Diving Resorts
Beqa/Pacific Harbour
North | Beqa | Kadavu | Mamanuca | Liveaboard
The Beqa Lagoon Resort (formally Marlin Bay Resort)
is located on Beqa Lagoon and has received excellent reviews from divers. The bures have oceans views or overlook a koi pond. They are large, air 
conditioned with marble baths, lovely 4-poster king beds and out front have an outside hammock and chaise lounges. The grounds are beautifully landscaped and just behind the resort the land slopes into a tropical forest where you can visit a waterfall. The beach at Beqa was small, with a lot of coral rubble with few areas of nice sand.
Cuisine is excellent. The menu was inspired by the Austrian chef Christian Gruden, who also left his mark with the decadent chocolate dessert recipes still in use today. The local chef features an appetizer and two main course choices for dinner. Menu changes daily with fish every dinner and chicken and other “turf” options rotating. All are prepared with flair from fresh ingredients. 
Desserts are wonderful and varied. The workers, mostly people from the neighboring villages of Ravi Ravi and Rakua are friendly and accommodating. There are a couple of other nearby beaches accessible by walking or kayaking, but aren't much better. There is great live local music at dinner every night and there are occasional "meke" (traditional dance) as well as firewalking. (Beqa is the home of Fijian fire walking). No TV at the resort, which is nice. Phone and Internet connection are available at the office--not at the rooms.
Diving: Beqa Lagoon is the submerged crater of an extinct volcano, and Beqa Island is where the lip of the crater breaks the surface. The diving within the lagoon is relatively shallow (less than 100’) with walls and deep water on the outside. The lagoon is nutrient-rich so hard and soft coral and small reef life proliferate. In addition, there are a fair amount of larger pelagic fish, turtles, etc. There is a great shark dive that is very popular, and out toward Frigate Pass you can see mantas, eagle rays and passing humpback whales in season. The water temperatures range from an average of 78o F in the winter (Jul-Aug) to 82 oF in the summer (Feb-Mar). A 3-5mm wetsuit is recommended in the winter and a skin-3mm suit for the summer.
The Banded Seasnake featured in the video below is a typical site in Beqa Lagoon.
Distance from most dive sites: While there are over 30 dive sites inside and outside the lagoon, the majority are within 30 minutes of the resort. There are many within 5-10 minutes, and the most distant are about a 45 minute boat ride. There is reasonable shore diving and snorkeling right off the resort. Snorkelers can join the dive boat on a space available basis. Snorkeling is decent from the beach, with a long reef about 50 meters out over the flats with the bottom at around 10 meters and the top at 0-1 meter depending on the tide. You can see longnose filefish, clownfish, lots of small tropicals, some small tridacnas, lots of Christmas tree worms. Other activities include excellent surfing and fishing.
Dive Operator: Beqa Lagoon Resort’s in-house dive operation is a PADI facility that offers classes up through Divemaster. Open water referrals are accepted from any agency if you want to finish off your certification while at the resort. They can provide rental equipment (mask, fins, snorkel, BCD, regulator and wetsuits), but it is suggested that you bring your own equipment. If you do want to rent your gear, it is a good idea to let them know at the time of your booking. They have three 50’ mono-hull dive boats with covered areas that carry up to 20 divers each, which come in very handy to accommodate groups and divers who want to go to different sites. All 3 are covered and have heads on board, and they all feature water level entries and exits. The guides (who must be rated at least as Rescue Divers) have an in-water maximum of 6 divers each. Weights, belts and aluminum 80 tanks are provided. The dive shop can do minor adjustments or repairs, but is not set up for any serious repairs and they don’t have a retail shop.
Price: Prices begin at around US$300.00 per night for Garden View or Koi Pond Villa and go up to US$400 Honeymoon Villa. Gourmet Meal Plan (Adult; 3 meals daily) is $60.00.
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Owned and operated by Clint and Jayne Carlson since 2002, Lalati Resort is yet another boutique, beach side property. It has five ocean front and two hillside bures. Each deluxe ocean front unit has 2 large bedrooms (that can accommodate four persons) with a king size bed in the main bedroom a second bedroom with a queen. There is a comfortable sitting area, with tiled bath and shower, and a large, covered veranda (with hammock) on the veranda. The bungalow is just a few feet meters way from the water’s edge. The two hillside units are set back from the beach among a well tended garden. These bures have one very comfortable bedroom as well as a cozy sitting area and veranda. The grounds are immaculately maintained and designed so that water drains back into the ocean during the many periods of rain. (There's a reason why everything is so green around here.) 
Breakfast is a buffet of cereal, fruit, toast, juices, and coffee. There are also two choices for a hot entree. Lunch and dinner have just one main entree, but those with special dietary requests are accommodated.
Since they purchased the property Clint and Jayne have slowly made improvements including a small pool, a hot tub, an exercise room, media room with videos and DVDs, and a spa. One guest reported to Undercurrent that he was thoroughly impressed with the service. "During our stay, there was a group of about 10 surfers who were taken out every day with lunches and boards to Frigate Pass to spend the entire day surfing. This area is at the opposite end of the lagoon and the boat stayed with them the entire time. They also continued to take 3 or 5 of us diving…My camera case arrived late and they sent a boat to Pacific Harbor to retrieve it. There were also guests who were neither divers nor surfers, but were kept busy visiting other islands, kayaking, or being dropped off in Suva to go shopping." Rates are US$385.00 per person per night (single) or $260.00 (double) which entails accommodation, 3 meals, kayaking and other non-motorized resort activities, including snorkeling, hot tub, pool, exercise center and media room.
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