Still suffering from jet lag and missing Fiji........ :depressed:
This trip was to celebrate my husband's and my 20th wedding anniversary and it couldn't have been more perfect!
We flew from Denver to LAX where we hopped on our Air Pacific flight to Nadi. The AP flight was fine.... not great. Food OK, Service was great, in flight entertainment was very poor...TV and radio on most of the seats (including mine) didn't work... Not really a problem for me because I tried sleeping for the majority of the flight... the flight home was the same except for the exclusion of warm wipes.. which was a nice little touch on the way there. The island hopper from Nadi to Taveuni was good. Quick, small and just as expected.
We had booked our bure at Coconut Grove and they didn't have availability for our first two nights so they put us at Taveuni Island Resort and then we moved on day 3. TIR is a beautiful resort, amazing accommodations, grounds and food... definitely 5 star. Coconut Grove was a little more our style.. Laid back, on the beach and very friendly staff.. and fantastic food.
We dove with Taveuni Dive and I can't say enough good things about them. Each day one of the owners, Muriel came to pick us up in her truck and take us to the different docks to meet the boat. She was wonderful to chat with and we had a wonderful time seeing the island on the 20-30 minutes drives.. They took great care of our gear each day.. rinsed it and had it back on the boat the next morning.... LOVED not have to haul gear each day. The DM's were great except one that was very clear in our dive brief not to go below 60 feet on our second dive and he himself did.... along with all of the divers except for my husband and myself.... of course 2 of the divers blew their No Deco times...
.... The other DMs were great... as were the captains...
The diving was WONDERFUL.... favorite dive was Purple Wall on Rainbow Reef. The abundance of color was mind blowing! This was the first trip that was definitely more focused on the reef and the small life.... We found lots of nudibranch ( also a first for me) sea anemone with various anemone fish.. VERY COOL.... and just an abundance of little colorful fish... Only saw two turtles ... which I have to admit I miss from the many turtles you see in the Caribbean. Saw several white tipped reef sharks and one pretty good sized grey reef shark. Also, I saw my first sea snake and several "patches?" of garden eels. The current was nice.. except on one dive that I felt uncomfortable..... a little like a roller coaster ride.shocked2:
We took the long 1.25 hour ride.... down a very bumpy almost 4WD road to Paradise... They have a beautiful resort and this is where Taveuni Dive has their dive shop ( although they are opening up another one in Matei closer to where most of the resorts are.) We did a couple shore dives while there... again, great staff, very helpful. The shore dives where definitely worth doing..
Although a beautiful resort.... I would definitely not have wanted to stay at Paradise.. We really enjoyed seeing the other side of the island where the amazing waterfalls, hiking, additional dining options ( although few) and other activities are. If you are going to dive ONLY.. Paradise is a great option.
The Tavoro waterfalls are a must... the hike in is pretty quick and easy, especially to the first falls... and for it being our anniversary and to be in falls this beautiful and alone was beyond memorable. Kayaking out to snorkel around the islands where the black pearl farm was great fun... even without a tank of air..
For our return, we decided to spend one night in Nadi ( just to check it out....) don't bother. Nadi town is not worth seeing unless you really want to see the Temples. We stayed on Denaru Island at the Hilton.. Nice resort, beautiful roons, average beach, OK food.. If you are wanting to do any shopping the Port at Denaru has a Jacks just like the one in Nadi and the prices are the same... even though we were told they were better in Nadi... I compared 5 things.... All the same price at both locations... The port area has a few restaurants and shops.. and a Hard Rock Cafe? A great little bar to enjoy a beer... Oh speaking of beer... My husband and I are beer geeks so we were pleased to find Vonu Lager... Yum.. although it wasn't available on Taveuni, that we found... The beers that were... Fiji Gold.. pretty good, Fiji Premium... OK.... and Fiji Bitter.. which I had hoped it would be like an IPA.... It isn't.. and was really bitter.. in a bad way!
Overall, it was an amazing trip... best diving I have done and the Fijian people really are the nicest people in the world... Now that I have a taste of diving the South Pacific..... I can't wait to explore more!
