My wife and I were in the Mamanucca Islands in early June 2004.
We had spent a week on Taveuni just prior to that. We didn't get much diving in because there was torrential rain and wind in that area for most of the time we were in Taveuni. The day we left, the water was lake calm.
Chartered a crewed 50' sailboat for $350 per person per day for about a week out of Nadi via the Internet. We sailed up into the Mamanuccas and around. We didn't get too far out but went to Musket Cove and Mana Island. We'd sail around and hook up with the resort dive operations for diving. We'd go ashore and set up reservations and they would stop by our boat on the way out to the dive. 2 dives in the morning and 2 in the afternoon. Musket Cove was nice and the dive operation was decent. In opposition to most of our Fiji experience, the divemasters weren't friendly initially but on the second dive we were friends.
Mana Island was much better and had some great diving. It is a Japanese resort and we've found Japanese tourists to be some of the best in the world. Nearly always friendly and polite and enthusiastic. We brought our own gear and I saw failures in the rental gear cutting dives short. On one dive, a Japanese man and his scared wife were diving with us in a small group of 6 people. Only 10 minutes into the dive, the husband had to surface due to rental BCD problems. He motioned the wife to stay. I knew she was alone so I motioned for her to join my wife and I. We watched out for each other and had an amazing dive. Sharks, many big moray eels which came out and free swam around with us, lots of fish, colors of all kinds. That was Gotham City I believe. We also dove Supermarket where we saw many sharks and wrasse and schools of barracuda and other large fish.
If you've been all over the world, then this may not be the end all be all, but we really enjoyed it. All of the crew was always friendly and had a hearty Bula! to say. Out experience in Fiji was 90% very friendly smiling saying hello and 10% sullen saying nothing.
I can't emphasize how nice the sailboat was as well with your personal Fijian cook, the captain taking you where you want to go, coming back from your dive to prepared lunch, swimming in the lagoon. The weather didn't cooperate all the time, but it was an awesome experience.
winedog:
Hello All,
I have heard the Mamanuca group is excellent for diving, yet I have seen almost no trip reports on these islands. Planning a trip to Fiji in late May and wondering where I should go.
Looking to get good diving, but don't want to spend a fortune on liveaboards either.
Also, where are the best spots in Fiji to see pelagics?
