Beqa Lagoon Resort--August or January?

[mattandjoanna]

My wife and I have paid for seven nights at the Beqa Lagoon Resort and are SO excited about the diving and culture of the island. We are both relatively new divers, with twenty dives under our belt, including mexico, the caribbean, and the blue hole in belize.

We live in Iowa and are trying to decide when to visit Beqa--either in August of 2008 or January, 2009. Our hesitation of going in August is because it is nice to leave the subzero temperatures in January. Another possibility is going in March, 2009.

We've heard that the diving and climate is better during Fiji's winter (our summer), so we are trying to make an informed decision.

Any recommendations?

 

[Papa_Bear]

I have been in July, November, and December. Dec, Jan, & Feb are Cyclone season and it can be hit or miss? July is their winter and can be rainy or windy! It is a crap shoot into a one week window in the tropics? I like late November it has been good to us and it is late Spring. Here are pictures and video of Beqa where I am A Ratu. You will have a great time! Get a hold of a Grounds keeper named Amos and tell him Ratu Reed said to take care of you, for a small charge to cover expenses he will prepare a Lovo for you and your group! Fijian Bar-B-Q at his cousins house. It will be the best you have ever eaten! No shoes in a fijian house as well as no hats in the village, no back packs on your back, and when you stop at Jacks go around the corner to the Market and get a small bundle of Kava Root or Savue Savue as a gift for the village Ratu in Rakua! Then you will be welcome in any village on Beqa! Take school supplies and baby clothes as well!

Two Tanked Productions HD & SD Underwater Productions and video services

Two Tanked Productions HD & SD Underwater Productions and video services

 

[melbar]

its winter in the souther hemisphere, august is the windiest month with often rough seas, if you unliky it can drizzle for a week, the water temp is the lowest, If your BMI is low take a 5mm suit but viz is often very good.
hight of summer , jan-march is usually very calm, hot and humid with short but heavy eavening showers, water is nice and warm viz is lower than in winter.
considering your experience of 20 dives or so and first visit to fiji, diving will blow you away, i would recommend fiji summer

 

[Trixxie]

so would april - may be like your 'fall'?

Don't want hot and humid but also don't want windy rough seas either.

We're also looking for a good time to go.

Thanks!!

 

[melbar]

april, like fall??? sort of. the seasons change, water temp starts droping, april-may is not so hot and humid anymore as the hight of summer, some days can be overcast and rainy. but this years april was nice, lots of sun, hot and more humid than usuall.

today was sunny, windy and seas were choppy, about 15 knots wind, outside reef 5 foot swell, viz was 30m+, water temp 26C, dives were great, i was cold on both dives today, but I am used to warm water, miss the calm warm summer allready.

 

[BlueDevil]

While it will be cooler in August it does have the advantage of avoiding the cyclone season. I had a trip to Fiji in March and was unlucky enough to get hit by a cyclone - it is a pity to pay all that money for a dive holiday and then not be able to dive! April onwards should be quite safe. Most of my trips have been late June/early July and mostly the weather has been quite okay. I was at Beqa last July and the weather was great the whole time.

 

[ronski101]

we were there is Feb last year and were a bit disapointed. Visibility was poor compared to the caribbean. Water a bit cooler than anticipated. Marine life was less than expected. Food was great but only if you eat like a bird. Loved the accommodations and plunge pool, fellow divers, and locals.

 

[ScubaSista]

As an annual visitor to BLR each June, I can say that I do like that time of year! The water temp is 79 degrees and the resort managers tell us that June and July are their dryest months on that small island. Beqa Island is a very wet place year round. Vis is also better in their winter (now-ish). I think if I went in their summer, I might burst into flames from the heat. I visited Fiji in March one year and it was hot hot hot!

Just know that whenever you decide to go, you will have a marvelous time, rain or shine. The local Fijians are what really seals the deal!

 

[Papa_Bear]

It is the tropics! That said, We have been all around the orbit, but find November and December to our liking! Like our late spring and early summer, not the "Dog Days" later in the year!

 

[Hoomi]

My wife and I have booked with an excursion in February, 2010, which happens to be our 30th wedding anniversary month. Weather is always a crap-shoot, but we're already looking forward to it.