Trip Report Fiji-Volivoli & Waidroka-April 2025

[Living4Experiences]

Nice! Back to Fiji!


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.

That's quite the travel itinerary! Sounds like a lot of fun! I've been to Iceland but didn't dive the Silfra fissure because I'm not dry suit certified, but if that wasn't a requirement, I would have done it in a heartbeat. Being able to touch two continental plates at the same time is something special, and I understand the water is crystal clear.

 

[Brad J]

Great reports! Keep them coming with future travels!

My wife and I are trying to decide on our first Pacific trip, with Fiji a top choice. Any comments/advice on why Volivoli vs Taveuni Island? Or why you choose not to dive Taveuni?

 

[TostitoBandito]

Great reports! Keep them coming with future travels!

My wife and I are trying to decide on our first Pacific trip, with Fiji a top choice. Any comments/advice on why Volivoli vs Taveuni Island? Or why you choose not to dive Taveuni?

I've dove on Viti Levu, as well as Kadavu and Taveuni. There's a few things to note

• The best diving off the north of Viti Levu is largely in the Bligh waters, which has some good pinnacles but requires relatively long boat rides and often full day 3 tank trips with lunch to get to the best sites.
• The diving in Taveuni/Vanua Levu near the Rainbow Reef is generally (depending on where you stay) much more accessible with many sites as close as 5-10 min from major resorts and the waters generally calmer and better protected in the Somosomo strait.
• Both places have high quality dive sites, but I think there's possibly wider variety of sites on the Rainbow Reef. Most Fiji diving in general will have currents and drift dives are extremely common, so be prepared for that. "No current, no fun" is a phrase I remember hearing a lot from DM's on my first trip to Fiji.
• The vibe on the mostly smaller resorts on Taveuni is much more laid back and like a family, compared to the bigger places on the main island which cater to more general tourists in addition to divers. I personally prefer resorts with 10 or fewer rooms if at all possible.
• Travel time is a push really, since many of the places on the main island will require a multi-hour drive on bad roads from Nadi, and Taveuni obviously requires an additional 90 min flight in a small plane.
• Taveuni has a lot of easily accessible non-diving activities like hiking, parks, waterfalls, and other sightseeing all in a more compact location than the main island. It's famous for its protected parks, forests, and waterfalls, and most of the island is wild and undeveloped jungle.

 

[Living4Experiences]

Great reports! Keep them coming with future travels!

My wife and I are trying to decide on our first Pacific trip, with Fiji a top choice. Any comments/advice on why Volivoli vs Taveuni Island? Or why you choose not to dive Taveuni?

For some context, I went to Taveuni island and stayed at Paradise Taveuni (PT) and Viti Levu (main island) and stayed at Volivoli (VV) in April 2024. I wrote trip reports on those experiences. I returned to Volivoli in April 2025 and will return again this month. I may return to Taveuni island in the future, but I would not stay at Paradise Taveuni based on my first experience there.

Taveuni has the Rainbow Reef with 20 dive sites, including the famous Great White Wall, and 20 other dive sites outside of Rainbow Reef. Volivoli has the Bligh water with 90 dive sites.

As a solo traveler, price is the number one deciding factor for me once I've chosen a location. Ten nights at PT in April 2024 was $3740 ($374 per night). The price for 2026 (as a solo) is $5060 for 7 nights ($724 per night). A 7-night stay for 2 divers in 2026 is $6570 ($939 per night). Across the board, the prices have gone up 50% since 2024. The husband and wife owners are divorcing, and the resort has been listed for sale since November 2024. IMO, this resort is not worthy of these prices.

The dive operation at PT was subpar, mainly because they only have two boats and one boat was out of service on a rotation basis during my stay. This was one of many problems at PT.

Taveuni has several hotels/resorts to choose from, and it does have a bit more diversity for non-diving activities than on the main island. You're likely to find smaller resorts with fewer rooms than a resort like Volivoli, which has 33 units. Taveuni is more remote, and with that, traveling is on unpaved roads in the tropical forest. Electricity is by generator, which is prone to outages. If you like hiking and trail walking to get to waterfalls, you'll like Taveuni.

I enjoy being on a tropical island with the modern amenities offered by Volivoli on Viti Levu. They really run a smooth operation in all aspects, from the dining to the comfort of the rooms to the dive operation. It all just works. Power is tied to the main grid, so, no worrying about outages and no A/C. For what they offer, Volivoli doesn't have any competition with other resorts on the island. Their prices have not gone up a huge amount recently and they have a consistently great operation.

You can also do shark diving in Pacific Harbor on Viti Levu. Taveuni does not offer that.

If you have the time, I highly recommend diving on both islands in one trip to get the full experience of what each island has to offer.