Rob Kay's Fiji Islands Travel Guide - Diving, Fiji information, Fiji Islands, tourism, travel, surfing, diving, scuba, online guide

1. Turtle Patch
2. Coral Gardens
3. Soft Coral Grotto
4. Sea Fan Ledge
5. Side Streets
6. Black Coral Fantasy
7. Garden Eel Patch
8. Colonial Boy Point

9. Yanuca Shallows &
Wreck of the Tasu No. 2
10. No Name Passage
11. Frigate Passage
12. Surgeon's Alley
13. Nasici Rocks
14. Caesar's Rocks
15. Action Drop Off

Beqa (pronounced Benga) is surrounded by one of the largest barrier reefs in the world and lies 8 km South off Viti Levu (see above map) about 130 km from Nadi. The lagoon is an extinct volcanic crater with a 40-mile ring reef has formed on the lip of the old crater. The formation is situated on the windward side of Viti Levu, and is the recipient of south-easterly trades (and the nutrients they bring). Interestingly the reef on the windward (southern) sideof the Lagoon is not particularly rich in marine life as is the case of the main reef running along the south side of Viti Levu. The reason for this is the same reason why this area is so desired by surfers: Huge swells continually pummel the area. Whereas prevailing swell batters the southerly reef, the opposite (Northwest side) of the lagoon circle near Yanuca Island to the west of Beqa - is protected by the southern reef, the Lagoon, and by the islands in the Lagoon. (Note the cluster of dive sites on the map all lie in the Northwest side of the lagoon.) The result is a haven rich in marine and reef life --especially soft corals and sea fans.

Dive Commentary From Undercurrent

Undercurrent, a Sausalito, California based publication has graciously provided Fijiguide.com with commentary on Taveuni and Savusavu destinations from staff writers and readers. With the exception of one report, the verbiage below is generally not more than two years old.

"There are lots of soft corals, nudibranchs, blue ribbon eels, lion fish, sharks, schools of barracuda and even a wreck. The visibility can be poor on some

days due to rain or current. If you’re into macro, they have a great “muck” dive in front of the resort. Their dive shop seems to be well equipped and is run by Joeli, the dive instructor, and three divemasters who accompanied us. They worked hard to show us as much as possible and helped us get back on the boats when the water was rough."

"The diving is amazing. Soft corals of all colors are abundant, leopard shark, white tip reef sharks, small schools of jacks, barracuda and tons of tropicals, 2 or 3 humpback in the lagoon and we saw one breach. Nudibranch and flat worms, octos — excellent night diving. E.T. is over dived by mainland operators and kicked to crap to the point that Beqa Lagoon Resort does not dive it! Beqa Lagoon Resort has installed mooring buoys at 90% of the dive sites. We pulled into Fantasy and the mooring was broken by a mainland dive operator. The Captain and mate fixed it and by the end of the dive we had a new tie-up, the mooring buoy, diver in and out excellent Daily 2-tank dives leave 8 am, all equipment handled by staff after arrival. Divers only look after

wetsuits and cameras. Night dives 2x weekly if at least 4 divers sign up. Shark dive Fridays for extra $FJ140. Many dive sites to choose from. Most days included 10-12 divers per boat; additional boat added if more. Snorkelers welcome on boats. 60 minute surface intervals. Very plentiful smaller tropicals. Good stands of healthy hard and soft corals. Divemasters will point out critters and unusual fish, will help photographers find stuff if asked. Spare but good briefings. Light supervision, but all divers checked in on depth and time after every dive. Dives 40-60 minutes. Many lionfish, stonefish, several leaf fish, white tipped reef sharks on about half the dives cruising by. Unlimited shore diving, but no one availed during our visit. No photo processing available at resort, no video or computer viewing facility. I used a digital and it was very easy. Others had film cameras and video and seemed comfortable. Resort has 240V outlets in rooms for recharging."

"I was disappointed with the diving in Beqa. About half were “ho-hum”, and half “that as nice”. The dive sites are typically 20- 30 minutes by boat. They have three boats, and all are quite nice for diving. Several dives have a lot of current. The bommies have only patches of healthy coral, the locals have overfished so there are almost no large fish and fewer numbers of smaller tropicals than I have seen elsewhere in Fiji. There is some good soft coral. I saw leaf fish and blue ribbon eels on almost every dive. The divemasters do not provide any graphic overview of the dive site in their brief briefings, and they are only mildly attentive to the status of the divers in the water. They let you dive as you want. They are quite good at finding and pointing out interesting critters. The between-dive interval is spent on the boat, with water, koolaid, and cookies."

Lush feathery bright soft corals, starfish and swim thrus at Caesars Rock, a tasty and beautiful lunch served in black lacquered boxes with snorkeling at picture perfect Yanutha Island, Side Street had bright yellow fluted vase and black rubbery sponges, foreye butterfly, rock beauty’s, puffers, bright soft

corals and more. Hard corals are mostly dead, much in part to lots of touching by other divers. Soft corals are healthy and beautiful from strong currents and this isn’t a drift dive so be in good shape and comfortable handling yourself and gear in them. Currents threatened to rip my mask off and 4’ swells yanked me up and down at Side Street while hanging on to the safety stop line. A reef hook might come in handy for photos or at the top of the reef for your safety stop. Fresh water rinse, no table, handled camera equipment with respect, handed to you in water."

Located at Centra Hotel; comprehensive PADI training programs offered.
Phone/(679) 651-1500
aquatrek@connect.com.
www.aquatrekdiving.com

BEQA DIVERS Fiji
GPO Box 777, Suva, Fiji Islands.
Phone (679) 336 l088. Fax (679) 336 l047.
Dave Evans 9969-246
Lorraine Evans 9927-770
e-mail: divefiji@connect.com.fj

(Located on Beqa Island.)
(679) 3472033
lalati@connectcom.fj
www.lalati-fiji.com

Photos illustrating this section are from Paddy Ryan the world's greatest Fiji naturalist

Thanks to Dave and Lorraine Evans of Scubahire Ltd/Beqa Divers Fiji for map of Beqa Dive Sites and dive information.