pablosells
Guest
(First of three posts. I spent three weeks in Fiji in June 2006: one week on the Aggressor II, one week at Moody's Namena, and one week at Namale. I've posted each report in a different thread).
I spent a week on the Fiji Aggressor II in July 2006. I arrived in Nadi on a Friday and was picked up by a taxi for the 3-4 hour drive to Suva to meet the boat. There were only two other divers leaving from Nadi so that's probably why they used a taxi. The taxi was old and in bad shape and I had a much better ride back from Suva to Nadi when the boat returned (the dive boat crew arranged the return trip. It cost me FJD 150 and the driver had a nice car and was very friendly. Turns out his wife is the General Manager at the Tradewinds where the boat docks) .
The boat has 5 cabins and accommodates up to 10 guests which is quite low for a live aboard. There were four crew members including the captain. I had an entire cabin to myself and slept in the lower of the two bunks.The lower bunk is a double and the upper is a single. I had a large closet for storage and a small table with drawers. Each of the cabins is air conditioned. There is a large cabin with a queen bed on the main deck but the downside is that it's right next to the lounge so it's probably not very quiet or private. The bath and shower are large and very comfortable for a boat. I was told that the boat used to be a private yacht hence the large cabins.
We set sail Saturday in the early afternoon and the first full day of diving was on Sunday. A minimum of four dives are offered each day except for the last day when we only had one morning dive. On most nights a night dive was offered. During this particular sailing the moon was full and the currents were ripping! I wonder if my experience would have been different if the seas were calmer.
Overall I had a great time and took advantage of every dive that was offered. The best diving by far was in Namena. We didn't make it to Hi-8 or E6 in Bligh Waters but one of the Dive Masters told some guests that the diving in Namena was much better anyway. I later found out that there had been some damage at Hi8 and E6 but I never got any additional information.
The food, although not gourmet, was much better than expected! A typical day began with a cold breakfast at 7 AM followed by the first dive at 7:30 then a hot breakfast then another dive, then lunch, then another dive, then snacks, then another dive. Then the night dive, followed by hot chocolate and dinner. The afternoon snacks were always wonderful. I like the brownies and peanut butter cookies so much that I took photos of them. Some of the meals were quite good: fresh fish, rack of lamb, etc. All beverages are included.
The crew was friendly and helpful and typically Fijian. They took care of tank fills after each dive and helped the divers into and out of the water if needed. Because the currents were so strong we often dove from the dinghy.
The diving ranged from average to spectacular. The highlight of the trip was a shark feed that the crew organized for us. At the designated site we went down to a small protected opening in a wall (almost like a cave with a wall in front of it) and the crew began the feed. The sharks were all reef sharks but some were quite large. We were only a few feet from the sharks! Divers who had been on other shark feeds before remarked that this was the closest they had ever been!
The water temperature was a constant 79 degrees (Fahrenheit) the whole week and I managed with a full 3mm suit. I added a vest on night dives. Other divers wore anything from 3/2s to 7/5s. Fiji is definitely not for beginners. We laughed at some of the descriptions of the beginners sites in the dive guides because the conditions we experienced were completely different. On one dive we couldn't make it to the wall (I'm still not sure if that was DM error or current) and on another dive one of the divers wasn't fast enough and got blown off the reef and had to surface with one of the DMs.
Lots of hard and soft corals, the usual nudibranchs, cleaner shrimps, gobis and buldozer shrip, large turtles, white tip and reef sharks, remoras, etc. The captain and one of the crew members made a video of the week's diving which they send screened for the guests on the last day. It was also available for purchase. I was surprised at the quality of the video and at how professional the editing was. Definitely a great souvenir. Thanks Captain Ned and crew!
I spent a week on the Fiji Aggressor II in July 2006. I arrived in Nadi on a Friday and was picked up by a taxi for the 3-4 hour drive to Suva to meet the boat. There were only two other divers leaving from Nadi so that's probably why they used a taxi. The taxi was old and in bad shape and I had a much better ride back from Suva to Nadi when the boat returned (the dive boat crew arranged the return trip. It cost me FJD 150 and the driver had a nice car and was very friendly. Turns out his wife is the General Manager at the Tradewinds where the boat docks) .
The boat has 5 cabins and accommodates up to 10 guests which is quite low for a live aboard. There were four crew members including the captain. I had an entire cabin to myself and slept in the lower of the two bunks.The lower bunk is a double and the upper is a single. I had a large closet for storage and a small table with drawers. Each of the cabins is air conditioned. There is a large cabin with a queen bed on the main deck but the downside is that it's right next to the lounge so it's probably not very quiet or private. The bath and shower are large and very comfortable for a boat. I was told that the boat used to be a private yacht hence the large cabins.
We set sail Saturday in the early afternoon and the first full day of diving was on Sunday. A minimum of four dives are offered each day except for the last day when we only had one morning dive. On most nights a night dive was offered. During this particular sailing the moon was full and the currents were ripping! I wonder if my experience would have been different if the seas were calmer.
Overall I had a great time and took advantage of every dive that was offered. The best diving by far was in Namena. We didn't make it to Hi-8 or E6 in Bligh Waters but one of the Dive Masters told some guests that the diving in Namena was much better anyway. I later found out that there had been some damage at Hi8 and E6 but I never got any additional information.
The food, although not gourmet, was much better than expected! A typical day began with a cold breakfast at 7 AM followed by the first dive at 7:30 then a hot breakfast then another dive, then lunch, then another dive, then snacks, then another dive. Then the night dive, followed by hot chocolate and dinner. The afternoon snacks were always wonderful. I like the brownies and peanut butter cookies so much that I took photos of them. Some of the meals were quite good: fresh fish, rack of lamb, etc. All beverages are included.
The crew was friendly and helpful and typically Fijian. They took care of tank fills after each dive and helped the divers into and out of the water if needed. Because the currents were so strong we often dove from the dinghy.
The diving ranged from average to spectacular. The highlight of the trip was a shark feed that the crew organized for us. At the designated site we went down to a small protected opening in a wall (almost like a cave with a wall in front of it) and the crew began the feed. The sharks were all reef sharks but some were quite large. We were only a few feet from the sharks! Divers who had been on other shark feeds before remarked that this was the closest they had ever been!
The water temperature was a constant 79 degrees (Fahrenheit) the whole week and I managed with a full 3mm suit. I added a vest on night dives. Other divers wore anything from 3/2s to 7/5s. Fiji is definitely not for beginners. We laughed at some of the descriptions of the beginners sites in the dive guides because the conditions we experienced were completely different. On one dive we couldn't make it to the wall (I'm still not sure if that was DM error or current) and on another dive one of the divers wasn't fast enough and got blown off the reef and had to surface with one of the DMs.
Lots of hard and soft corals, the usual nudibranchs, cleaner shrimps, gobis and buldozer shrip, large turtles, white tip and reef sharks, remoras, etc. The captain and one of the crew members made a video of the week's diving which they send screened for the guests on the last day. It was also available for purchase. I was surprised at the quality of the video and at how professional the editing was. Definitely a great souvenir. Thanks Captain Ned and crew!
