Fiji Pictures

Dear SBJim, Achilles Tang2002, and Financial Path,

Thanks for the comments. This is a long response, but I'll start with a new movie I made of the flight from the main airport out to an island in the northeast, called Taveuni.

http://www.fijiguide.com/video/taveuni-dreaming

Now for the recommendations. I think you should view all your choices first, and then I can help you decide. I'm turning into a travel agent here.

Let's talk expenses and logistics before resorts. To get to Fiji from the US, there are two airlines:

(1) http://www.airpacific.com/
Air Pacific is currently running an airfare of $1200 (w/ tax) from LAX to NAN, and
(2) http://www.continental.com
Continental's website won't provide a link for Fiji, but rest assured, they now fly there (well, at least they will start flying there beginning Friday, December 18, 2009). The flight leaves from Honolulu and/or Guam. Continental tends to be pricey and the lay-over in Honolulu will drag out your travel day considerably. However, if you have Continental miles "“ redeem them and get a free trip.
(3) http://www.airnewzealand.com
I didn't mention Air New Zealand as part of my "œ2" because it'd be crazy to fly to Auckland (overflying Fiji) and then turn around and fly back to Fiji.
(4) http://www.koreanair.com
This is another crazy itinerary choice "“ unless you're living in Korea "“ but who knows "“ especially when redeeming miles what crazy itinerary an airline will give you to try and make you pay money rather than miles.
(4) If you live in Australia "“ you have a great choice of cheap no-frills airlines (Virgin and a Qantas subsidiary) that fly to Fiji as well as Air Pacific.

OK, you've landed in Fiji. Now what? Well, for one, you don't want to stay/dive/snorkel any place close to the airport. The airport is on Nadi Bay and it used to be a mangrove paradise. Translation: mud. The mangroves extend south to where the Radisson, Westin, and Sheraton are located (on Denarau Island). If you like to lay on mud for a beach, you're welcome to stay here. Or if you want a place to sleep, before venturing on, and you want some luxury, this is not a bad option.

The main island of Viti Levu should probably be avoided as the island is surrounded by fringing reef that's exposed at low tide. However, Wananavu Beach Resort, up in the north, visits Bligh Waters "“ the most famous place for diving in Fiji (Mt. Mutiny, E6) along the Vanua Levu Barrier Reef. Wananavu's rates in Fijian dollars are:

http://www.wananavu.com/activities_n.html

Another place to consider is Beqa Island, just off the southern shore of Viti Levu.
http://www.beqalagoonresort.com/?rubrique=prepare&sous_rubrique=3

As you can see, this is a good deal. For $2,599 you get roundtrip airfare from LAX, transportation to the island, food (you pay extra for drinks besides water) and 10 boat dives (unlimited shore diving). Considering your airfare is a minimum of $1,200, $1,300 is for diving, food and accommodation.

I went to Beqa Lagoon Resort 3 years ago and it was a great week. There were 2 dives (out of the 10) that were just beyond belief: "œFantasea" and "œMy Favorite Dive". Fantasea is a bommie covered in deep purple soft corals and plastered with anthias. It is so beautiful, so surreal, that I took mental photographs. "œMy Favorite Dive" is a hard coral dive on the outer edge of the Lagoon's reef. It's another stupendous experience with crystal clear water (unlike Beqa Lagoon which is a bit murky). The other dives at Beqa are just O.K. and there are two ship wrecks they visit that are truly not worth the hours. HOWEVER, if you're into shark dives, Beqa also offers the shark dive experience (which costs extra) where you are guaranteed to see nurse, white tip reef, gray, and bulls. Yes, bulls. About once a month, a tiger also shows up. It's a deep dive and you just sit on the reef and watch the sharks come in for their food between the thousands of jacks and remora. Beqa Lagoon Resort caters to dive clubs (mostly from the US), but there are times when you and your family are the only ones there. Ask the booking agent for a date without other people if you want an intimate experience.

OK, that's it for the main island. I don't want to be too judgmental about the diving opportunities from the main island, but if you're flying all the way to Fiji, you should expect a quality experience. With a fringing, exposed-at-low-tide reef, surrounding the main island, your chances of seeing what I've shown in my posts is remote.

