Fiji Scuba Diving
Water enthusiasts will be in heaven at Jean-Michel Cousteau Fiji Islands Resort, where warm, clear waters tempt both above and below the waves.
Known as the “Soft Coral Capital of the World,” Fiji offers the largest variety of fish and coral anywhere in the world. Small reef dwellers and large ocean pelagics (a class of fish that includes barracuda, tuna, sharks) swim among the colorful reefs near the resort.
Divers of all skill levels will delight in the award-winning facilities at the resort, which is the “World’s Best for Diving,” according to Harpers Abroad. (January 2003)
For beginners, our expert dive staff will welcome and guide you into the underwater world. Expert divers can do their own thing. We provide PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) certified courses and Nitrox fills.
New Fiji Dive Specials
Go scuba diving at the award-winning Jean-Michel Cousteau Fiji Islands Resort, now offering two new scuba diving packages for couples and for families. Click here for more information. L’Aventure, our 37-foot custom-built, enclosed cabin dive vessel is equipped with the latest GPS plotter, color depth sounder and radar, catering for 12 divers, individual gear lockers, a freshwater shower, and complimentary soft drinks and cookies. It cruises at 16-18 knots. Each morning, the boat leaves the resort at about 8:30 a.m. and returns for lunch around 12:30. Full day trips, which are organized whenever possible, include a picnic lunch and return to the resort around 4:00 p.m.
L’Aventure Dive Shop has everything you need for an underwater adventure. Snorkels and fins are provided free of charge. Choose from an array of wetsuits, tanks, masks, fins and other accessories. The dive shop is also a great place to hear what’s going on under the waves, from shark sightings to the latest findings from the monthly reef check.
Awarded World’s Best Resort Hotel For Scuba Diving
We were honored as the “Best Resort Hotel for Diving” by Harpers Abroad in the “150 Best Places on Earth” in the Harpers & Queen Travel Awards, January 2003. One of Europe’s leading magazines, Harpers & Queen had this to say about the resort:
“Best for Diving. The name alone suggests that, at this resort diving is a serious attraction. Jean-Michel Cousteau, son of Jacques, is the founder and owner of the five-star resort on the south coast of the Fijian island of Vanua Levu, where the Koro Sea meets Savusavu Bay. The PADI dive school has access to some of the World’s most enviable dive sites: Shark Alley, and the more seductive Big Blue.”
Shark diving in Pacific Harbor, a couple of hours’ drive from the international airport on Viti Levu, elbowed its way onto my list because it offers a fairly certain chance of seeing what any honest diver will admit to yearn for: lots and lots of big fish.
Giant trevally, each bigger than a grown man’s torso, racing around in swarms. A grouper the size of a love seat. Schools of plump snapper. Stealthy suckerfish, with their eerily flat heads. And such vast quantities of smaller reef fish clouding the deep that they alone, not the raging seas above, often pose the biggest obstacle to an unobstructed photograph of the huge bull sharks lumbering by.
There is a trick to luring sharks, I quickly learned when I was in Fiji last fall, and it is deviously simple. Dive boats chum up the waters with hundreds of pounds of discarded fish scraps, drawing a storm of life from miles around. Purists may call it cheating. Biologists fret over the potential impact on shark behavior, or on the delicate balance of life around the reefs. But there is no debating its efficacy.
Kneeling on the sea floor, almost 100 feet down, I counted 10 adult bull sharks circling directly overhead on one of my six shark dives, their skin taut over thick layers of muscle. Higher up, as many as two dozen speedy, smaller sharks — gray reefs, black tips and white tips, with their catlike eyes — darted by our stunned group, close enough that I felt a swoosh of water on my face from a passing tail. Had we not been clamping down so tightly on our regulators, our mouths would surely have been agape.
But if attracting the sharks is a relatively crude affair, handling them is nothing short of an art. With no cage to protect us, professional divers flanked the group, gripping aluminum prods in case the predators became overzealous. Then the feeder would reach into his bag of fish parts and wave the sharks in, one by one. Clad in chain mail under his wet suit, the feeder would dangle and sway the waiting flesh, enticing the powerful beasts, some of them about eight feet long and hundreds of pounds, to eat right from his outstretched hand.
The smaller sharks, graceful and lithe, needed little encouragement. With surprising discipline, they took turns approaching the feeder in an orderly single file, snatching the treats and quickly swooping away, their white bellies nearly grazing our heads as they scurried off.
