Vanuatu or Fiji?

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zebrax0r

Registered
Messages
18
Reaction score
0
Location
Australia
# of dives
25 - 49
Hi all.

We're "local" to Vanuatu and Fiji, being Australian's. Last year, we did Indonesia (Pulau Weh, Manado/Bunaken et al) and the year before, we did Malaysia (Borneo - Sipadan, Bunaken, Mabul etc). In the mean time - we've jumped around the East coast of Australia wherever we've had the time.

This time, we're looking at Fiji or Vanuatu, for something different - but (semi) local. We like all kinds of diving in general. Macro, wreck, wall/pinacle style stuff, and of course drift diving. We're not particularly inexperienced or experienced. Have around ~80 dives in our log books, with PADI Advanced OpenWater certs. We're planning on getting our deep+Nitrox cert or maybe deep+wreck cert this September, before we head off to the Islands.

So - I guess the question is, where do people really rate and recommend in Fiji? What about Vanuatu? Where did people prefer, who've been to both places? +ve's and -ve's of both?

Interested in overall opinions.

Thanks all :)

z
 
Hi.

I have only done 2 overseas trips so far diving.

1 to Hideaway island in Vanuatu and we had a ball. I finished OW cert there and we dived a lot. Most sites within 10 mins of the island which is great. Good food, accomodation a little tired but clean and functional and the staff couldn't be better. We had a lot of fun and the snorkelling next to the coral beach is amazing.

the other was to Beqa Lagoon resort last November. We had an absolute blast at BLR. Did a lot of dives over a week. Everyone gets assigned a boat for the duration of their stay and your boat gets a big table at mealtime. Food is excellent, my first time diving soft corals and they were awesome. Also a couple of wrecks close by and of course the optional extra of the Shark Dive!!!

Search SB for Saspotato's excellent review of the resort.

I don't think you'd be disapointed with either destination really so why not flip a coin and do one this time and the other the next! :D
 
I have been to Fiji but not Vanuatu. The diving in Fiji in the Taveuni area sounds like it would fit the bill for walls/pinnacles and drift dives. The Somosomo straits have both with the White Wall being the star attraction. Nearby around Matangi, Qamea, and Laucala are Yellow and Noel’s walls with the mount on top and between them (The Edge site). The latter were my favorites as they were more vertical and deeper walls in addition to large quantities of fish and corals (hard and soft). At the time I did not spend much time looking for macro life because I was too excited seeing what was around the next corner. I did get some blue ribbon eel photos though.

When I was there during April there was a surge present in addition to the current in most places except Yellow and Noel’s walls. I can’t say if the surge was due to the time of year or tidal action.
There was only one broken down wooden wreck that I saw, and no others that I heard of, in the area but you should research that to be sure.

You didn’t mention if you wanted land based or liveaboard. My stay in the area was land based. More remote sites and more diving would be accomplished via liveaboard.
The area is more remote but Taveuni and the surrounding islands are well populated and all usual services were available.

You also did not mention cost as there is a full range available landbased from lower cost to outrageous. Laucala resort I hear starts at $3800 USD/residence/day to USD $35,000/residence/day. However there are low cost places available on Taveuni and those in between.

A downside to the islands near Taveuni is the travel time. I would guess you would arrive in Nadi, Viti Levu, then fly to Taveuni and then if staying on another island, a boat is probably the only option. I would check out this same section on Scubaboard for specifics on Fiji locations and resorts. Everyone has their favorite. Additionally, the inter-island air carriers do have weight limits with significant charges. However we did not get charged as the planes were not full but I wouldn’t expect no charges as they took our heavier bags with a nod.

My overall opinion is that my wife and I thought Fiji was fantastic - topside and diving. I would definitely do it again over Caribbean locations (once I can pay for it again).

I did briefly check out Vanuatu. It looks great. You have quite a dilemma. I wish I had that problem.
 
@ BB1 - ah, another Brisvegas person! We're on the south side of town. Questions for you. Did you find at any point, you really needed deep certs, or different certs (wreck et al) to do the dives safely, or was it by and large shallow/safe stuff?

@ ColoDale: We're very much bare bones travelers. Been all over the planet on a dime. I think we'd take the budget route. Travel organisation, I'm told, is a bit difficult. Did you find it hard to organise things remotely?

Thanks guys.

z
 
So.... zebrax0r is my husband (and therefore automatic dive buddy). The decision I've made- being the planner of these things- is Vanuatu this time, Fiji next time. The only thing that has really split them for me is that we will be going in November. From what I've read, that time of year is when the tiger sharks take off for breeding season, and I wouldn't want to do Fiji without doing Beqa and giving ourselves best chance at seeing all the locals!
Any favourite places in Vanuatu, especially on a less than deluxe budget, would be much appreciated.
Ta!
 