So, let's look elsewhere. Prices are going to go up because (1) you either need to take a boat or (2) an airplane, to get to another of the 333 Fijian islands. The resorts also tend to cater to honeymooners who are, for a split second in their lives, flush with cash/or irrational enough to go on credit. There are distinct regions:

(1) The Mamanucas Islands. The film "œCastaway" was filmed on an uninhabited Mamanucas island. The Mamanucas are okay for hard coral diving/snorkeling. These islands are relatively close to the main island and are marketed for either party/budget travelers from Australia, families from Australia, or honeymooners from Asia (Matamonoa Island). If you want to party and are rather blasé about the diving, go here. The Australians know how to party and you'll have a good time.
(2) The Yasawa Islands. The original Blue Lagoon movie with Brooke Shields was filmed out here. These islands are dry, volcanic edifices with golden, perfect sand beaches. I've been told the diving here is good, not great, and it tends to be hard coral. The resorts come in 2 types: VERY EXPENSIVE or budget/backpacker. Octopus Resort has been rated (http://www.octopusresort.com) well amongst the budget travelers who aren't keen on backpacker resorts. Someday I hope to get out here and check this place out for myself.
(3) Kadavu Island. This island is far off the beaten track. Do not consider Dive Kadavu (Matana Beach Resort) "“ horrible chef-boyardee food and the Australian owners, when drunk, make unwarranted jabs at Americans. Matava Resort and Tiliva Resort are, from what I hear, nice and their prices are reasonable. Kadavu Island offers the great Astrolabe Reef, which from experience, is super. At the southwestern end of the Astrolabe huge 15' manta rays cruise the relatively shallow, beautiful, hard coral reef. It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
(4) The Lau Islands. Never been here and there are no resorts "“ just villages offering accommodation. The islands are uplifted coral ridges "“ the perfect atoll experience. Diving iffy as there is no infrastructure. Snorkeling I'm sure is great. These islands will give you the Robinson Crusoe experience you've always pined for"¦
(5) Vanua Levu. Diving here can be great to moderate. The best diving in the area is actually at Namenalala, an hour's boat ride south of this island. You can stay on this island, but it's pricey. http://www.moodysnamenafiji.com/
a. Otherwise, there are various resorts/hotels here. If you're interested in this area, let me know and I can steer you towards resorts/hotels that meet your budget and you can still dive Namena. Here's a sampling:
b. http://www.korosunresort.com/
c. http://www.fijiresort.com/
d. http://www.lomalagi.com/
i. You can swim with a pod of wild dolphins in the bay that fronts this property.
e. http://www.namalefiji.com/
f. http://www.dakuresort.com/
i. This one's relatively cheap and you can dive with the Cousteau Resort just down the road.
g. http://www.savusavufiji.com/
i. This one's really cheap, but it's the equivalent of a Motel 6. You can dive with Cousteau also from this hotel.
(6) Taveuni. This is the garden island of Fiji "“ wet rainforests, waterfalls, etc. Most of my pictures are taken from this area. There are various resorts to consider and most are, unfortunately pricey. The area is focusing entirely upon the honeymoon market.
a. http://www.taveuniislandresort.com/
b. http://www.gardenislandresort.com/
c. http://www.maravu.net/
d. http://www.paradiseinfiji.com/
e. http://www.qamea.com/
f. http://www.matangiisland.com/

There are also other options, such as renting a home, and then diving with an independent dive operator. You could also consider the following:

http://www.dolphinbaydivers.com/about.html
http://www.coconutgrovefiji.com/index.php
http://www.nakiafiji.com/


That's it for now!
Scott
 
wow that is absolutely amazing. i would love to be able to go there and see this great thing in person. Thanks for the great pictures and new backround for the pc.
 
Wow! Your pictures are truly amazing and I really enjoyed your videos. It is nice that you are willing to share your experience with some of us who will never get to see it first hand. Thank you for that. My kids really enjoyed the picture of the reef shark. Do you have more shark pictures? Thanks for your time, Mike
 
Dear LowDime and MMeritt28,

Thanks for your kind comments. I'm glad my pictures are worthy of your desktop!