Keenly aware of the ritual, they then circled around for the next spot in line. When a brazen newcomer from another reef broke ranks and rushed up from behind, one of the feeders, Manasa Bulivou, a Fijian man who goes by the nickname Papa, deftly grabbed the five-foot shark, spun it around and socked it in the gut with an uppercut — a lesson in manners, Papa later explained.
But the big bull sharks, despite their reputation as aggressive man-eaters, were strangely shy. An enormous and visibly pregnant one the divers called Big Mama seemed almost finicky as she warily sniffed at the flesh being offered her before turning up her nose entirely. Some of the bulls lurked in the distance, no more than silhouettes in the blue. Others swam languidly toward us, as if playing a lazy game of chicken before nonchalantly turning away.
To get to the inner limestone cave of Sawa-i-Lau, you must dive under a rocky curtain and swim through an underwater tunnel.
When the tide is high, both are under water and in pitch darkness. At less than high tide, the “curtain” is just a few centimetres out of the water.
It’s a dive into the unknown. You need a modicum of courage, as you scrape your head along the rock in the dark beneath the island opposite the village of Nabukeru, in Fiji’s Yasawas chain.
. But it’s only by visiting this inner sanctum, says the Fijian villager waiting for us inside, that you actually arrive at the heart of the Yasawas, the islands created by a dramatic fault that runs into the South Pacific on the north-western fringe of Fiji.
Only when you’ve visited this cave, says the villager, can you say that you have been to the Yasawas.
“This is the spirit of the Yasawa (singular),” says the villager, standing waist deep on a submerged rock.
It’s not completely black in the cave: there’s a vent dropping down on the way in, through the ceiling from the tall, rocky island above. But it’s black enough to make the nervous queasy.
You need a torch inside. The water is clear and, while not cold, it’s crisp, a degree or two cooler than the 26 degrees in the Pacific Ocean, which feeds the caves subterraneously.
The outer cave is a tall atrium. It’s well lit through its southern side, which is open.
The inner sanctum is very different. Most of the 20-metre long space is little more than a low gap between the sea water, at whatever the tide, and the limestone roof.
There is no sign of sea life in here, although the guide inside tells us there are small eels in there, somewhere.
When we arrive in our runabout after a 45-minute voyage from Tavewa Lagoon to the south, we are greeted by Lucy, dressed brightly in a blue floral uniform, who introduces herself as our hostess.
Lucy herds us on the narrow beach and briefs us on the island and its dangers, such as slippery rocks on the water’s edge, and the low rocky overhang on the stairway down to the caves entrance inside the island. (”Drop your head: Don’t damage the rock,” says the sign at the entrance.)
Lucy inducts us, like on a building site, then ushers us to the cave guides on the concrete stairs leading up to the caves’ entrance.
The guides brief us again on the caves and their dangers, before directing us down the stairs to plunge two metres into the outer cave, where the water is around three metres deep.
And they control access to the inner cave, allowing half a dozen at a time through the submerged tunnel. It’s more regimented and, in a litigious age, more professionally managed now.
There are four or five long, open tinnies visiting from the Tavewa lagoon down south, each carrying up to a dozen backpackers.
The journey up to Sawa-i-Lau has been fast and smooth, save for the final reach across a strait to the north of Nacula (Na-thewla), which is bumpy and wet, into a stiff nor’-easter and a heavy chop.
Our helmsman, from Joe’s Water Taxi, takes us directly across the channel into the lee of the northern shore, and along to the caves on the rocky island at the strait’s eastern end.
There are many other signs of progress around the Yasawas, an area known for its myriad budget resorts aiming at the backpacker and budget conscious traveller.
Atop Tavewa island, which forms the western boundary of the lagoon that bears its name, there is a telecommunications mast erected a year earlier by Fiji’s new mobile phone operator, Digicel.
The tower sits on the island’s peak, up a hill that is at times so steep that the locals have installed ropes to maintain traction on the hillside.
From the peak, there are panoramic views around the central Yasawa. The only sounds are the constant whoosh of the wind, and the beat-beat-beat of the wind fan which, along with solar cells, provides tower power.
Along with a primary tower on nearby Nacula, the Tavewa tower brings strong and reliable mobile phone reception and internet access to the central Yasawa.
It makes communication with the outside world reliable.
Many local families have their kids away at school on islands down south, and resorts have offices in Lautoka, on the mainland.
There are 17 resorts around Tavewa Lagoon, ranging from the up-market Turtle Island, a little to the south, to backpacker establishments such as Sunrise Lagoon, Safe Landing, Coral View, and Oarsman’s Lodge.
More budget-conscious than backpacker, Otto and Fanny’s, on the palm-heavy southern tip of Tavewa, is famous for Aunty Fanny’s afternoon teas (get ice cream with the cake of the day, alternately chocolate and banana).
