Budget diving in Fiji- can it be done?

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copacetic

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Messages
17
Reaction score
4
Location
Cambria, CA
# of dives
50 - 99
I'm currently on a working holiday in Australia. I'll be heading back home to the U.S. in mid-May via Air Fiji and will have a layover in Nadi. I'd like to extend it into a stopover (I'm thinking four or five days) and do some diving since it'll probably be years before I get the chance (read: have enough money) to come back to Fiji.

The thing is, I'll be at the tail end of a seven-month backpacking trip and anticipate being pretty low on cash. I've done a little research into Fiji dive operations and have so far found a lot of expensive resorts and liveaboards. Does anyone have any experience with less pricey dive options in Fiji? Maybe some dive ops that happen to be conveniently located near hostels but that still visit great dive sites? Any suggestions would be appreciated :)
 
Thanks Tjack! I've been asking around and you're now the second person to mention Nananu-i-Ra so I will for sure be looking into it.
 
Bula Copacetic,
Glad to hear you're thinking about spending more time in Fiji, I don't blame you which of course is why I live here. :) You were not mislead by the recommendation of Nananu-I-Ra island which is just opposite our resort at Wananavu. As you mentioned the resorts can be out of a backpacker budget. There are a couple backpackers on Nananu-I-Ra island which are affordable. McDonald's, Betham's Beach Cottages and Charlies Place are a few options and they all have dorms and/or shared accommodations with cooking facilitates to help bring costs down. There is also Safari Lodge but if you read the reviews on TripAdvisor many of them recommend these others.

For diving around this area there are three dive operations which can service Nananu-I-Ra island, Dive Wananavu, Ra Divers and Safari Lodge. Safari Lodge is the budget dive op and it shows in their boats which service the local reef dive site locations (Sailstone Reef). I guess it follows the old adage you get what you pay for. Volivoli and us are priced about the same and service the outer dive sites (Dive Wananavu only need two divers to reach the furthest sites in the Vatu-I-Ra area which put this area on the map for diving).

If you have your own equipment (ie BCD, reg,...) then you can save a little bit of money by prebooking and prepaying your dives if you choose to dive with us. If you need to rent those pieces then our price is the same to book on-site or prepay once the rental fees are added in. (Scubaboard doesn't let us publish our prices but if you PM me I can give you more info.) We dive the further out dive sites unless the weather says we can't.

Now the backpacker setting on Nananu-I-Ra is really laid back. Don't expect large parties etc. If you're looking for bigger, better then the Yasawa islands and Mamanuca islands, which are a water taxi from Nadi area, also have a lot of backpacker accommodations with some nice diving. Not as world class as the Bligh Water off Nananu-i-ra but nice diving.

Hopefully this helps give you a better idea of some areas to look at for your extended stay in Fiji. Good luck with your trip and please let us know if we can be of any help.

Cheers,
Chris
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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