqalai.
Caqalai is a small eco-style resort island south of Ovalau. It offers bures on or near the beach, includes meals and generated power. The snorkeling when the currents move is quite excellent and the diving is solid as well. Unfortunately I was mauled by mosquitos for the majority of the time, and couldn't sleep in the bures. While the diving was good, it wasn't so good that I'd put up with the mediocre food and under-ventilated Bures, so I moved on to Levuka.
Levuka is the former capital of Fiji, and the site of the oldest hotel, the Royal. I stayed there and despite its age, it is very well kept, and rooms were mosquito-free. Its kept a real authentic feel to it, and I remember thinking I wonder if I should be paying in Ingots...
Ovalau Watersports is the dive op in Levuka, and despite some large groups showing up and her boatman needing medical attention, Andrea tried to take care of me. Sadly, due to the weather, Wakaya was out of the question and we only managed 1 diving day. With the promise of even more big groups and even worse weather, I elected to move on. The dive I did get in was the Pipeline dive, where everything not going into a can of tuna is disposed of at 50m. The tube churns out fish bits and for a couple of very sweet minutes at 40m, you can watch the mass of rays, sharks and bony fishes that continually haunt the pipeline. It looks quite like an explosion is going off, with a huge ball of fish live trying to jump on the grenade. An interesting dive, and probably would have been excellent with better vis.
Flying to Suva takes less time than the car ride to the airport. Probably about 15minutes take-off to landing and a max altitude of 1000ft. This is important information if you want to do a morning dive and fly in the afternoon.
My last stop on the Fiji tour was Uprising in Pacific Harbour. The resort is quite nice by Fiji standards and when the Fiji Experience people are not there, the dorm is quite spacious. You can walk to town from Uprising, where there is a bank, some shopping, and a couple of decent restaurants. The dorm at Uprising has about 20 bunkbeds in a big room. It sleeps well with multiple fans going at night, but I can't speak well to the security of the place, as I had both my flip-flops and dive computer(!) stolen during my stay. I did shark dives to Beqa from here, both with Beqa Adventure Divers and Aquatrek. Both have pros and cons, but I really preferred Aquatrek for the far superior and more personable dms and the better dive site. It should be said though that BAD has better rental gear and boats. Both were quite similar in price and structure, but Aquatrek seem less of an assembly line and more of a personal experience for the customer. The bit of current at Aquatrek's site made for better visibility, and we were able to see a Tiger Shark on the last day because of this.
Some pictures of various parts of the country:
fiji pictures by Thailandrocks - Photobucket
Some final thoughts on Fiji:
It seems that there is some world class diving to be had there, but you either have to be rich or lucky to find it. I was on a budget and time frame that didn't allow me to go to Kadavu, Taveuni, Namena, or where I had intended to go in Wakaya. Perhaps someday I'll return in the less rainy season with more money.
Fijians are really nice people, giving generally good advice and trying to be helpful. I can't count how many times I was invited to a Kava ceremony, and I appreciate them all.
The corals were some of the nicest I've seen, but the macro was few and far between(relative to SE Asia),
If you really want to see and dive all of Fiji, you're going to need a couple of months. Getting around on public transportation isn't bad(although on Fiji Time) and can be an adventure in its own right.
The political stuff that used to scare off tourists is nonsense. I saw no trace of rioting or violence in any place I went to.
Aside from the dive computer, which was likely stolen by another backpacker, Fiji is quite safe for an astute traveler.
There are better value diving spots in the world, but I never felt that I was ripped off(especially now that I'm back in Australia) or overcharged for things.
I hope this helps anyone considering going to Fiji.
