The Diving
Dive Day #1-Beqa Adventure Divers
For our first day of diving we traveled across the lagoon to meet Beqa Adventure Divers. Lying on the outer edge of Beqa passage, closest to Viti Levu, is Shark Reef Marine Reserve. Upon our arrival, dive-masters Manasa, Rusi, and Nani greeted us. Manasa, who is also a reef warden, briefed us on the upcoming dive. We were to descend as a group to 100 feet and settle in at the outskirts of The Arena. Our bottom time would be 17 minutes, and then we would ascend to The Den where we would interact with more sharks and finish up the dive.
Upon arrival at The Arena we were greeted by a pack of approximately 10 Bull sharks, their girth was amazing. Also present, but keeping their distance from the Bulls, were a few Blacktips, some Grey reef sharks and a lone Silvertip. Rusi began feeding the Bulls by hand with fish scraps from a plastic bin. Less than 5 minutes into the dive I spotted a huge dorsal fin coming in from the edge of visibility. I thought it was an enormous Bull shark, but when it turned into The Arena I realized it was a Tiger shark! She was absolutely beautiful; the stripes on her body were mesmerizing. She slowly cruised through The Arena showcasing all 15 feet of her confidence! The Bull sharks that looked so huge a few minutes ago now looked small as they slipped away to the outer edges of sight. The Tiger swam among the group inspecting each and every one of us.
As the massive Tiger slowly approached Rusi, he held out an offering of fish high above his head, and then the massive predator delicately took the bait from his hand. This was such an amazing site to see! One of the safety divers motioned for me to come over the ledge down onto the floor of The Arena to get an even closer view of Scarface. She had been given this nickname due to a slightly disfigured left jaw.
As I hopped over the ledge into the feeding zone, I glanced to my right and saw an absolutely beautiful Lemon shark coming straight towards me. As the Lemon veered to my right, a rather large Silvertip simultaneously slid over my left shoulder, it doesnt get any better than this, I thought to myself as I settled into my new position behind the shark feeder.
Now on the seabed at 103 feet, I was within touching distance of the giant Tiger shark. I was so close that I had to duck a few times to avoid either a head on collision or a smack from her tail. Scarface fed from Rusis hand several more times as she swam above, beside, and all through our group of divers.
During one pass, the Tiger shark cruised slightly above our heads. She slowly bent down onto one of the video cameras lenses, kissing it with her snout. Slowly, all 15 feet of the shark rose to an almost complete vertical head stand on the cameras dome. I was lucky enough to be right behind the cameraman with an amazing view of this remarkable pose from Scarface. Ill never forget it, a 15 foot long Tiger shark doing a headstand on a video camera!
As usual, our bottom time was up before we were ready to leave. We ascended to The Den and Manasa now began feeding some feisty Blacktips and several smaller White tip reef sharks. I must admit that my mind was still on Scarface, hoping she would return for our second dive.
Back aboard the boat, our group was as excited as we could get. Our first dive in Beqa Lagoon and we had hit the jackpot! A Tiger shark, Bull sharks, Grey reef sharks, Blacktips, Silvertips, a Lemon, and some Whitetip reef sharks. The only shark living in the reserve that we hadnt seen was a Nurse shark! There were seven different species of sharks on one dive, not to mention the over 200 species of fish that engulfed us too.
After an hour-long surface interval, we headed back down, this time to The Takeout. Again the Bull sharks immediately greeted us. They soon kept their distance, and we soon learned why. Scarface was coming back for more! Only minutes into the dive, we were again blessed with the presence of this beautiful Tiger shark, but this time for quite a bit longer.
She cruised slowly over our heads, because as Manasa had told us, she liked the feeling of our bubbles tickling her belly. It is quite a site to watch a 15 foot Tiger shark slide only inches over your head. Scarface fed from Manasas hand several more times during this dive. It is such an amazing site to see a 15-foot behemoth eat so delicately from a humans hand. Many Fijians believe to be protected from sharks by the ancient spirit shark God, Dakuwaqa (pronounced: Dah-koo-wong-gah). After witnessing the interaction between man and beast on this day; I started to wonder if the legends are true.
