NADI, THE MAMANUCA & YASAWA ISLANDS
Within close proximity to the international airport this area is well served with hotels to suit every taste and budget. Dive services are available from the hotels and resorts and the usual destination is the nearby reefs and islands. The Mamanuca Islands are a spectacular mini archipelago only ten minutes by air from the airport or one hour by ferry. The Mamanuca islands sweep in an arc to the north west and join the spectacular Yasawa chain, the setting for the movie, The Blue Lagoon. The islands lie behind the great sea reef enclosing a huge lagoon of innumerable reefs, bombies, islands and islets most of which have never seen a diver.

Diving
The mainland and Island resorts are tailored to meet the needs of every diver, and include an adrenaline-charged shark dive at the site know as the supermarket for those craving extreme excitement. Novices have calm waters and coral reefs to explore. Experienced divers can dive the ocean side of the barrier reef and the passages through it. Visibility frequently exceeds 35 metres. As well as vibrant corals and colourful small reef fish. Dolphins, sharks, manta rays, turtles and large pelagic fish are frequently encountered. The resorts offer a range of accommodations: from small and intimate to a few that are not so small (but nor large) and tariffs that please everyone from backpackers upwards. All resorts have beautiful white sand beaches.

THE CORAL COAST
The Coral Coast begins 15 kilometres south of Nadi town. A new highway runs inland past sugar cane fields and Caribbean Pine plantations missing much of the coastal beauty until it descends towards Yanuca Island and one of Fiji's largest beach resorts which is also the headquarters for the sole dive operator catering for the luxury resorts and budget accommodation places along this spectacular stretch of Fiji's principle island. Once past the small township of Sigatoka and the village of Korotogo, the highway joins the coast and runs beside the beautiful lagoon. There are 14 resorts, hotels and motels along the coral Coast as well as budget places, including a village set up to cater for visitors.

Diving
Daily pick ups by the operator take divers to the various dive sites. This includes vertical walls festooned with soft corals and gorgonia fans and fish life on the outside of the main reef and in the passages. Wonderful area for family holidays as the diving is incredibly accessible and it is possible to enjoy tow dives in the morning and spend the afternoon with the family. A wide range of restaurants, shopping and excursions up the Sigatoka Valley to pottery villages and historic sites.

LOMAIVITI & RA
Lomaiviti is the Fijian name for a group of islands east of Viti Levu. The islands include Ovalau that has the quaint former capital of Fiji, Levuka; Moturiki, Makogai, Batiki, Nairai, Gau and a number of smaller islands and islets. This includes Toberua and Wakaya whose exclusive resorts offer superb diving as does a live-aboard vessel that frequents this area. It was on the island of Ovalau at Levuka that the first European beachcombers set up camp. Levuka witnessed great debaucheries and political alarm until Fiji was ceded to Britain in 1874 and the township became the colony's capital. Lack of room for expansion saw the capital move to Suva on Viti Levu, thus consigning Levuka to a backwater, ideal for those wishing to experience living history. The eastern coast of Viti Levu that sweeps to its northern-most point is know as Ra. The islands of Nananu-I-Ra and Nanau-I-Cake, is the site of new dive operations. The islands are approximately two hours by car from Nadi airport on a modern tar-sealed highway through sugar cane fields and view of Bligh Water and its reefs and islands.

Diving
Wonderful diving offering walls lush with soft corals, gorgonia, feather stars and hard corals as well as profuse fish life including large fish and large sharks. Some of the sites guarantee schools of pelagics including hammerhead sharks, barracuda, turtles giant trevally, manta rays, moray eels and even tuna. The area around Nanau-I-Ra and Nanaau-I Cake has produces many sites within the short time diving services have been available but much remains to be explored including the nearby reefs in Bligh Water, such as Cherybdis and the area around Vatu-I-Ra island which marks the north-western extremity of the channel diving Viti Levu and Vanua Levu. Current sites feature black coral, profuse soft corals, hard corals, walls, caves, prolific fish life including large fish, as well as turtles, dolphins and on occasion whales on their way through the channel.

THE NORTH - SAVUSAVU
The north is the common name for the islands of Vanua Levu, Namenalala, Taveuni, Qamea, Laucala, Matagi, Kioa, Rabi and a series of smaller islets and islands. For reference purposes, the North has two distinct tourist dive areas: Savusavu and Taveuni. Savusavu is located on the shore of a magnificent harbour on Fiji's second largest island of Vanua Levu, the township of Savusavu is the focal point of several resorts and outstanding diving. The Cousteau Society's Ocean Search Project has used Savusavu for the past four years offering a testimonial to its diving and its attractions as a destinations. This area includes the island of Namenalala within the great Namena reef surrounded by pristine waters. Savusavu is only a brief but scenic flight from either Nadi or Suva showing a multitude of coral reefs with their wonderful pastel colour - shades of aqua greens, turquoise and the dark blue of the deep sea. There is much to see on the ground: an old gold mine, treks and trails through virgin forest beside streams with cascades and waterfalls, horse riding, visits to villages and road tours.

Diving
Most of the reefs of this area have never seen a diver and probable never will. The area is too vast and offers too much. Operators can only select dive sites which have the full spectrum of Fiji's best and concentrate on these. The nearby reefs of Savusavu and Namenalala have superb diving with a great choice of sites offering an underwater wonderland which has made Fiji famous; walls, caves, over-hangs, soft and hard corals, reef fish and pelagic fish - this has it all. The diving is less demanding in Savusavu Bay but becomes dramatic on the outer side of the barrier reef which sweeps up the coast to Somosomo Strait dividing Vanua Levu and Taveuni. It is also spectacular on the Namena Reef, which like the Savusavu barrier reef, stretches more than 30 miles between the ocean and the lagoon.

THE NORTH - TAVEUNI
Known as the "Garden isle" of Fiji, Taveuni is the result of a gigantic volcanic eruption which has left the soil immensely fertile. The peak of the volcano, Mt. Uluqalau, is a majestic 1300 metres (more than 4000 feet) above the sea and the ridges and spurs march down to the sea covered in a magnificent rain forest which gives way on the lower slopes and the coastal fringe to coconut plantations except for a stretch on the south eastern side where cliff faces plunge into the ocean. The island is host to most of Fiji's native bird species and to the unique Tagimaucia flower. Taveuni is Fiji's third largest island, separated by a narrow strait from Vanua Levu, but enclosing within its reef the islands of Qamea, Laucala and Matagi. Nearby are the islands of Kioa and Rabi and within easy reach are the Ringold Isles, the Heemskerq Reef complex and the atolls of Qelelevu Walagilala and Duff Reef. The northern Lau Islands include Kaimbu which is Fiji's most exclusive resort, featuring only three bures, each with access onto its own white sand beach.

Diving
Deserving of every accolade, This is definitely connoisseur country offering experiences which have earned rave revues from he most jaded divers. Taveuni features Rainbow Reef and the Great White Wall in the heart of Somosomo Strait, only minutes by boat from the mainland. A few miles further north, Matagi and Qamea Islands have a different but equally impressive portfolio of dive sites while many more wait to be discovered. There are so many islands and reefs that even pioneers like Rick Cammick who "discovered" the Great White Wall and Rainbow Reefs, or the Douglas family of Matagi Island who have dived the area for 40 years, have not seen more than .001 per cent of what the area offers. A live-aboard dive vessel at Matagi will allow a much wider exploration.

Live chat by Boldchat