Bula! All I can say is Fiji is absolutely the most beautiful, the clearest, and the warmest place I have ever been. If you only had a choice of one dive spot, make it Fiji. You will not regret it. A group of us went to Fiji on a church mission trip. A very remote community needed helped to build bungalows for a summer camp sponsored by the local church. Many of us didn’t even hesitate to raise our hand to help. I mean, this is Fiji we are talking about. If you have not been there, or even seen pictures, here is a glimpse of what you might see.
Our group went in July, which is Fiji’s winter, so the warm weather was much enjoyed without being overheated. The air was fresh, the islands peaceful, and the people were definitely the friendliest that you will find in all of the earth. In my travels, I usually go to one place, then am ready to move on to the next, wanting to see as much of the world as possible. Fiji is that one place that I would definitely visit again and again.
THE RESORT
After the mission trip was over, the group had already planned to stay a few extra days as down time before heading back home. A few less decided to go SCUBA diving. For the most relaxing getaway, I recommend a wonderful resort named Club Fiji which had its own Fijian flavor restaurant and bar, serving generous portions of food and drink. The totally timber resort sits right on the Nadi Bay beach where you can horseback ride, enjoy a beachfront massage, or engage in several non-motorized water activities. Everything (except your room) is in the outdoors with a thatched roof, so you can feel the warm breeze and breathe the fresh air at all times. The rooms were small double-sided bures (cottages), which held 2-3 people very comfortably, each with its own bath, refrigerator, and coffee/tea maker. The sounds at night were of birds and waves. No traffic, no stress, and no worries (which became my mantra).
Club Fiji is easy to get to from the airport, as it is less than 5 miles from the Nadi Airport and less than 3 miles from the downtown area (but since I am a runner/walker, easily walked too as well). Taxis are readily available and fairly inexpensive. The downtown area was full of shops from souvenir type shops to full scale retail stores to specialty stores. The resort can arrange a ride for you and are happy to do so. There is also a travel agent there helping with any excursion you might want to partake in – skydiving, hiking, waterfalls, farmer’s markets, and of course, diving. For those of you who can’t handle the disconnect from the electronic world, downtown Nadi had an Internet Café or two, but I was glad not to use it.
THE DIVE SHOP
Taveuni – I recommend the dive shop at the Garden Island Resort Taveuni. The shop was small, but had all the necessities for equipment rental; not much on buying extra gear or accessories. The dive boat was small with just about 5 or so other travelers on it, but made for a very intimate setting, which was most enjoyed. The dive masters were even more enjoyable. They were friendly and so much fun to hang out with on the dives.
Nadi Bay – For the life of me, I can’t remember the name, but do remember the shop had all the equipment needed. I found that the dive masters in Taveuni were much friendlier than the ones here (and if I ever remember, I will post it).
THE DIVES
The first two dives were in Taveuni, nearby a remote village on the island of Vita Levu. You can hire a boat to take you to Taveuni. If diving is not your thing, you might enjoy the Waitavala Waterslide and waterfalls, a natural waterslide in a rainforest setting. Taveuni is the more populated and touristy island of Fiji. The resorts are bigger and geared towards the tourist, so of course, think of price when you book your vacation to Fiji. Taveuni does have its own airport, so you can fly directly there.
In order to best describe the dives, imagine being in the film “Finding Nemo”. If you have ever seen that movie, then you have seen the under waters of Fiji. I literally swam with Nemo, and Dori, Gill, and Crush, or at least a family member of each. I couldn’t believe all the colors and variety of fish that I saw. I know the number one rule in diving is not to hold your breath, but it was all I could do to breathe in all the amazement of marine life.
The first dive lasted a glorious 45 minutes exploring The Ledge at 66 feet which has brilliant colors of fish like triggerfish, bannerfish, angelfish, and butterfly fish with many colors of basslets, wrasse, and damsel fish. The depth did not comprise color or clarity as the visibility was over 100 feet. I also had a bonus of seeing a soft coral (of the Family Alcyoniidae), that when touched turned a different color; simply amazing. I truly enjoyed this dive with little current and much to explore.
The second dive at Jerry’s Jelly was even more brilliant, if there was such a thing. At 60 feet, I received another bonus of seeing a coral actually “disappear” when touched (shrinking inside their tubes really quickly). How much amazement can one person handle? I was delightfully overwhelmed with all the beauty. Also in view was a few white-tip sharks, a moray eel, the “Nemo Gang”, and various colors of common sea fans ranging from purple to deep burgundy with many oranges and reds all around.
The second two dives were in Nadi Bay near Club Fiji. After the dive, I was conveniently dropped off right in front of my room at the resort. Only had to walk a few feet in the water to get to shore. That was a special treat.
The third dive went to the Tavarua Wall which took me down 70 feet along all the while just drifting the entire dive. No color or clarity was lost in the drift. On this dive, I could see beyond 100+ feet. The “now usual” Nemo Gang was hanging out, plus an orange-spine unicornfish and a humphead bannerfish. After drifting for 35 minutes (kind of a short dive – still with 1200psi in my tank) I surfaced over 600 feet from our boat, but thankfully the boat came around to pick me up, so need to swim to it. So nice just relaxing on top in such a gorgeous, sunny body of water.
The last dive was to Wilke’s Passage, which was named after a U.S. Navy Captain Charles Wilke’s, who explored the South Pacific. The area is also known as the Fish Market and that becomes apparent once you descend down the 50 feet to the bottom. I felt like I was in the fish’s way, as everywhere you turned were schools upon schools of fish. Emperor angelfish, masked bannerfish, and trumpetfish were plentiful. I was as happy as a kid in a candy store (that’s about the only way I know to describe it).
I enjoyed every bit of this trip. The diving was great, the people were greater, and the peace felt after being there, disconnected from all other parts of the world, was simply unmatched by any other place that I have traveled. “No worries” became a lifestyle, not just a phrase. The only warning I can give you about Fiji is beware of the Kava. That is for another time!!
Go where you want, when you want, for as long as you want:
Alli L
For all the photos, go to @TheSoloTraveler50 on Facebook