Organizing it was fairly simple. At first we communicated with the place we stayed and they answered our questions. We looked at reviews that we could find and talked to travel agents who had been there. The only hard part was pulling the trigger once we decided to go ($ wise).
Normally we book our travel on our own but this time we let a travel agent do it. The flights are easy to do by ourselves or travel agent. I have to believe that major air carriers fly from Australia to Nadi, Fiji on a regular basis. The hotel/resort/rental property could be easy or hard depending on what kind of people they are i.e. responsive, responsible, etc. Ours were very cooperative.
They way you do things sounds like the way we mostly do things in the Caribbean. Ours is last minute, cheaper, booked by us via internet and phone calls and is driven mostly by airfare prices.
However, if you go far off the beaten path, who knows what you'll get. Having worked and traveled in South America and Africa, sometimes the promises are not even close to reality. At that point, I just had to roll with it, chalk it up to new experience and move on.
 
@ BB1 - ah, another Brisvegas person! We're on the south side of town. Questions for you. Did you find at any point, you really needed deep certs, or different certs (wreck et al) to do the dives safely, or was it by and large shallow/safe stuff?
Thanks guys.

Hi,

We're westies! Nice to see some friendly Brissie people on here.

We are both PADI advanced and didn't find we needed any of those extras for either country.

The wrecks in Beqa lagoon we just covered the outside of them and there was plenty to see.

In Vanuatu, if you're doing Santo then IMHO I think at least a deep or extended range cert would be a definite and maybe a wreck cert to really know what you're doing. All I've read about Santo sounds like its an accident waiting to happen for some divers.

Hideaway island though is awesome fun, nothing to deep. Deepest dive we did was 27m when doing our wreck/deep dive for advanced cert. Lots of fun dives in moderate depths with swim throughs and all sorts.

This link has some info about there: Hideaway dive sites

If you're there in Nov we might end up bumping into each other - I'm on Hideaway from 3rd to the 13th - can't wait.........
 
Hi,
We're westies! Nice to see some friendly Brissie people on here.

Heh. Cool. We'll meet in the middle at Indro one day! Do you go to the Nautilus or ProDive/GoDive meets/evenings?

We are both PADI advanced and didn't find we needed any of those extras for either country.

OK. That is pretty comforting, actually.

The wrecks in Beqa lagoon we just covered the outside of them and there was plenty to see.

I'll get to finally use my underwater housing...

In Vanuatu, if you're doing Santo then IMHO I think at least a deep or extended range cert would be a definite and maybe a wreck cert to really know what you're doing. All I've read about Santo sounds like its an accident waiting to happen for some divers.

This is really interesting. When we did our OpenWater Advanced cert, we went out with a guy who was just tagging along for pleasure diving. Not old - was only ~20. He was telling us about his trip to Vanuatu. He mentioned Santo and the SS President Coolidge. We were really interested by it. What he told us scared the stuffing out of us, though. Basically, he was just an Open Water diver, with a few dives under his belt. Was cocky and confident. Was in actuality, a very comfortable diver - but that doesn't mean a safe or good one! Anyway - he told us about the way the dives were run out there. Apparently the DM's were all carrying pony bottles, and he was down near 70m, in full deco for quite some time. It really scared us.

Hideaway island though is awesome fun, nothing to deep. Deepest dive we did was 27m when doing our wreck/deep dive for advanced cert. Lots of fun dives in moderate depths with swim throughs and all sorts.

So awesome. Noted. Thanks for that.

This link has some info about there: Hideaway dive sites

If you're there in Nov we might end up bumping into each other - I'm on Hideaway from 3rd to the 13th - can't wait.........

Ha! Sweet. We might just see you dude...

z
 
We occasionally go to Nautilus evenings but more often to Unidive these days - can swing by Nautilus one night though...

Lots to photograph in Beqa lagoon - good DM's who spot all sorts on good stuff to.

Speaking for myself onyl, I wouldn't want to do the Coolidge without a Twinset on my back and would pay extra if needed for that. I'd also be trained to a higher level than I am now!

Nov trip is out 10th Anniversary - wife has no idea we're even going yet - TOP SECRET!! :crafty:

Going to be lots of us there - more the merrier I say!
 
Hi Z,

Lucky you have such great places for your backyards.

From my experience of doing Vanuatu and Fiji, my highlights are:

Fiji
Beqa Lagoon for the Sharks and the other wonderful marine life.

Vanuatu
The Coolidge Wreck on the Island of Santos (a 200 metre WWII wreck that is absolutely amazing). When I dived there, both the operators on the island conducted dives on air/single tanks and divers of all levels were diving the wreck.

Hope you have a good one whatever you choose.

L
 

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