We visited Fiji for the first three weeks of November 2022. We were at Volivoli Beach Resort for a week, followed by a 10-day cruise aboard the NAI’A, which is the only liveaboard in Fijian waters. (A 64-cabin cruise ship, the Reef Endeavor, offers some diving.) This report reports our Volivoli experience.
Fiji is about as accessible as it gets for coral-triangle-adjacent, thanks to nonstop flights every night from both SFO and LAX aboard Fiji Airways—10-10.5 hours each way. The carrier is an American Airlines code share and our itinerary, from Cincinnati, was on American vehicles. The California-Nadi routes alternate between an Airbus A-330 and an A-350, which; the 350 is much more comfortable, especially in business, and I believe the 330 is being phased out in favor of a second 350.
Travel was smooth. Our Volivoli stay was coordinated through Bluewater Travel. Volivoli is about 2.5 hours by car from the Nadi (pronounced "Nandy," rhymes with "candy") airport. We were picked up at the airport by a driver who had a vehicle large enough for our absurd mountain of baggage. We stayed at Volivoli for a week before a trip aboard the NAI'A liveaboard. Transfers are readily available, the road is fine, and the views along the way are beautiful and/or interesting.
Volivoli is on the northeast corner of Viti Levu, the largest of the 330 islands which comprise Fiji. The resort sits on a sloping point overlooking the Bligh Waters, which is the strait between Viti Levu and the second-largest island, Vanua Levu. The resort is about 30 years old. Mature plantings and beautiful views abound. Our accommodation was very nice, and meticulously maintained. Meals are good to very good, and can be part of a package or a la carte. A newish beach bar is well-stocked and pleasant. The staff is delightful.
We did 12 dives (three two-tank, and two three-tank), and most were a few miles off Vatu-I-Ra. We dove Mellow Yellow and other well-known sites, as well as some which are essentially proprietary to Ra Divers, which runs the resort’s dive operations.
Ra Divers is a solid, professional operation. The basic drill is, leave everything but your exposure gear and mask (and camera gear) on the boat, and it's ready to go when you get back on. Trips are two-tank or three-tank; for the latter, a nice lunch is provided. At departure, gear is rinsed, dried overnight, and bagged up for you. There is ample hanging space for all, and all gear is locked up at night. Ra Divers is managed by Josh, who had a good handle on what’s going on. They have a small army of young Fijian trainees who hump tanks, deal with the gear, and assist on the boats, on their way to becoming divemasters. Kudos to Ra Divers for this!
Ra has at least three boats, but I believe only two went out while we were there. One of our three-tank dives had a full complement of 17 customers, and together with gear and three tanks each plus guide gear and tanks, the boat, which is 10 meters, was full-up, but well-managed. The boats have large twin outboards, which get to the dive sites in about 45 minutes depending on the sea state. We were able to go out toward Vatu-I-Ra every day, but a couple of days were fairly rough (and a couple were nearly glass).
The diving was, of course, beautiful. Fiji’s claim as the “soft coral capital” is consistent with what we saw. Visibility drops a bit during the wet season (reportedly November to April), and was usually what I estimate as 20-30m, with a couple of dives in the 15-20m range. The diving tends to be bommies, many of which are quite large and come within a few feet of the surface. Lots of little critters, hordes of reef fish, a good many larger pelagics, and occasional sharks, mostly grey reef. We’re used to turtles, eels, lobsters, etc. aplenty from a lot of Bonaire diving, and did not see many of these; green turtles are listed as endangered there, and hawksbill as critically endangered. I saw one of each on the whole trip.
Ra Divers's boats have only a bucket for cameras. Onshore, however, there is a beautiful new camera room, with workstations separated by dividers, plenty of outlets (U.S. and Australian), compressed air, and ventilation. Very nice.
The all-Fijian staff of Volivoli is wonderful, and twice the week we were there, dinners were at the waterfront bar, with music and, one night, a singing and dancing performance. The grounds are beautiful and constantly maintained, and a walk through the property is easy and yields lots of good views. The Kiwi owners were onsite while we were there and appear to have a lovely relationship with the staff.
We did encounter some significant currents, which can pose a challenge because the boats are tied off and there are no skiffs. I wouldn’t recommend this diving to beginners, or at least not aging beginners; that said, we were fine.
One caveat: We would not recommend Volivoli for its house reef. We knew that going in, having read Trailboss123’s and other trip reports before we went; we met folks who gave it a shot and reported effectively zero visibility and no fun. But we didn’t go for the house reef. We loved Volivoli and Ra Divers, recommend them wholeheartedly, and would go back, although probably in September or early October.
First Landing Resort
We spent the night before boarding the liveaboard, and two nights after it docked, at First Landing Resort in Lautoka, south of Nadi. First Landing is an older seaside resort with fine rooms, a good restaurant and gift shop and a beautiful pool. Because the flights to the U.S. leave Nadi late at night, lots of people stay there for the day; we spent the night and rented the room for the second day at half-price. We were taken by bus to and from NAI’A; taxis are readily available. First Landing’s staff members were fun and helpful.
