Fiji it is, but where...

[Hodge Podge]

I just got back from BLR and to date it is the best diving I have done. Even though we had rain most days and 9 foot seas on the trip over from Pacific Harbor, it is still the best diving yet.

I had heard rumors about the coral bleaching, but saw none. In fact the hard corals all have new growth with bright blue tips. The hard corals suffered damage in a hurricane about 9 -10 years ago and you can see a lot of broken coral on the bottom. The soft corals are everywhere along with the blue ribbon eels and blue starfish.

I did shore dives every day and had the tender boat take me out to the edge and did a nice slow swim back (about 70 minutes). You need to time the shore dives with the tides for good vis. The shore dives go right and left from the entry. I did both but kept going to the left with a drop off at the pinical.

The resort is great, clean, and well run. You will meet Wise who teach you everything about the island. My son turned native and spent a lot of time with Wise. I think he hiked the whole island. The resort has a new horizon pool. We booked 7 days and stayed 10.

The people, both on the island and at the resort are the friendliest people I have ever met. If you go, take a few school supplies for the school that you can visit. The kids will take your heart.

The boat dives are great. Schedule at least one shark dive during your stay. Beqa Adventure Divers meets the BLR boat at the dive site and takes you down for the most awesome experience of your life. You will so amassed that you will not have time to be scared. I kept forgetting to breath. At time the sharks that are two feet from you will be hard to see through the rest of the fish. Look for the giant grouper in the mix. Most of the boat dives are about 45 minutes to the other side of the lagoon. A few of the boat dives are just a few minutes away.

I did underwater video on most dives with no problem in vis, except for one dive to the wreck at Jons tunnel with a lot of current. The first dive to that site was just fine.

My family is planning a trip back as soon as we can.

 

[scuba e]

thank you very much. just what I needed to hear.

 

[Mantasscareme]

I would personally stay away from Fiji for the time being, due to the political instability. I don't know if it's this way in SoCal, but I've been in NZ and AUS for nearly two weeks now, and especially while I was NZ the pending military coup has been BIG news.

The Aussies even stationed warships off the Fiji coast just in case they need to evacuate their citizens from the island.

It may be a good idea to read to local news before making any decisions, like www.fijitimes.com or www.fijilive.com . Both of these websites seemed pretty matter-of-fact and unconcerned about the whole situation (though I wouldn't disregard it). I've never been to Fiji and am also trying to figure out the situation.

 

[chuck e]

We stayed at BLR 2 years ago and also dove the north Bligh waters in a 2nd week. I would say the diving was great at both areas. However, when staying at BLR you have to consider the whole experience, food, charm. learning about and interacting with the local villagers, lazing about in the afternoon in your oceanfront hammock, watching the firewalkers demonstration. etc. If your primary objective is 4 dives a day, go the liveaboard route, because you will miss so much else that this resort has to offer.