Questions about dive op for Wananavu Beach resort

[diversmith]

Hi all,
The wife and I are planning our first trip to the South Pacific and we have some questions about the dive op that services Wananavu Beach Resort. We have been snooping around here and have learned that there is a new op called Reef Safaris that has some new boats. Our questions are these:

Do they run out of the resort and have the boats docked there? If not, where is the pick-up?
Can you sort of decide day to day if you want to add dives or if the wife is getting cold, can she decide day to day if she wants to go out or not? I am thinking of booking her as a non-diver for the AI package and just adding dives as she feels like it.
What is the "normal" vis around that area in June?

We have been hearing pretty good things about Wananavu Beach Resort and Reef Safaris, and of the Bligh Waters. We don't think we want to spend the extra time and money to go elsewhere in Fiji since we are parents now and we have time/finance matters to consider in the big picture of life. It looks like this is the place to give us the combination of good diving, least amount of travel, great diving, good resort and good dive op?

Any other info you want to chime in with is always appreciated.

Any insight would be graciously accepted...thanks in advance!

ETA...does the dive op there have a "dive shop" and are there lockers for your gear?

 

[jake11]

Reef Safaris is located right on the resort grounds. The first day we took our stuff down and then they took care of it the whole time. Washing the wet suits at the end of the day etc. I am sure you can pick and choose your dive days. They aim to please! We did a few shore dives and they wheeled all of our stuff out and carried it down to the water for us. They watched for us to end our dive and they were right there to carry all of our stuff back at the end of our dive! We have nothing but good to say about this new outfit! The boats will be right at the dock of the resort. They rented a huge boat for us while we were there since our group was large. I know they have since gotten a new boat. The season for the Bligh waters is not until late summer and early fall so be careful. We got out there all days but one . The only reason we didn't go out all of the days is because we chose as a group to try out a new reef. Like I said we were VERY impressed with the new dive operation! Kristen and Jeremy run it and there are outstanding DM's. Ask for Kenny or Mere! We loved them!

Hi all,
The wife and I are planning our first trip to the South Pacific and we have some questions about the dive op that services Wananavu Beach Resort. We have been snooping around here and have learned that there is a new op called Reef Safaris that has some new boats. Our questions are these:

Do they run out of the resort and have the boats docked there? If not, where is the pick-up?
Can you sort of decide day to day if you want to add dives or if the wife is getting cold, can she decide day to day if she wants to go out or not? I am thinking of booking her as a non-diver for the AI package and just adding dives as she feels like it.
What is the "normal" vis around that area in June?

We have been hearing pretty good things about Wananavu Beach Resort and Reef Safaris, and of the Bligh Waters. We don't think we want to spend the extra time and money to go elsewhere in Fiji since we are parents now and we have time/finance matters to consider in the big picture of life. It looks like this is the place to give us the combination of good diving, least amount of travel, great diving, good resort and good dive op?

Any other info you want to chime in with is always appreciated.

Any insight would be graciously accepted...thanks in advance!

ETA...does the dive op there have a "dive shop" and are there lockers for your gear?

 

[darook]

When you say late Summer for the Bligh Waters do you mean Northern or Southern Hemisphere. We are thinking of going there in August and have heard that is in the peak time due to drier and cooler weather.

 

[bbarada]

We were there in March and got out to the Bligh waters all but one day.

 

[Blighbaby]

i was there december and been also in july and april and dove the bligh each time. there is no bligh season as such, just the weather on the day. same as jake 11, jeremy and kristen run a great ship, much slicker than previous operators and no complaints from me.yes new boat and very smooth ride. im hearing nitrox is on its way too!

 

[jake11]

When you say late Summer for the Bligh Waters do you mean Northern or Southern Hemisphere. We are thinking of going there in August and have heard that is in the peak time due to drier and cooler weather.

We have been there in August and it was great then and also in October and it was great then too. The viz was better in August but the diving was still good in October. That is good to know that March is good as well. We had some friends that went in that time frame and said it was rainy the whole time.

 

[diversmith]

We have been there in August and it was great then and also in October and it was great then too. The viz was better in August but the diving was still good in October. That is good to know that March is good as well. We had some friends that went in that time frame and said it was rainy the whole time.

Thanks for all of the insight....is the concensus that june is usually pretty good weather-wise and dive condition-wise??? We obviously want the best overall combination of topside and U/W conditions. If I understand correctly, the seasons are reversed from the States but the rainy season is actually during their summer. Better vis to be had during their winter season?

Anything else anybody wants to add about Wananavu Beach Resort or Reef Safari? Sounds like they are both getting good reviews??