If you want to be assured that you will be diving Viti-Ra-Passage as many dive days as possible when in the Bligh Waters area, you must reserve your stay with Volivoli Beach Resort/Ra Divers. They've also instituted a new policy that will be in effect during this new period in their development where they are exclusively servicing their own resort guests. If you are not part of a group, you do not have to ask around the resort to come up with minimum of 6 divers who all want to go out to dive the Passage. Ra Divers will take you out for an all day Passage dive day provided others on the boat want to do the same long dive day. If there are over 6 divers in residence during your stay, no problem getting Ra Divers to take the boat out to the Passage with just your standard daily 2-tank boat dive package. Point is, Ra Divers is hell bent to get you out to do Passage diving no matter whether you are an individual traveler or a group.
I have to seriously wonder about yous assertions. Apparently they had some probelms doing it at Wannavu just a month or so back.
Here's a report I recently received from an acquaintance:
"Although this relates to Ra Divers when they were at Wannanavu, almost immediately after I departed they moved next door to Volivoli. During the 4 dive days I was there we made it to Bligh Waters exactly zero times (despite myriad assurances that of course there would be trips when I phoned several times before my reservation).
While I was there all of the following conditions had to be met for a trip to be considered:
- no new arrivals to the resort on board the boat
- at least 6 divers on the boat
- all divers interested in the Bligh Waters
- amenable weather conditions
It's not easy getting all of these conditions to happen at the same time if you are not bringing a ready-made group, so in the time I was there, despite repeated requests, no Bligh trips were made. If any one of these doesn't happen, even if the other 3 conditions are met, you may not end up diving where you hoped. The most frustrating day we had 6 on board and the only 3 new arrivals were professional marine biologists on break from FT jobs in remote Vanua Levu (northern Fiji). Despite pleas the boat would still not go to the Bligh Waters. Another day there were glass calm seas and all divers interested - but we were 5 not 6.
What, specifically, has changed?
Thanks,
DocVikingo
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