Seeking best diving in Fiji

[sharkbait13]

hello folks

looking to head out of the great frozen north of western canada for a 2 to 3 week trip to fiji.
anybody know of the best places to spot the gargantuan pelagics? the mantas, hammerheads etc.

i,m hard core diver who enjoys his 5 dives a day with the friendly giants
any suggestions on the best way to go? any good liveaboards out that way or just landbased?

i hear the good spots are all out on the outer reefs of the outer islands. tokoriki, monuriki, vomo. what about lomaiviti?

can anyone help me out?

thanking u in advance.

sharkbait

 

[matts1w]

hello folks

looking to head out of the great frozen north of western canada for a 2 to 3 week trip to fiji.
anybody know of the best places to spot the gargantuan pelagics? the mantas, hammerheads etc.

i,m hard core diver who enjoys his 5 dives a day with the friendly giants
any suggestions on the best way to go? any good liveaboards out that way or just landbased?

i hear the good spots are all out on the outer reefs of the outer islands. tokoriki, monuriki, vomo. what about lomaiviti?

can anyone help me out?

thanking u in advance.

sharkbait

If you are going to drop the cash to see giant pelagics there are far better places than Fiji....not that they are not around. Pacific Harbor will put you on a ton of sharks (gray reef, bulls, white tips, black tips, and a decent chance at a tiger), but it is a feed. Mantas are pretty regular on the Astrolabe Reef off Kandavu.

I guess to me Fiji is as much about the culture and its people as it is diving. When I think of giant animals I think Palau or Cocos Island, but not Fiji.

 

[MatD4D]

Kadavu Island is good for Manta rays, they see them on 70% of dives at Matava resort.
fiji-sharks.com is the website of the guys who hand feed the tiger sharks in Pacific harbour.

 

[robint]

hello folks

looking to head out of the great frozen north of western canada for a 2 to 3 week trip to fiji.
anybody know of the best places to spot the gargantuan pelagics? the mantas, hammerheads etc.

i,m hard core diver who enjoys his 5 dives a day with the friendly giants
any suggestions on the best way to go? any good liveaboards out that way or just landbased?

i hear the good spots are all out on the outer reefs of the outer islands. tokoriki, monuriki, vomo. what about lomaiviti?

can anyone help me out?

thanking u in advance.

sharkbait

If you want more than 2-3 dives per day, you need to do a liveaboard. I know that the Na'a does the Northern-Bligh Waters area off Nadi, the Aggressor does the southern-Bligh waters area off Nadi leaving from the area down by Beqa. So I think you should do a few days down at Beqa land-based and do the tiger shark dive, then get on the Aggressor for a week. If you get on Aggressor Fleet | The ultimate in live-aboards since 1984 you can read the Fiji weekly reports and see what they see - it sounds like they see lots of sharks, some mantas.


robin

 

[sharkbait13]

If you are going to drop the cash to see giant pelagics there are far better places than Fiji....not that they are not around. Pacific Harbor will put you on a ton of sharks (gray reef, bulls, white tips, black tips, and a decent chance at a tiger), but it is a feed. Mantas are pretty regular on the Astrolabe Reef off Kandavu.

I guess to me Fiji is as much about the culture and its people as it is diving. When I think of giant animals I think Palau or Cocos Island, but not Fiji.

thanks for your response
i'm not totally sold on fiji and i am certainly open to suggestions such as yours.
i will check out cocos island.
was in palau last year and had a head to head encounter with a ten foot bull in pelilu it was one of the most amazing experiences ever while our guide hid behind a rock when i pointed it out to him and my buddy was cowering behind me trying to take pics of it. he mostly shot the left side of the rear of my head.

tons of sharks in palua

really love to spot some hammers somewhere and maybe a whale shark so i can cross them off of my list of critters to see.


Gene

 

[ryssyr]

I liked fiji. The Somosomo Straights is a world class area to dive. I had a blast there.

 

[sharkbait13]

Kadavu Island is good for Manta rays, they see them on 70% of dives at Matava resort.
fiji-sharks.com is the website of the guys who hand feed the tiger sharks in Pacific harbour.

thanks i'll check out that website.

Gene

 

[sharkbait13]

If you want more than 2-3 dives per day, you need to do a liveaboard. I know that the Na'a does the Northern-Bligh Waters area off Nadi, the Aggressor does the southern-Bligh waters area off Nadi leaving from the area down by Beqa. So I think you should do a few days down at Beqa land-based and do the tiger shark dive, then get on the Aggressor for a week. If you get on Aggressor Fleet | The ultimate in live-aboards since 1984 you can read the Fiji weekly reports and see what they see - it sounds like they see lots of sharks, some mantas.


robin

yah i figured wanting to do that many dives a day would only be possible on a liveaboard.
thanks for the info.

Gene

 

[sharkbait13]

I liked fiji. The Somosomo Straights is a world class area to dive. I had a blast there.

had a look at your pics.
very nice
thanks

Gene

 

[bwilcove]

We were just in Fiji aboard the Aggressor. They actually run two boats there. The smaller one is much better (Aggressor III). It's only 10 people and the diving is right off the back vs. a skiff on the other boat. The diving was superb. I would say you see more macro life with lots and lots of color vs. pelagics. We did a few dives (~5) with sharks over the week, with one in particular where we dove with 25 white tips, black tips and grey reef.

I've also been to Palau (among other Pacific locals) and could say you won't be disappointed. The boat launches out of Suva, and I would recommend taking the short hop via plane (otherwise the drive is a long long long 4 hours).

We also did the shark dive in Beqa. Wasn't all that it was cracked up to be, but if you have an extra day, it's ok.

Brian