Dive Day #2-Aqua-Trek
For our second day of shark diving, the Beqa Lagoon Resort dive boat took us to a new site where we met up with Aqua-Trek. Their shark dive site is called Combe Reef. Brandon Paige, the Aqua-Trek Dive-master, briefed us. We were to descend with a buddy to the bottom at 85 feet for 20 minutes. There would be a rope where we would line up at; this isnt to keep the sharks away, just a way to keep all divers together. Aqua-Trek has a different feeding technique than Beqa Adventure Divers; they dump the bait on the floor instead of hand feeding every shark. During the briefing, Brandon told us that the only hand feeding we might see would be if a Tiger shark showed up.
I was one of the first to descend, and also lucky enough to get a seat right in front of the bait box! Just like the day before, the sharks were waiting. At this site the Bulls were much closer to me than the day before. Brandon descended with the bait and began feeding them immediately. As soon as the fish scraps were out of the bin, the Bull sharks began devouring the bait. As I looked around I saw one of the biggest Nurse sharks you could imagine, along with Silvertips, Lemons, and Blacktips.
There is so much marine life on these dives, that a wall of fish often blocks your view! Due to the feeding technique, the visibility can become a little cloudy because all the sharks are scrapping for bait as it lies on the floor. If you are close to the action you also need to be aware of floating fish scraps, you definitely dont want a piece of bait landing on your lap! The shark action was very intense on this dive, but it was about to heat up even more.
I was looking off in the distance, away from the action, when I saw a large silhouette coming in towards us. I was looking to my left when I realized it was a really big Tiger shark coming in fast! As I was turning to my left to keep an eye on the shark, my tank banged the person to my right. I could no longer see the shark as it cruised directly behind me; I quickly turned around so I could look to my right. I watched as the Tiger shark swept down on the group of divers and into the feeding area. No sooner, the Tiger had sped towards the bait box, cut to its left, and was now only inches from my face! It turned upward and slid right over me. It kept circling back through to investigate the group again and again. This shark was on a mission. It wanted to know where the food was!
The dive-master had just dumped the remaining bait onto the floor seconds before the Tiger came in, so we were left empty handed as we faced the hungry predator. It inspected every single diver, wanting to know where the scent it had tracked was coming from. Since there was no food for the hungry shark, the dive-masters gave us the signal to head up. I stayed back to let some of the other divers begin their ascent.
Boomerang, as one diver aptly named this 12-foot female Tiger, kept coming back again and again to investigate us. She was especially interested in the electrical fields emanating from the large strobe lights on the High Definition underwater video cameras. Most of us took our time getting out of the water. This shark was extremely curious, but not aggressive. Let me tell you, it was quite an exhilarating experience watching a 12-foot Tiger shark investigate the entire group of divers as we ascended.
I took roughly 15 minutes to get out of the water from 85 feet deep. I wanted this dive to last as long as possible. As we ascended, we grouped together and enjoyed the moment. At no point did I ever feel like I was about to become this girls lunch, but at the same time, this was one extreme dive. The adrenaline was flowing for sure! Its quite a feeling to be suspended in 50 feet of open water while a Tiger shark is coming straight for you, locked on. Stay still and shell pass within inches, I told myself, and she did, again and again! I wasnt fortunate enough to have a camera on this dive, so there was just water between me and the 12-foot Tiger shark! Soon enough, an Aqua-Trek dive-master re-entered the water with a fresh bait box. Boomerang followed him to the bottom and sank head first into the bait bin devouring every last bit of it.
After an extra long surface interval we re-entered the water. Boomerang was still there waiting for us. We descended to a ledge at 65 feet and watched one heck of a show as Brandon hand fed the Tiger shark repeatedly! It was organized chaos as we were swallowed by thousands of fish, that huge Nurse shark, beautiful Silvertips, Bull sharks, a Tiger shark, and the feeling of living life to the fullest. After the adrenaline rush of the first dive, the second dive was like relaxing in a dream. There were more species of sharks and fish on one dive than most divers see in a lifetime.
On the way back to Beqa Island, about half of our group opted for a drop-off dive. We hopped off the dive boat and had a nice leisurely dive along the reef that leads to the beach at the resort.