Fiji Bucket List Destination

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

on the Siren - the guests were divided into two groups and each group dove a separate site .. so at most we would only have 7 guests + 1 dive guide on each of the sites. the only time we had all guest at the same site was during the shark dive at nigali passage. not sure how they handle night dives with big groups since on my trip only a handful of guest wanted to do night dives so there were only 6-7 guest + 1 dive guide for the night dives.
The Nai'a ran their dive op in a similar manner when I was on board. They had 2 Zodiacs and the divers were dropped off far enough apart that they wouldn't get in the way of the other group but close enough that when you surface either Zodiac could pick you up and take you back to the Nai'a.
 
Astrolabe Reef was in great shape this October. We snorkeled but the divers also said it was great, no bleaching.
 
1. Land based vs Live aboard? We're leaning towards liveaboard.
I just got back from Fiji, 10 days on the Naia. great trip. I have no basis of comparison.
2. Fiji Aggressor? Or is there a better one in the same price range?
I loved the Naia. would have gone for the food alone. it was like being on a cruise ship.
3. Master stateroom? Or is the regular room plenty fine for 2?
Naia has enough room for 2 in each room.
4. When is the best visibility:water tempo ratio? I do not want to be cold in 72 deg water, but I do want primo visibility. May? September? I was in October. water temp was 78-81. 5mm suit. vis was from 50 80 feet on most dives.
5. Will the live aboards take you to see the bull sharks?
They found us, we didn't need to be taken to them.
6. If the boat leaves on a saturday, what day would I need to leave texas? I would like 1-2 days to rid myself of jet lag.
My boat left on a Wednesday, left LA on sunday night. no jet lag problems. (You lose a day crossing the dateline)
 
Thanks! We are thinking around Oct/Nov next year also. Did you feel the 5 mm suit was overkill?
 
Thanks! We are thinking around Oct/Nov next year also. Did you feel the 5 mm suit was overkill?
Only you can answer that question, but that time of year will be their late spring/early summer.
 
Only you can answer that question, but that time of year will be their late spring/early summer.

I could answer that if I had been there, Just wondering if he was too warm or just right... :)
 
I could answer that if I had been there, Just wondering if he was too warm or just right... :)
My apologies. I wasn't trying to be flippant, I was only trying to express that one person might need a 5mm suit when diving in water that another would only use a rash guard & swimsuit. Only you can determine the amount of exposure protection that you will need.

Having said that, this chart is from the Nai'a website and might help out a little:
webgraph-171105.jpg


Based on this, it looks as though the average temps will be in the 78-80F range. Keep in mind that over the week, heat loss will be cumulative what might seem adequate protection at the beginning of the week might leave you a bit chilly by the end of the week.
 
I could answer that if I had been there, Just wondering if he was too warm or just right... :)

I also did Nai'a first week of October this year, 10 day trip. Left Nadi on a Saturday, returned Sunday. Hit Bligh Waters, Namena, Gau and Wakaya. It's my first trip to Fiji, but if you do a trip that skips the Bligh you are missing out. We did it first day and last day (had to divert due to wind but I wasn't complaining), and it is absolutely mind blowing. I've been diving for 20 years around the world, and Maytag / Mellow Yellow are about the best I've ever done. If you do land based out of Raki Raki area you can get to the Bligh waters but it's a looooong trip in a small boat.

Nai'a is a very nice boat, and looking at upcoming prices, you pay for it. Just saying. The crew is absolutely fantastic and the cruise directors (that's what they call them) are currently Vanessa and Chad, diving with Vanessa is amazing. GReat DM. As noted, there's a left and right panga, group is broken up and you dive with the same group over the week. They alternate sites so you see the same things but different times (meaning the other panga might see 12 mantas feeding... which they did and we didn't :( ). But it's also nice to get a "scouting report" of cool things to look for.

My panga only saw other divers in the water once at a place called Humann Nature on the second to last day. the other panga though had a bit of a run in with the Siren folks at Nigali Passage, they were at the ledge watching the sharks, when a Siren boat basically dropped the divers on top of them (Nai'a starts its dive further out and drifts to the ledge). This is the "shark dive" where we saw naturally congregating sharks.... but the Siren folks apparently brought food, and our divers reported that the shark behavior changed dramatically from the other two dives we had done...

I think they all do village visits of some sort.

Water temps - consistent 77-78. I wore a 5 mm for a couple days, felt the cold after a while added a 1mm hooded vest and was fine. My wife wore a 3 mm all 10 days and was fine. Depends.

Jet lag - Fiji Air leaves LAX at 11 ish gets in two days later at 6 am. We spent a week before the boat (Toberua Island Resort - no diving but fantastic place to rest up; and Beqa Lagoon Resort - I'd never go there again....) so jet lag wasn't an issue getting on the boat. You would fly to LAX in the am and leave in the PM two days before whatever day you want to be there. We had friends from all over the country, their trips were verrrrrry long. Ours was relatively short at 11 hours.

Sharks - we saw lots of white tips and black tips, one leopard at Nigali, no bulls off the boat. I think the other panga (again) saw a hammerhead swim by, Did see tigers and bulls at Beqa.

Typhoon damage - There is damage at the top of many pinnacles, but deeper is still very healthy. I hear E6 was totally destroyed so they don't go there any more.

Currents - Variable, but because it's 80% pinnacle diving, can stay in the lee (although most all of the action is on the current side of the bommie, if you can get there). On some sites we sort of zig zagged up the pinnacle staying in the lee the whole time.

One thing Nai'a does that is great (and others may as well) is the dive sites are close to the boat for the most part, so when you come up, many times they will take you back to the boat, then go back out to collect others. Better than sitting on a boat waiting for people with tiny lungs :) All of our dives were over an hour
 
My apologies. I wasn't trying to be flippant

No worries, just wondered about the OPs opinion. I think I could go 3/2 all week like I did in Maui, but who knows...?
 
Toberua Island Resort

Did you like this resort? The place looks great and nice beach...? Did they pick you up at the Suva airport or did yoiu get there another way? Was there a shuttle cost? How long does it take to get there?
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

Back
Top Bottom