Kevster
Contributor
Vanuatu Fiji Trip Report Jun 09
Flights Baku-Dubai-Singapore-Brisbane-Port Villa-Santos-PV-Tanna-PV-Nadi-Brisbane-Singapore-Dubai-Baku.
No problems with flights (Emirates/Singapore airlines, Air Vanuatu, Virgin Blue, Air Pacific) or excess baggage. I had approx 25 kg checked in & 12 kgs carry on. Virgin blue was the only operator to charge excess.
Had a quick stop over in Singapore for a couple of nights. Stayed in Orchard Hotel that was ok but would not stay there again. Singapore was really expensive; a beer was $17 SGD at Clark Quay!!
Santos
Eventually arrived in Santos and was transferred to Deco Stop.I stayed 5 nights at Deco stop. Its is a nice resort with great view. Rooms were comfortable with fan. Its approx 10 min walk to the main high street in Santos. Santos is a small place with 1 main road with a few shops & places to eat. Food at Deco stop was nice. Tucked into Lobster a few times (only $30!!!) . The other good thing was they had dive storage/wash facilities. At the end of each day we took our kit back to Deco stop to wash & store as the dive op is really Allans house & had no wash facilities. .Would definitely recommend deco stop for accom in Santos. It was a sociable place for divers.(Thanks FPDC).
The Diving
The SS President Coolidge was the reason I made the long trek to Vanuatu. The massive ship 654' was sunk just off the beach when it hit a mine in 1942. The wreck is accessable from the shore. I dove with Allan Power divers. Every morning we were picked up around 8.30 and transported straight to the kitting up area on the beach (Approx 10 min drive out of the main town). After a quick brief it was time for the introduction dive. I should state here that the diving is deep & short.
I maxed out at 47m during my 6 dives, but others were hitting 60+m. After the morning dives everyone went back to Allans house for some drinks before heading back to our accom for lunch. Afternoon pick up was at 14.30.
Kitting Up Area
Each dive Op has there own section of beach area to access the wreck. Allan Powers has built a reef in the shallows in his section which was nice to check out during the long safety stops. Sea snake, porcelain crabs, mantis shrimp & 3 different clown fish were a few of the highlights I saw in the reef at 3-5 m. I have been told that Allan powers has created the best reef?
View From Beach
Due to the extreme depth , only 2 dives per day . Generally 20 -25 mins max on the wreck. The wreck lies between 20- 70 m. During four of my dives I went into deco, with a max deco time of approx 13 mins. Ponies, doubles were available on request. Water temp was 27 C and viss was a bit disappointing, around 10-15 m.
I done 6 dives on the wreck
1. Introduction Dive (max Depth 31 m). Bow section, cargo holds, 3 gun. No penetration.
Bow- Ship lies on side
2. The Lady (Max Depth 40 m). The famous figurine, jeeps,truks in hold.
3. Engine Room ( Max depth 47 m)
4. Medical supplies (Max depth 32 m) Best dive. Huge corridors with natural light.
5 General tour (Max Depth 41 m)
Jeep in Hold 1/2
6.Ghost Train (Max Depth 45 m)-Toilets, sinks ,guns, general artifacts
Bow 3" Gun
Unfortunately the wreck is starting to deteriorate. The bridge & promenade deck have collapsed and are no longer dive able.
There are a few other sites to dive. I only dived the Coolidge. I regret not diving million dollar pt. I must say the diving was great. Really exciting. The wreck is huge and fun to explore. It is definitely as good as Chuuk.
Photography was really difficult. The poor viss, lots of silt, confined spaces, lack of natural light and the depth did not help. My Canon P&S housing happily made it past 45m!! I would recommend at least a week here as there are so many interesting things to see on the wreck. I was informed the viss improves when its windy. Also Jul-Oct is high season as itÃÔ less humid.
Tanna
Next stop was Tanna. Tanna is a small island located in the South of Vanuatu. It is off the beaten path but the attraction is that it has a very active volcano. Tanna reminded me of the movie 1 million years BC. I stayed at White grass resort for 3 nights. I must say that I was HUGELY impressed with the resort. It was really beautiful. It is no exaggeration to say this is one of the nicest places I have ever visited. I would definitely recommend a long stay here. The accom, gardens , views, facilities were amazing. A real south pacific paradise.
View From White Grass resort
Was also great snorkelling in front of the resort. Fantastic hard corals. Would be a great spot to dive.
Reef in front of resort
Tanna volcano was AMAZING. Unfortunately its 2.5 hrs on a very bumpy road from the white grass resort.
