How's diving in Fiji compared to Caribbeans?

[DazedAndConfuzed]

Hi,

I've am on the east coast and have done most of my divings in the Caribbeans, been to most of the major dive islands (plus a little on the pacific side of Costa Rica). Me and my wife always thought we ought to dive the far pacific someday and I thought maybe Fiji's Vanua Levu would be an option, but it seems like everything is almost double the price, and then there is the airfare which from the east coast, is 2-5x the price of flying to the caribbeans. So I am wondering is the diving that different from the Caribbeans? I know there is schools of hammerheads, but is it hundreds of them? Also, we got the pacific's lioinfish down here, and it is viewed with disdain here, so the perception of them being pests has been drilled into our brains.

 

[edpdiver]

I have only been to Fiji once (diving near Taveuni Island), and have been to the Caribbean lots of times. I would say that the diving in Fiji is incomparably better than what you find anyplace that I have been to in the Caribbean. The health of almost all of the reefs is far better. There are beautiful colorful soft corals that are not found in the Caribbean. The diversity of fish is much better, including varieties such as longnose filefish, anemone fish, blue-spotted eagle ray, and many, many others. I do not know where the hammerheads are in the Fijian islands, so I cannot speak for them. But the fish, coral, and health of the reefs in Fiji exceeds anything that I have seen anywhere in the Caribbean.

Photos from my trip to Fiji are found here for underwater and here for topside.

Hope this helps.

 

[greylion]

If you really want to immerse yourself in the best diving Fiji has to offer then schedule a trip on the Naia. The variety of dive sites you get to is unsurpassed and you'll see some amazing and huge soft coral heads of all varieties. Another difference is the amount of fish you'll see, just enormous schools of many kinds of fish including reef sharks, white tips and barracudas. From the bottom of the food chain to the top, Fiji's reefs are much healthier than the carribean's and of course have a lot of unique varieties not found much closer to home. It is definitely worth a trip to see the difference.

We did see some hammerheads, but only 3 at Mount Mutiny. According to the crew of the Naia, they have shot some videos at 250 feet at Mount Mutiny and there are schools of hammerheads deep on that site and some of them come shallow, how many is up to them. We saw 3 on the day we dived that place, but there was so much else to see there, just an incredible spot. Go, you'll be glad you did.

Liveaboard Scuba Diving on NAI'A - Fiji and Beyond

Jim

 

[OBXDIVEGUY]

Holy crap! No comparison!

Ironically, I never saw a lionfish in Fiji.

It is expensive, but I think well worth it! Check out Carodonna dive travel. Ask for Doris. We got a great, all-inclusive (with airfare) deal that was surprisingly not much more than some of the top Caribbean destinations.

 

[bbarada]

Another vote for Caradonna, ask for Doris. Her email is Doris@caradonna.com

She arranged a trip for us to Wananavu. Great diving and fairly inexpensive. We've also been to Beqa and done a liveaboard. The liveaboard is the best diving, but expensive.

I agree, we've been all over the Caribbean and the diving in Fiji is an order of magnitude better.

 

[fiji_diver]

Hi
Well I am biased as I live here, but the truth is that there is a far greater variety of fish and coral species in the Pacific than the Atlantic - that's just how things evolved. It's not just Fiji and in fact the further towards Indonesia you go, the numbers go up an up.

There's no guarantee you will see Hammerheads. They are sighted frequently in the waters between Viti Levu and Vanua Levu. Mount Mutiny would be a good spot as would the Namena Marine Reserve where I have seen big schools much shallower than 250'. Wakaya Passage is another regular sighting spot. None of these sites are dived when you are based in Taveuni but don't let that put you off. Taveuni is a beautiful place to stay and has access to the Rainbow Reef and White Wall. As for prices, you don't have to stay at 4-5* resorts Have a look at Dolphin Bay Divers.

Bbarada suggests Wananavu which is a nice resort and gives you access to the Vatu-i-Ra passage which will not dissapoint - they don't dive there every day though. you can stay at Volivoli a few miles down the road (2-3*) for a lot less and do the same dives

A last thought would be to look at Naigani. 3*, Very friendly, laid back place. They dive Wakaya Passage, E6 and numerous other sites in the Bligh Waters. Very underrated location and recently refurbished dive operation.

I entirely agree with other posters that you wil see the best sites from Naia or Peter Hughes charters here, but they aren't cheap although on a cost per dive basis they are a bargain, assuming you do 5 dives per day. :cool2:

Is it all worth the extra expense? I really don't know - only one way to find out

Cheers
Greg

 

[mathauck0814]

Fiji is to the Caribbean what diving in the Caribbean is to diving in your bathtub.

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

Seems to be the soft coral capital of the world..odd thing is that I usually don't pay that much attention to corals (mostly hard corals here in Caribbeans), most of time focusing on finding fish. Oddly, it was in my last trip in Bonaire that I start paying attention to them, given that I did shore night dives everyday near where I stayed and I saw a dearth of fish life, and having a hour of tank to use up, I stared focusing more on the corals and started noticing they are all feasting at night.

Anyway, given the amount of travel time and jet lag, a 7 day trip seem to not to do justice, so 10-14 days seems to be what I would be looking for.

And since if I do go to the pacific side, places like Oz, other pacific islands, Thailand, Philippines could also be up in the open, since those non-small island locations has much more convenient direct flight. Are dives there just as good?

 

[greylion]

Fiji is a 10 1/2 hr flight from LAX, that's not too bad a flight.

 

[farsidefan1]

In my opinion generally speaking Pacific diving > Caribbean diving. I go to the caribbean a 2 or 3 times a yr. Due to expense and time of travel I get to the pacific much less often but they are not really comparable. Really the time is the biggest factor. Comming back from Palau last yr took around 40 hours. Getting there involved overnight in Hawaii and stops in Guam and Yap before getting to Palau where I had another overnight before getting on the Aggressor. Time, whew. I was exhausted when I got home. Best diving I have ever experienced (this is a totally subjective opinion) but what a pain getting there! I did stay 2 1/2 weeks to make up for it and this yr I'm just going back to Fiji (in March) because it is so much more convenient but then I go to Roatan (in June) and in about 7 hours I'm in the water. Sweet!