5 best places to dive in Fiji

Fiji's sensational shrubbery is the main draw to our tiny little island in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean. Soft corals are essentially the same as the hard variety yet without the calcium exoskeleton.  To dive our soft coral forests you will need to visit dive resorts positioned on areas of current flow - generated by the deep volcanic lava flows from the archipelago's volcanic history.  Here there is current - the lifeblood of soft coral reefs.   Fiji's  azure waters, in these current rich areas,  offer a kaleidoscopic medley of soft corals - swaying colourfully in many different shapes and textures.  Soft corals get their structure and form by using their individual polyps to suck water, via their mouths, into a communal canal system.  This watery scaffold is used to make the corals effectively 'stand up' when the tide is flooding so they can grab passing zooplankton - miniscule marine creature larvae which flows in an out of the reef systems during the tides.

1. The Great White Wall - Somosomo Strait

Fiji's world famous 'Great White Wall' dive lies on Rainbow Reef commences with a passage worn through a hard coral stack.  Divers descend to 15 metres and enter a steep dark passage filled with nocturnal red soldierfish.  Emerging in a swim through jam packed with soft corals and sea fans of every description and colour you then swim out at 23 metres on to the wall itself.   The splendour of a 100 metre vertical wall then hits you as the white Dendronepthya stretches as far down as you can see glowing a beautiful lilac in the blue of the drop off.   

Somosomo Strait is a deep and very narrow channel between Taveuni Island and Vanua Levu.  The Rainbow Reef system of corals that has formed in this stretch of water is peppered with stunning dive sites,  white sand bays, lush tropical beaches and friendly local villages.   

Recommended resort for Rainbow Reef diving  Sau Bay Private Resort

2. Instant Replay - Bligh Water

The colours of the Vatu - I - Ra reef system in Bligh Water dazzle.  The reefs offer bright yellows, pinks, purple soft corals buzzing with lyretails flickering in the current.  Walls of yellow and pink Dendronepthya intertwine with yellow and orange Melithaedae corals.  The hard coral shelf in the sunlight is absolutely pristine and deeper exploration is likely to lead to turtles, barracuda, trevaly, moray eels and reef sharks.  Instant Replay is a drift dive along a range of intertwined walls and outcrops with current and light bursting through breaks in the barrier reef.  There is so much to take in you will want to dive Instant Replay over and over again.

Vatu - I - Ra is dived from the northern tip of Viti Levu - around 3 hours from the international airport.         

          Explore Volivoli Beach Resort for dive packages to this amazing reef.

There are very few places in the world where the shark lover can reliably encounter tiger sharks. The Cathedral shark feed is exclusive to Beqa Lagoon resort on Beqa island, a short boat ride from Pacific Harbour.  The first dive is designed to attract these apex predators however there are normally one or two tiger sharks, usually sedentary pregnant females, waiting patiently for their tuna fish heads,  The tigers are hand fed in an incredible spectacle amid a frenzy of hungry bull sharks, nurses, lemons and fish schools snatching scraps.  The Cathedral dive is  an absolute bucket list dive for the shark lover.  Beqa Lagoon also has a series of smallish scuttled ex fishing boats which are strewn with soft and hard corals and make for interesting diving and photography opportunities.

Beqa Lagoon Resort is the place to stay for the Cathedral Shark Feed and a unique blend of island style Fijian hospitality.

Ono Island in Kadavu is home to a variety of pelagics.  Off the beaten track, an hour flight from Nadi International followed by an hour by boat the Great Astrolable Reef boasts humpbacks (between May to November), manta rays. dolphins and pilot whales.   The islands are Fiji's finest - picture perfect palm tree lined white sand bays, punctuated by rocky volcanic outcrops and waterfalls.  The dive sites of the Great Astrolabe are varied and you will almost certainly by the sole dive boat.  From soft coral bommies, to vertical hard coral walls, cave systems and manta ray cleaning stations.   

Visit Oneta Resort for a sustainable pelagic focused eco-stay off the beaten track.

A return to Vatu - I - Ra Marine Park for our final dive.  Mellow Yellow dive site is a conveniently located around a 5 minute boat journey from Instant Replay (no 2 dive).  Tangerine Dendronepthya has colonised two connected coral stacks adjacent to a larger  bommie resplendent in pink and purple corals and fans of all descriptions.  The site throngs with schools of colourful reef fish and sharks, turtles, barracuda and spanish mackerel pass in the blue.   The safety stop at 5 metres is at a conveniently located pristine Acropora shelf covered in every type of hard coral, zooxanthellae soft corals such as mushroom corals and Sinularia.    Mellow Yellow is  world class diving in crystal clear water and is the zenith of soft coral diving. 

Vatu - I - Ra is dived from the northern tip of Viti Levu - around 3 hours from the international airport.           

    Explore Volivoli Beach Resort for dive packages to this amazing reef.

           Meet Waterlust Fiji founder 

                writer/photographer and avid diver

           Alison Smith

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