Most of these cheaper resorts are not known for their food, other than in a negative sense, but Otto and Fanny’s turns that on its head: food is one of its strengths.
Otto and Fanny’s boasts Harry Doughty, Fanny and Otto’s son, a chef who has cooked at the resort for over 10 years. Harry’s food is sensational, particularly at the prices charged.
Unlike some of the other resorts, too, Otto and Fanny’s does not attempt to lock the visitor in to meal packages: you pay for what you eat.
If you don’t have lunch, for example, you don’t pay for it.
In the middle of the market in terms of price, a 1.7km swim across the channel from Otto and Fanny’s, is the stylish Nanuya Island Resort, with a dozen bures and another sensational menu.
There is vigorous competition amongst the Tavewa resorts, some gaining an advantage through a tie up with the provider of transport to the region, Awesome Adventures, which operates the daily Yasawa Flyer, a twin-hulled, high speed ocean-going ferry.
The voyage aboard the Flyer is an experience in itself. The four-and-a-half-hour trip north from Port Denarau snakes through the Mamanucas (Ma-ma-newthas), before crossing to the southern tip of the Yasawas, calling at up to 10 resorts on the way to Tavewa, two-thirds of the way up the chain.
The Flyer drops off and picks up backpackers, mainly, many of them on passes allowing them to visit multiple resorts over a week or so. (When you board the Flyer, head straight to the kiosk to get a roti parcel – curried potato wrapped in fresh naan bread: they run out early. And consider the Captain’s Lounge, which at $F20 one-way or $F30 return offers extra comfort, air-conditioning, and “hospitality”.)
The Yasawa is a beautiful, pristine, remote area. The water is clear and safe, the reef bright, varied and colourful, the air is clean, and a full day of swimming, diving, lolling about on the beach reading, village and cave visiting, leaves one ready to be sung to sleep by the lullaby of the sighing palms.
With its crystal clear warm water breath taking reefs
Drop offs, grottos, a maze of swim-throughs Fiji diving has some thing for every one
Popular dive sites
Mamanuca Group of islands the perfect destination for beginner Beautiful beaches, abundant marine life and ease of access from Nadi International Airport make the Mamanuca Group of islands the perfect destination for beginners.
This group of about 20 islands basking in a large lagoon formed by the Malolo Barrier Reef and Viti Levu boast stunning reefs and sand-fringed isles shared by traditional Fijian villages and modern island resorts.
Yasawa Islands Snorkelling is superb and the diving is good for those who enjoy the marine life over soft coral.
Extending north from the Mamanuca group are the Yasawa Islands, famous for crystal blue lagoons and some of the Pacific’s most ethereal beaches. The Yawasa Islands have white sandy beaches and crystal waters, lush tropical rainforests and soaring volcano peaks that attract fresh tropical rain.
Viti Levu
Viti Levu is Fiji’s main island and home to one of the most amazing dive experiences available. At Shark Reef in Beqa Lagoon, located off Pacific Harbour, divers can witness a shark-feeding session where it is very likely you could come face-to-face, one of the oceans largest predators. If just reading about the shark dive gives you heart palpations, Viti Levu does offer more tranquil dives. The Coral Coast located at the bottom of the island offers daily trips to spots with vertical walls covered in soft coral and an abundant fish life or head north of Nadi to Nananu-i Ra Island where you can dive the passage between Viti Levu and Vanua Levu.
Kadavu
Home to the famous Great Astrolabe Reef, stretching 100km along the south and east coast’s of the island, Kadavu offers a myriad of dive experiences. Divers can enjoy a dramatic seascape with arches, tunnels, crevices, canyons and swim-throughs all the while viewing an abundant array of reef species. With its stunning choice of dive locations around the island, Kadavu can cater’s for the experienced diver.
through to the novice
Taveuni
Taveuni is Fiji’s third largest island . Taveuni boasts two famous dive spots, rainbow reef and the Great White Wall which are located in the heart of the Somosomo Straight. Due to this narrow stretch of ocean, strong tidal currents push through the passage providing nutrients for the sea coral resulting in a spectacular underwater oasis for divers. Matagi and Qamea Islands, located a few miles north, also offer superb dive sites just waiting to be explored by dive enthusiasts.
Vanua Levu
Fiji’s second largest island, Vanua Levu, boasts numerous dive sites with most dives in or around Savusavu Bay. Dive experiences are vast with a number of drop offs, grottos, a maze of swim-throughs, abundant marine life and drift dive at Nsonisoni Pass.
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Mar 06 2010
