Kadavu Fiji Diving - Matava or Mai Dive

[lenkarm]

Hello all, I'm trying to decide between Matava and Mai Dive for a 1 week Kadavu trip at the beginning of October. They seem to be roughly equal in terms of cost. I will be going with my girlfriend, who is a non-diver but will be snorkeling. We are in our early 30's, enjoy being active, and would definitely appreciate a quiet place with no kids running around.

That being said, which of these 2 resorts is preferable? Is the dive team and rental equipment better at one as opposed to the other? Also, I know that Mai Dive is on Ono island and Matava is right in front of the Astrolabe reef. Is there any advantage to being on the bigger Kadavu island instead of the smaller Ono island?

For those that have been, I noticed that Matava doesn't have power in the bures after 5pm whereas Mai Dive has power in the rooms 24/7. Was the lack of power an issue at Matava? ie, were you bored out of your mind after dinner?

Any feedback is much appreciated. Thanks so much!

 

[1davey]

I stayed there recently. You have solar powered lights in the bures on the porch and over the beds. They give you lanterns to navagate the paths between bures. They have charging stations for rechargeable battries for photo gear or any other electronics you might want to bring I Pad, etc. All dive sites are no more than 15 to 20 mins. away. Exception there signature dive Manta reef. it is about 30mins. away, well worth it. When we went there we saw mantas on both dives, unbeleaveble! The other resorts have to go around the Island takes about One to One and a half hrs. to get there. I brought my own dive gear. I used there weights and wetsuit, they were fine. When I traveled from Portland, Oregon I used Alaska Airlines they had an agreement with Fiji Air. So I did not get charged Xtra for my dive bag. I sat around in the evenings after dinner chatting with the other guests there were allot of guests from Austraila and NewZeland it was fun. Plaeyd cards a couple of nights. It was relaxing to get away from the toursty type resorts. I stayed at Bequa Lagoon the first week and they had electicity 24/7 and I did not miss it at Kadavu. It wholy depends on you. The staff there was outstanding! Your host Maggie is an absolute gas! You will know what I mean if you stay there. Richard is one of the managers there and was very friendly. They have new bure there for getting the kinks worked out, massages. The reefs there are pristine, did not see any coral bleaching. Hope this helps. Any more questions, I check back here often.

 

[fiji_diver]

Mai dive is a bit more upmarket and probably far quieter. Matava is maybe a bit more lively, but both offer great dives.
If I had to choose, I would go to Mai Dive for romance and Matava for adventure... but either way, you will ave a great time.
By an odd co-incidence I saw the new Mai Dive, dive boat yesterday in Suva. Very well designed
Cheers
Greg

 

[Heg]

We just had a week at Mai dive and loved it. It is one and a half hours by boat from the airport on Kadavu. The resort is very small and intimate with a max of 10 guests at any one time. The price includes three meals a day and the food is fab. They have an honesty bar with very reasonably priced beers wine and soft drinks. Free Tea and coffee and chilled water (they have their own spring so the water is safe to drink) is available all day long .The bures are basic but clean and the beds are very comfy. Electricity is 24/7, although they do ask you not to use appliances like hairdryers. The staff are excellent.

We took our own gear. The hire wetsuits were shabby, but the BCDs all looked to be in good condition. We had one dive where was had to swap tanks because of leaking 'o' rings.
The diving was lovely.Very easy and relaxed. The coral is in great condition and fish life was generally quite good.

They have a current special where the second diver dives for free, which made this excellent value. Two dives in the morning with the option of a third dive in the afternoon if you wanted. We didn't dive with Mantas, but the resort offer a Manta Snorkel trip and we were lucky enough to spend over 30 minutes with two of these beautiful creature. There is snorkeling just out the front of the resort and they also run snorkel trips to a beautiful reef about 15 mins away by boat.
Hope this helps.
Cheers
Heg