Tanna Vol
I would definitely recommend staying at the budget accom as close as possible to the vol for a few nights incase of rain /clouds then a few days at white grass resort to relax.
After 3 great days at Tanna I flew on to Nadi .
Fiji
7 nights at Uprising beach resort. 10 Dives with B.A.D.(8 Shark dives)
Uprising was an ok beach resort, but food was very average to poor. I had a beach bure that was impressive. There were a lot of backpackers staying in the dorms. Pacific harbour was a 2.5 hr drive from Nadi airport. Overall not a bad place to chill for a week.
Diving- I came to Fiji, the soft coral capital of the world for the sharks. The 2 dive operations chum & feed the sharks. Weather was nice, pleasant during the day a bit cool at night. Water temp 27 C and decent viss, approx 15 m. The dives were excellent. So exciting (and scary!). The morning dive was at 30 m, everyone sitting behind a rock wall in front of the chum/food basket. Several bulls (2-3m) & reef sharks. After 20 mins or so there was another feed at 10m. A few black tips , white tips & reef sharks. Then another feed at 3m. The 2nd dive was at 15 m and is the main shark dive. This was more of a hand feeding event rather than a free for all like the 1st dive. There were more bull sharks (Approx 20 bulls) and SCARFACE made an appearance.
4m Tiger Shark
The moment the 4 m tiger showed up was a highlight in all my diving experience, something I will never forget. The bulls would make a pass & either get fed or swim off to make another pass. The tiger seemed to linger at the shark feeder/guide. I must admit I was worried when the tiger took a keen interest with the guide/feeder. The tiger had just recently returned to Fiji after being away for 5 months. The tiger showed up on 1 of my 8 shark dives. The best position for photographers always seemed to be at the far right of the wall. The sharks would come from the left. The only annoying thing was the amount of fish life that would swarm around the chum bucket making it difficult to get clear photos of the sharks. The 2 reef dives were also very good (I should have done more reef dives rather than 8 shark dives). Lots of soft coral.
Overall the diving was probably better in Fiji but topside Vanuatu was miles better.
Summary
Vanuatu was great . Really friendly place with amazing stuff to see above & below water. I regret not staying longer. Tanna is a must see. Tanna alone was worth the 2 days of travelling to get too Vanuatu. I will not forget my 1st encounter with the Tiger at Fiji.
Overall this was the best dive trip I have done.
Flights Baku-Dubai-Singapore-Brisbane-Port Villa-Santos-PV-Tanna-PV-Nadi-Brisbane-Singapore-Dubai-Baku.
No problems with flights (Emirates/Singapore airlines, Air Vanuatu, Virgin Blue, Air Pacific) or excess baggage. I had approx 25 kg checked in & 12 kgs carry on. Virgin blue was the only operator to charge excess.
Had a quick stop over in Singapore for a couple of nights. Stayed in Orchard Hotel that was ok but would not stay there again. Singapore was really expensive; a beer was $17 SGD at Clark Quay!!
Santos
Eventually arrived in Santos and was transferred to Deco Stop.I stayed 5 nights at Deco stop. Its is a nice resort with great view. Rooms were comfortable with fan. Its approx 10 min walk to the main high street in Santos. Santos is a small place with 1 main road with a few shops & places to eat. Food at Deco stop was nice. Tucked into Lobster a few times (only $30!!!) . The other good thing was they had dive storage/wash facilities. At the end of each day we took our kit back to Deco stop to wash & store as the dive op is really Allans house & had no wash facilities. .Would definitely recommend deco stop for accom in Santos. It was a sociable place for divers.(Thanks FPDC).
The Diving
The SS President Coolidge was the reason I made the long trek to Vanuatu. The massive ship 654' was sunk just off the beach when it hit a mine in 1942. The wreck is accessable from the shore. I dove with Allan Power divers. Every morning we were picked up around 8.30 and transported straight to the kitting up area on the beach (Approx 10 min drive out of the main town). After a quick brief it was time for the introduction dive. I should state here that the diving is deep & short.
I maxed out at 47m during my 6 dives, but others were hitting 60+m. After the morning dives everyone went back to Allans house for some drinks before heading back to our accom for lunch. Afternoon pick up was at 14.30.
Kitting Up Area
Each dive Op has there own section of beach area to access the wreck. Allan Powers has built a reef in the shallows in his section which was nice to check out during the long safety stops. Sea snake, porcelain crabs, mantis shrimp & 3 different clown fish were a few of the highlights I saw in the reef at 3-5 m. I have been told that Allan powers has created the best reef?
