BULA!
BULA!
Hmmm.... where to go on a honeymoon on a budget of 3500 for one week per person? It's a difficult question to answer.
Hey Kip (BULA!)
Disclosure: I've been to Fiji 4 times, visiting Kadavu, Beqa, Viti Levu, Vanua Levu, Taveuni, Qamea, and Matangi.
Second: Budget. There are some resorts, like Beqa Lagoon Resort that run airfare/dive/accommodation and board packages that are substantially less than planning it a la carte. Beqa Lagoon Resort gets discounted airfare tickets from a wholesaler and then they discount their diving. If you decide to go a la carte, here's the deal:
The airfare from LAX is going to put you back $1200 a person if you're going to the main island (Viti Levu), but if you're traveling to an outer island, it'll be around $1500 a person. Add another $300 for airfare from St. Louis, so you're now down to $1,800 a person. *I know, this is getting depressing.* Now for the diving costs. You can get diving packages that decrease the cost, but either way the price is going to run you about a $100 to $110 a day for 2 dives a day, assuming our currency doesn't collapse between now Since you're only there a week, count on 6 days of diving ($600). So, the resort you're looking for (not counting alcohol which can cost anywhere from $7 to $15 a drink... lots of tax) is in the price range of $1,200 a person for the week.
Now for the diving critique:
1. The best overall diving experience is Somosomo Strait (between Taveuni and Vanua Levu). Strong currents here (not so much that it rips the mask off your face), but it makes for fun drift diving. Billions of anthias part like the Moses and the Red Sea as you pass through their purple and orange clouds, huge, beautiful soft corals of every color and shape, Napoleon wrasses, etc., etc., etc.
2. The best wall diving for pelaegics is Namenalala (Grand Central).
3. The best overall wall diving experience is Motualevu (off Matangi/Qamea/Laucala). Water clarity here is just crystal. Pyramid butterflyfish dance up and down the walls and schools of barracuda parade yards off the wall.
4. Beqa Lagoon has two good dive sites: Fantasea (unbelievable soft purple corals on a large bommie) and My Favorite Dive (beautiful hard coral dive on the outer edge of the lagoon). No drift dives and no wall dives here.
5. BUT, the best SPS coral diving in Fiji is found, surprisingly, on the Astrolabe Reef off Kadavu. The current doesn't rip here, so there is not a lot of soft coral and the big fish are missing. However, there are some huge manta rays (water clarity not great because of all the plankton).
Sampling of Resorts:
1. My favorite remains Matangi. I just can't say enough about this place - it's surreal. It's a small boutique resort made for the honeymoon market. Matangi runs at $520 a night (for the cheap bures) and they'll have a special in May of stay 7/pay 6. From this resort, you can access both Somosomo Straits and Motualevu. Besides raising more money for your trip, you could break up the week, by staying a few days on Taveuni at a cheaper resort (or quasi camp at Dolphin Bay Resort) and then transfer to Matangi.
2. The Cousteau Resort has the best food, by far, of any resort in Fiji. If you're looking for a culinary experience, a good diving experience, and the beautiful vistas of Savusavu Bay (quintessential South Pacific (flat volcano tops) vistas), this is the place. Prices are comparable to Matangi. The only detractors to this resort are (1) the visibility and reefs around the resort are just O.K. ... unless they take you out to Namenalala and (2) the families (in case you only want to socialize with other adults).
3. Beqa Lagoon Resort. This place provides good value for the experience. Beqa Lagoon is surprisingly murky though, and the dive masters seem to like taking divers to boring shipwrecks. The accommodations are good, not great, as is the food. Lalati (which I have not been to) is more upscale, but you'll still be diving Beqa Lagoon. There is an attraction here which you might be interested in pursuing: Tiger Shark and Bull Shark diving. I did this dive - but no tigers showed up, but lots of bulls did. You could barely see them though through the thousands of jacks that swarmed through the chum.
4. Kadavu. I can't in all honesty recommend the resort I stayed at: Dive Kadavu. Matava Resort is the closest to the Astrolabe, so this might be a consideration. It's cheap and it looks like it. If you want to experience a great SPS reef, with some softies mixed in, go here first for a few days, then upgrade to a nice resort. Your wife will kill you if you do the reverse and she's cast out of paradise. As an aside, when I landed in Kadavu, a Kiwi, who had just spent a week on Kadavu, turned to me and said, "Welcome to nowhere." Truer words were never spoken.
I can't say enough about Fiji. It evokes day dreams when you least expect it. Truly great memories. Hawaii may be a cheaper vacation and the views of Kauai are incredible, but it just can't compare. You want your honeymoon to be a dream: you can't go wrong with Fiji.