Trip Report Fiji-Volivoli & Waidroka-April 2025

[Damselfish]

Back to Fiji next month (August) at Volivoli and The Pearl Resort in Pacific Harbor for the shark dives with Beqa Adventure Divers. Hopefully, I'll get to see some tiger sharks, which is why I chose August.

We saw tigers in April.

A note - we did 2 dives. They said the tigers normally hung out further away and wouldn’t get there until the second dive. And that’s exactly how it went on both days we did it. This was from Beqa Lagoon resort.

 

[Cornbread O'Malley]

@Living4Experiences Thank you for the detailed trip report on your Fiji experience and all the other trip reports for your multi-country trip. Your write-ups take a lot of work, and I appreciate it.

 

[RPGscuba]

Overall Summary. So, this concludes my trip reports of 66 days of dive travel. I got in 105 dives and crossed the 600- and 700-dive mark. This was a complex vacation that spanned four countries, flying on nine airlines, staying in a dozen hotels, resorts, and a liveaboard. No vacation is perfect, but overall, it went smoothly. I had no lost or delayed luggage, no cancelled flights, and no significant delays. I had built in lots of time for layovers and rest between locations. With the exception of coming home with stomach issues, I remained healthy and injury-free. I dived conservatively, kept hydrated and nourished, and enjoyed meeting new people and experiencing different cultures.

Feel free to ask any questions.

Sounds like an amazing trip. Thanks for a thorough report! Hoping to do a long dive trip like this one day.

 

[Living4Experiences]

Here's a video of the hairy ghost pipefish. With a moving target in the current, the shot is not as steady as I'd like, but at least I got it.

 

[Manuel Sam]

The Hairy Ghostpipefish is one of my few remaining Holy Grails, and here you are telling us about your sightings on back to back years. I am just gonna have to make an April trip there - both Taveuni and Viti Levu - before I forget how to swim.

Was this latest one dving out of VoliVoli? Do you recall the divesite?

Thanks.

 

[Cornbread O'Malley]

@Living4Experiences What do you have in mind for your next dive trip?

 

[Living4Experiences]

The Hairy Ghostpipefish is one of my few remaining Holy Grails, and here you are telling us about your sightings on back to back years. I am just gonna have to make an April trip there - both Taveuni and Viti Levu - before I forget how to swim.

Was this latest one dving out of VoliVoli? Do you recall the divesite?

Thanks.

I actually saw three hairy ghost pipefish on this trip, all at Volivoli. The first picture and video in my trip report was taken at Black Magic Mountain. The second one (attached here) was taken at Redemption. The third one (also attached here) was found at Heartbreak Ridge. #3 was a baby, only about two inches long and was adorable. And I've added a couple extra pics.

 

[Living4Experiences]

@Living4Experiences What do you have in mind for your next dive trip?

I'm going back to Volivoli next week and then to Pacific Harbor for more shark diving. I see you're in Texas. Fiji Airways has a direct flight (12 hours) from DFW 2-3 times a week, depending on the season.

 

[Manuel Sam]

I actually saw three hairy ghost pipefish on this trip, all at Volivoli.

Thanks. Drooling.

I guess I'll also have to do Volivoli in addition to Taveuni.

 

[Cornbread O'Malley]

I'm going back to Volivoli next week and then to Pacific Harbor for more shark diving.

Nice! Back to Fiji!

Fiji Airways has a direct flight (12 hours) from DFW 2-3 times a week, depending on the season.

I learned here on the forums about Fiji Airways service from DFW to Fiji! I have travel taking up the bulk of my calendar from now up to September 2026. The major ones include:

September 2025, a month-long road trip on East Coast USA visiting friends and family. I will take along my dive gear and do some lobster diving in Massachusetts.

Bonaire with friends November/December.

January 2026, Raja Ampat. This may or may not happen depending on my dive group. If it doesn't happen then I can quickly replace it with a dive trip somewhere closer to home.

I have to start training for Nepal's Himalaya mountains and Everest Base Camp come March 2026. This is the second time I am doing the trek. This time I plan to do the three week itinerary through Gokyo Lakes region and the high pass of Cho La to get to Everest Base Camp. The trek will start in late April. After Nepal, I will tour India's Golden Triangle region and a bit more the east. And after India, I will tour Bhutan from west to east.

In June/July, I venture to Southern California to visit friends and do some diving.

The first half of August will be Iceland, and I aim to visit Silfra. The friend I am visiting Iceland with is not a diver; I might dive and let him snorkel. Or I might just snorkel with him and call my visit to Silfra good.

Then head to Galapagos Islands late August to early September. I plan to stay in mainland Ecuador after the liveaboard trip for about a week to explore.

Fiji (and Indonesia) for diving is definitely something I want to do. Hence, my interest in your trip reports and surfing the boards for other travel ideas.