View From Beach
Due to the extreme depth , only 2 dives per day . Generally 20 -25 mins max on the wreck. The wreck lies between 20- 70 m. During four of my dives I went into deco, with a max deco time of approx 13 mins. Ponies, doubles were available on request. Water temp was 27 C and viss was a bit disappointing, around 10-15 m.
I done 6 dives on the wreck
1. Introduction Dive (max Depth 31 m). Bow section, cargo holds, 3 gun. No penetration.
Bow- Ship lies on side
2. The Lady (Max Depth 40 m). The famous figurine, jeeps,truks in hold.
3. Engine Room ( Max depth 47 m)
4. Medical supplies (Max depth 32 m) Best dive. Huge corridors with natural light.
5 General tour (Max Depth 41 m)
Jeep in Hold 1/2
6.Ghost Train (Max Depth 45 m)-Toilets, sinks ,guns, general artifacts
Bow 3" Gun
Unfortunately the wreck is starting to deteriorate. The bridge & promenade deck have collapsed and are no longer dive able.
There are a few other sites to dive. I only dived the Coolidge. I regret not diving million dollar pt. I must say the diving was great. Really exciting. The wreck is huge and fun to explore. It is definitely as good as Chuuk.
Photography was really difficult. The poor viss, lots of silt, confined spaces, lack of natural light and the depth did not help. My Canon P&S housing happily made it past 45m!! I would recommend at least a week here as there are so many interesting things to see on the wreck. I was informed the viss improves when its windy. Also Jul-Oct is high season as itÃÔ less humid.
Tanna
Next stop was Tanna. Tanna is a small island located in the South of Vanuatu. It is off the beaten path but the attraction is that it has a very active volcano. Tanna reminded me of the movie 1 million years BC. I stayed at White grass resort for 3 nights. I must say that I was HUGELY impressed with the resort. It was really beautiful. It is no exaggeration to say this is one of the nicest places I have ever visited. I would definitely recommend a long stay here. The accom, gardens , views, facilities were amazing. A real south pacific paradise.
View From White Grass resort
Was also great snorkelling in front of the resort. Fantastic hard corals. Would be a great spot to dive.
Reef in front of resort
Tanna volcano was AMAZING. Unfortunately its 2.5 hrs on a very bumpy road from the white grass resort.
Tanna Vol
I would definitely recommend staying at the budget accom as close as possible to the vol for a few nights incase of rain /clouds then a few days at white grass resort to relax.
After 3 great days at Tanna I flew on to Nadi .
Fiji
7 nights at Uprising beach resort. 10 Dives with B.A.D.(8 Shark dives)
Uprising was an ok beach resort, but food was very average to poor. I had a beach bure that was impressive. There were a lot of backpackers staying in the dorms. Pacific harbour was a 2.5 hr drive from Nadi airport. Overall not a bad place to chill for a week.
Diving- I came to Fiji, the soft coral capital of the world for the sharks. The 2 dive operations chum & feed the sharks. Weather was nice, pleasant during the day a bit cool at night. Water temp 27 C and decent viss, approx 15 m. The dives were excellent. So exciting (and scary!). The morning dive was at 30 m, everyone sitting behind a rock wall in front of the chum/food basket. Several bulls (2-3m) & reef sharks. After 20 mins or so there was another feed at 10m. A few black tips , white tips & reef sharks. Then another feed at 3m. The 2nd dive was at 15 m and is the main shark dive. This was more of a hand feeding event rather than a free for all like the 1st dive. There were more bull sharks (Approx 20 bulls) and SCARFACE made an appearance.
4m Tiger Shark
The moment the 4 m tiger showed up was a highlight in all my diving experience, something I will never forget. The bulls would make a pass & either get fed or swim off to make another pass. The tiger seemed to linger at the shark feeder/guide. I must admit I was worried when the tiger took a keen interest with the guide/feeder. The tiger had just recently returned to Fiji after being away for 5 months. The tiger showed up on 1 of my 8 shark dives. The best position for photographers always seemed to be at the far right of the wall. The sharks would come from the left. The only annoying thing was the amount of fish life that would swarm around the chum bucket making it difficult to get clear photos of the sharks. The 2 reef dives were also very good (I should have done more reef dives rather than 8 shark dives). Lots of soft coral.
Overall the diving was probably better in Fiji but topside Vanuatu was miles better.
Summary
Vanuatu was great . Really friendly place with amazing stuff to see above & below water. I regret not staying longer. Tanna is a must see. Tanna alone was worth the 2 days of travelling to get too Vanuatu. I will not forget my 1st encounter with the Tiger at Fiji.
Overall this was the best dive trip I have done.
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