Surface conditions: Calm, can get choppy
Water temperature: 22 - 29°C
Number of dive sites: > 50 +
Distance: 20 - 150 km east of Viti Levu
Our normal itinerary for both seven and ten-day charters starts and ends in Lautoka, just north of Nadi, where the international airport is located.
After an initial "checkout" dive on the afternoon of boarding, NAI'A heads north and east around the flank of the main island of Viti Levu to reach Bligh Water.
Several different divesites in Bligh Water are available including Vatu-i-ra, E6, Mt. Mutiny, and Cat's Meow, depending on localized weather conditions.
From there we choose our sites according to weather, tides, and our passengers' inclinations.
But generally we visit the islands and barrier reefs of Namena, Wakaya, and Gau.
On ten-day charters we have more time available to dive the various reefs in the Koro Sea, some of them near Namena and others near nowhere!
We have dived Fiji's finest reefs since 1993, under every imaginable set of circumstances. Importantly, we've kept good records.
Many sites are current-dependent and detailed local knowledge is critical in order to maximize the number of good dives in the best spots.
For that reason we don't offer a fixed itinerary -- "if it's Tuesday, it must be Wakaya". Instead we tailor each voyage to the tides and weather that week.
We also desire to explore remote locales and "get away from it all".
But ecologically and globally speaking, coral reefs don't always share our goals for isolation and solitude.
North Save-a-Tack Passage is the dive site which drew Cousteau to Fiji. On the plateau above the wall, giant schools of bigeye trevally, scad, and barracuda are watched over by several gray reef sharks. On the periphery, white-tip sharks lie napping on the bottom in preparation for their night-time forays. The sides and tops of the bommies are alive with color: gorgonia fans, black coral, soft coral, and every reef fish imaginable.
Two Thumbs, Tetons, Mushrooms,These three divesites on the south side of the Namena Barrier Reef, directly across the lagoon from North Save-a-tack Passage, are flushed by clear incoming water when the current is going out at North Save-a-tack. Spectacular seamounts just on the edge of the drop-off, they collect the pelagics that patrol the drop-off and they are covered in soft-coral.
Jim's Alley is a soft coral garden in shallow water, home to zillions of reef fish. Jim's is a prime example of the kind of soft coral diving for which Fiji is famous. Jim's is a regular stop for four or five mantas, who can frequently be found feeding in the adjacent channel during the waning tide. Macro photographers, too, love Jim's because of the profusion of little creatures living among the hard corals, soft corals, and fans.
Nigali Passage is a narrow cut in the surrounding barrier reef which concentrates pelagics from miles around. Nigali is home to female gray reef sharks which number from 8 to 25 depending on the season. The channel also concentrates a huge school of trevally, three age-segregated schools of barracuda, about a dozen big flowery cod.
Cats Meow, Humann Nature Undenaiable,Three magnificent divesites that lie on the northern barrier reef that defines Bligh Water's Vatu-i-ra Channel, these sites feature both main barrier reefs with good protection from swell and current plus small off-lying bommies smothered in life. Cat Holloway and Humann Nature is named for Paul Humann, the renown fish book author, who reckoned it was the best divesite he'd ever seen. Much of the gorgeous soft coral featured in Howard and Michele Hall's IMAX film Coral Reef Adventure was shot at these two sites.
Mount Mutiny, Diving is very much like E-6 in terms of pelagics and other fish life. The highlight of Mount Mutiny is the Rainbow Wall, a wall of unusual thin-stalked Chironepthya soft coral in a broad range of colors which blankets the south flank of Mount Mutiny for a distance of 200 meters in depths between 60 and 120 feet. This is one of the single prettiest soft coral dives anywhere.
Vatu-I- Ra,There are seven very distinct dives on the Vatu-i-ra barrier reef, several of which are among the best coral-reef dives in the world. The barrier reef protrudes north from Viti Levu into the Vatu-i-ra Channel, narrowing the channel to only 4.5 miles across.
E6 - A photographer heaven, A seamount rising sheer-sided from 3,000ft right in the center of the narrowest part of Bligh Water's Vatu-i-ra channel, where it intercepts the flow of nutrients funneled between the two large islands of Viti Levu and Vanua Levu. Extraordinary diving! Pelagics are normally found on the two sides of the pinnacle flushed by currents, while delicate soft corals and fans decorate the protected lee side where NAI'A moors. The Cathedral is a large swim-though lined in gorgonia fans and soft coral, with soft-coral trees growing up from the floor. A narrow opening above allows sun rays to penetrate to the floor of the Cathedral, illuminating the bright fans and soft coral like so many panes of stained glass, giving it the feel of its namesake. The floor is home to several different colors of poison-bristle nudibranch, while adjoining small caves shelter many large lobster. Other highlights of night dives at E-6 are giant cuttlefish, arrowhead crabs, tiny soft coral cowries, colonial anemones on the gorgonia fans, and so many flashlight fish that you can navigate by their bright green light. Day dives at E-6 feature schooling barracuda, trevally, and surgeonfish, occasional hammerhead sharks and eagle rays, and a plethora of reef fish including anthias, fusiliers, and leaf scorpionfish.