As for more shark pictures, hmmm...., I'll have to go through my archive and see what I can come up with. I did take some video of a sleeping nurse shark in a little cave, but you can only see the tail... sort of a disappointment. If you'd like something different, like video of a dog tooth tuna, I can accommodate you this coming weekend.

Here's another video just to show you that not all dives in Fiji are great. This one is of the famous Great White Wall. As you will see, it was raining, dark, and somewhat miserable. You'll see a wall, but not the plethora of famous white/lavendar tree corals - as the current was wrong. When the current's in full swing, this site is spectacular. The video will also show a beautiful Fijian beach.

That's it for now. Happy New Year!
Scott

<embed width="600" height="361" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullscreen="true" allowNetworking="all" wmode="transparent" src="http://static.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid955.photobucket.com/albums/ae33/ScotterP/GreatWhiteWall.flv">
 
Great stuff scott... I really like the "Flying to Fiji" video, what did you use for the editing. I like the 'comic book' style.:thumbsup:
 
Thanks Plan>B. The movie editing software I use is iMovie. It's an Apple software product that comes with their computers or with iLife. It links with iTunes and iPhoto. The comic book style is one of 6 format styles the software currently offers. Each style provides different transition tools. For the amateur, this is a very cool program.

Just checked Continental Airlines to see if Fiji is on their website. It is and it is offering really good fares right now! They're charging $840 for a roundtrip ticket from San Francisco. This is the cheapest I've ever seen it!
 
Thanks PhoShizzo.

Regarding Mike's (MMeritt28's)- or his kids' request for shark videos - I just thought of all the Beqa Lagoon shark videos on UTube. As I mentioned above, I did this dive a few years ago. It's done on a fringing reef on the main island of Viti Levu.
Description of dive: The minute you jump into the water you're surrounded by remoras (usually not a good sign, eh?). They follow you down, trying to latch on for a free ride. Once settled, the guys running the dive open up garbage bins full of chum and you're suddenly surrounded by trevally (jacks) by the thousands. I couldn't see anything except the fish (not even my dive buddy) - and then all of a sudden a huge tail of nurse shark swishes right by my face. The nurses chowed down right out of the garbage can (relatively docile), then the gray reef sharks showed up. The nurses scattered. After a few minutes of jerky requiem shark movements, the grays disappeared. Why, you ask? Because the thugs arrived. Big, thick, small eyed bull sharks. The dive is deep - around 80' and a little cold. There is no coral to speak of down this deep, so there's no worry of divers damaging corals. Anyway, here's a sampling of 2 videos found on UTube. FYI: If you do the dive, they have a camera crew that films you with the sharks and they mail you the DVD a few weeks later. It's quite an experience!

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/NIHRoaLNDo4&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/NIHRoaLNDo4&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/tvyRypo6YqA&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/tvyRypo6YqA&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
 
If the shark dive excites you enough to visit Beqa - there are some good coral dives as well. Fantasy and My Favorite Dive (actual name of site) are my favorites in Beqa Lagoon. Here is a video (not taken by me) of Fantasy. Note the cloned colony of rose bta about 1/2 way through. The video doesn't do the dive justice - this is a huge bommie with magnificent purple soft coral trees cascading down the face of the cliff. It's just stunning.

<object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/yXcjPOqDPfs&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/yXcjPOqDPfs&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>
 
Woweeeee, thanks for sharing those. I am a big chicken, so no shark feeding dives for me. I would like to see them but not that many at one time and not a Bull shark.
 
OK - I need to stop, but I need to add this Beqa video because who ever took the video was using a GREAT HD CAMERA on a clear sunny day. You're not going to believe the colors of the anthias and the water in this video! It's like you're actually there!

<object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/T3mjvnF1qjg&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/T3mjvnF1qjg&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>
 
Trip to Matangi, Fiji June 2009
P6120289.jpg


P6120290.jpg


Wow, Just Absolutely amazing
 
Back
Top