AnaBannanaaa
New
Hello Everybody, I am starting to plan a trip to Fiji. What are your favorite Fiji dive locations besides the rainbow reef? We will definitely dive the rainbow reef. So, I am trying to decide where else we could dive
Question Fiji: Your top dives (besides the Rainbow Reef dives)
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runsongas
Contributor
namena from savu savu
TostitoBandito
Contributor
Both the Astrolabe reef and the Bligh Waters were very nice and comparable or better than the best of the rainbow reef, but can be a bit difficult to access.
There aren't many good resorts on the south/east side of Kadavu or Ono with access to the astrolabe reef. I think COVID killed a bunch. When I was there like 15 years ago we stayed on the north side of Kadavu and took a car across the narrow island to a boat from the south shore for an all day trip. But I think even that place is either gone or in disrepair. In any case, great hard and soft corals and lots of sharks and manta rays (the feature attraction).
And the bligh waters are just north off Viti Levu, but require very long boat rides. I stayed at Wananavu (now closed ) which is pretty much on the northernmost point of Viti Levu and we ended up taking all day 3 tank boat trips every day to the most remote sites, at least 90 minutes each way. Great diving though, with some really cool pinnacle sites and lots of coral and life. Much better than anything we saw closer to shore on the north side of Viti Levu (which is why we opted to pay for a boat to take our group far out the rest of the week).
There aren't many good resorts on the south/east side of Kadavu or Ono with access to the astrolabe reef. I think COVID killed a bunch. When I was there like 15 years ago we stayed on the north side of Kadavu and took a car across the narrow island to a boat from the south shore for an all day trip. But I think even that place is either gone or in disrepair. In any case, great hard and soft corals and lots of sharks and manta rays (the feature attraction).
And the bligh waters are just north off Viti Levu, but require very long boat rides. I stayed at Wananavu (now closed ) which is pretty much on the northernmost point of Viti Levu and we ended up taking all day 3 tank boat trips every day to the most remote sites, at least 90 minutes each way. Great diving though, with some really cool pinnacle sites and lots of coral and life. Much better than anything we saw closer to shore on the north side of Viti Levu (which is why we opted to pay for a boat to take our group far out the rest of the week).
Noel's wall and yellow wall. East of Laucala (and Qamea). They are out of the way sites and a lengthy trip from Taveuni. The best sites I have been to anywhere including others in Fiji in the Taveuni area. There is a shallow area very near that can be snorkeled or dived if deeper. Fantastic coral and fish.
runsongas
Contributor
@TostitoBandito have you dived the astrolabe recently? I heard it was getting better after the typhoon from 2016, but a DM i talked to who grew up in kadavu said it was still recovering in 2021. oneta seems to be back and running.
TostitoBandito
Contributor
No it was before that. But I recall the reef looking pretty pristine, especially the hard corals compared to the rest of Fiji, so it's a shame if it took a bunch of damage.
cetacean
Contributor
Namena, but not from Savusavu. Do it either by liveaboard (the Naia) or from the Namena Island Resort (which should be opening up again after reconstruction early next year).
Namena offers some of the very best diving in Fiji. Diving it locally (from the resort on the island) is much (much) more convenient than diving it from any of the resorts near Savusavu. They also dive a few of the locations around Namena that the resorts don't get to.
I would second the recommendation for Noel's Wall. It's a fabulous dive east of Taveuni. It's far enough away that it's not dived often (best chance is to dive it from Matangi, which was run by the eponymous Noel who the site is named after).
As someone else mentioned, the Bligh Water area is world famous for a number of the dive sites in the area. If you want to dive this area comfortably (instead of all day trips) choose the Naia - this area is dived on virtually all their charters (along with Namena).
Namena offers some of the very best diving in Fiji. Diving it locally (from the resort on the island) is much (much) more convenient than diving it from any of the resorts near Savusavu. They also dive a few of the locations around Namena that the resorts don't get to.
I would second the recommendation for Noel's Wall. It's a fabulous dive east of Taveuni. It's far enough away that it's not dived often (best chance is to dive it from Matangi, which was run by the eponymous Noel who the site is named after).
As someone else mentioned, the Bligh Water area is world famous for a number of the dive sites in the area. If you want to dive this area comfortably (instead of all day trips) choose the Naia - this area is dived on virtually all their charters (along with Namena).
We just got back from 9 days at VoliVoli Beach Resort and had a great time. They dive the Bligh Waters and our longest boat ride was 45 minutes to the MPA. Two dive days we were back at the resort at lunchtime and three dive days we were back at 3:00 - 4:00pm and we took lunch with us. They have unlimited shore diving if you want but it id very shallow in front of the resort and a little bit of a walk to get to deeper water but there are seahorses there. The reefs were very clean and in great shape with healthy soft and hard coral. We went to Beqa Lagoon in 2019 and the highlight of that trip was the shark dive but I think the reefs in the Bligh Waters were better overall.
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