I have a few pictures posted in my gallery if you want to peek at them..
This trip was to celebrate my husband's and my 20th wedding anniversary and it couldn't have been more perfect!
We flew from Denver to LAX where we hopped on our Air Pacific flight to Nadi. The AP flight was fine.... not great. Food OK, Service was great, in flight entertainment was very poor...TV and radio on most of the seats (including mine) didn't work... Not really a problem for me because I tried sleeping for the majority of the flight... the flight home was the same except for the exclusion of warm wipes.. which was a nice little touch on the way there. The island hopper from Nadi to Taveuni was good. Quick, small and just as expected.
We had booked our bure at Coconut Grove and they didn't have availability for our first two nights so they put us at Taveuni Island Resort and then we moved on day 3. TIR is a beautiful resort, amazing accommodations, grounds and food... definitely 5 star. Coconut Grove was a little more our style.. Laid back, on the beach and very friendly staff.. and fantastic food.
We dove with Taveuni Dive and I can't say enough good things about them. Each day one of the owners, Muriel came to pick us up in her truck and take us to the different docks to meet the boat. She was wonderful to chat with and we had a wonderful time seeing the island on the 20-30 minutes drives.. They took great care of our gear each day.. rinsed it and had it back on the boat the next morning.... LOVED not have to haul gear each day. The DM's were great except one that was very clear in our dive brief not to go below 60 feet on our second dive and he himself did.... along with all of the divers except for my husband and myself.... of course 2 of the divers blew their No Deco times...
.... The other DMs were great... as were the captains... The diving was WONDERFUL.... favorite dive was Purple Wall on Rainbow Reef. The abundance of color was mind blowing! This was the first trip that was definitely more focused on the reef and the small life.... We found lots of nudibranch ( also a first for me) sea anemone with various anemone fish.. VERY COOL.... and just an abundance of little colorful fish... Only saw two turtles ... which I have to admit I miss from the many turtles you see in the Caribbean. Saw several white tipped reef sharks and one pretty good sized grey reef shark. Also, I saw my first sea snake and several "patches?" of garden eels. The current was nice.. except on one dive that I felt uncomfortable..... a little like a roller coaster ride.shocked2:
We took the long 1.25 hour ride.... down a very bumpy almost 4WD road to Paradise... They have a beautiful resort and this is where Taveuni Dive has their dive shop ( although they are opening up another one in Matei closer to where most of the resorts are.) We did a couple shore dives while there... again, great staff, very helpful. The shore dives where definitely worth doing..
Although a beautiful resort.... I would definitely not have wanted to stay at Paradise.. We really enjoyed seeing the other side of the island where the amazing waterfalls, hiking, additional dining options ( although few) and other activities are. If you are going to dive ONLY.. Paradise is a great option.
The Tavoro waterfalls are a must... the hike in is pretty quick and easy, especially to the first falls... and for it being our anniversary and to be in falls this beautiful and alone was beyond memorable. Kayaking out to snorkel around the islands where the black pearl farm was great fun... even without a tank of air..
For our return, we decided to spend one night in Nadi ( just to check it out....) don't bother. Nadi town is not worth seeing unless you really want to see the Temples. We stayed on Denaru Island at the Hilton.. Nice resort, beautiful roons, average beach, OK food.. If you are wanting to do any shopping the Port at Denaru has a Jacks just like the one in Nadi and the prices are the same... even though we were told they were better in Nadi... I compared 5 things.... All the same price at both locations... The port area has a few restaurants and shops.. and a Hard Rock Cafe?
A great little bar to enjoy a beer... Oh speaking of beer... My husband and I are beer geeks so we were pleased to find Vonu Lager... Yum.. although it wasn't available on Taveuni, that we found... The beers that were... Fiji Gold.. pretty good, Fiji Premium... OK.... and Fiji Bitter.. which I had hoped it would be like an IPA.... It isn't.. and was really bitter.. in a bad way!Overall, it was an amazing trip... best diving I have done and the Fijian people really are the nicest people in the world... Now that I have a taste of diving the South Pacific..... I can't wait to explore more!
I have a few pictures posted in my gallery if you want to peek at them..