Fiji is about as accessible as it gets for coral-triangle-adjacent, thanks to nonstop flights every night from both SFO and LAX aboard Fiji Airways—10-10.5 hours each way. The carrier is an American Airlines code share and our itinerary, from Cincinnati, was on American vehicles. The California-Nadi routes alternate between an Airbus A-330 and an A-350, which; the 350 is much more comfortable, especially in business, and I believe the 330 is being phased out in favor of a second 350.
Travel was smooth. Our Volivoli stay was coordinated through Bluewater Travel. Volivoli is about 2.5 hours by car from the Nadi (pronounced "Nandy," rhymes with "candy") airport. We were picked up at the airport by a driver who had a vehicle large enough for our absurd mountain of baggage. We stayed at Volivoli for a week before a trip aboard the NAI'A liveaboard. Transfers are readily available, the road is fine, and the views along the way are beautiful and/or interesting.
Volivoli is on the northeast corner of Viti Levu, the largest of the 330 islands which comprise Fiji. The resort sits on a sloping point overlooking the Bligh Waters, which is the strait between Viti Levu and the second-largest island, Vanua Levu. The resort is about 30 years old. Mature plantings and beautiful views abound. Our accommodation was very nice, and meticulously maintained. Meals are good to very good, and can be part of a package or a la carte. A newish beach bar is well-stocked and pleasant. The staff is delightful.
We did 12 dives (three two-tank, and two three-tank), and most were a few miles off Vatu-I-Ra. We dove Mellow Yellow and other well-known sites, as well as some which are essentially proprietary to Ra Divers, which runs the resort’s dive operations.
Ra Divers is a solid, professional operation. The basic drill is, leave everything but your exposure gear and mask (and camera gear) on the boat, and it's ready to go when you get back on. Trips are two-tank or three-tank; for the latter, a nice lunch is provided. At departure, gear is rinsed, dried overnight, and bagged up for you. There is ample hanging space for all, and all gear is locked up at night. Ra Divers is managed by Josh, who had a good handle on what’s going on. They have a small army of young Fijian trainees who hump tanks, deal with the gear, and assist on the boats, on their way to becoming divemasters. Kudos to Ra Divers for this!
Ra has at least three boats, but I believe only two went out while we were there. One of our three-tank dives had a full complement of 17 customers, and together with gear and three tanks each plus guide gear and tanks, the boat, which is 10 meters, was full-up, but well-managed. The boats have large twin outboards, which get to the dive sites in about 45 minutes depending on the sea state. We were able to go out toward Vatu-I-Ra every day, but a couple of days were fairly rough (and a couple were nearly glass).
The diving was, of course, beautiful. Fiji’s claim as the “soft coral capital” is consistent with what we saw. Visibility drops a bit during the wet season (reportedly November to April), and was usually what I estimate as 20-30m, with a couple of dives in the 15-20m range. The diving tends to be bommies, many of which are quite large and come within a few feet of the surface. Lots of little critters, hordes of reef fish, a good many larger pelagics, and occasional sharks, mostly grey reef. We’re used to turtles, eels, lobsters, etc. aplenty from a lot of Bonaire diving, and did not see many of these; green turtles are listed as endangered there, and hawksbill as critically endangered. I saw one of each on the whole trip.
Ra Divers's boats have only a bucket for cameras. Onshore, however, there is a beautiful new camera room, with workstations separated by dividers, plenty of outlets (U.S. and Australian), compressed air, and ventilation. Very nice.
The all-Fijian staff of Volivoli is wonderful, and twice the week we were there, dinners were at the waterfront bar, with music and, one night, a singing and dancing performance. The grounds are beautiful and constantly maintained, and a walk through the property is easy and yields lots of good views. The Kiwi owners were onsite while we were there and appear to have a lovely relationship with the staff.
We did encounter some significant currents, which can pose a challenge because the boats are tied off and there are no skiffs. I wouldn’t recommend this diving to beginners, or at least not aging beginners; that said, we were fine.
One caveat: We would not recommend Volivoli for its house reef. We knew that going in, having read Trailboss123’s and other trip reports before we went; we met folks who gave it a shot and reported effectively zero visibility and no fun. But we didn’t go for the house reef. We loved Volivoli and Ra Divers, recommend them wholeheartedly, and would go back, although probably in September or early October.
First Landing Resort
We spent the night before boarding the liveaboard, and two nights after it docked, at First Landing Resort in Lautoka, south of Nadi. First Landing is an older seaside resort with fine rooms, a good restaurant and gift shop and a beautiful pool. Because the flights to the U.S. leave Nadi late at night, lots of people stay there for the day; we spent the night and rented the room for the second day at half-price. We were taken by bus to and from NAI’A; taxis are readily available. First Landing’s staff members were fun and helpful.
