Island Divers Hawaii Fiji 2015

Trip Report by Sheila Jordan

All 26 of us met at the airport to check in on Fiji Airways, as group airfare from Honolulu to Nadi airport was included on this dive vacation.  Excited smiles and greetings all around as we met old and new diving friends while sizing up each other’s gear bags and cameras.  Our group was awesome, with 16 lady divers and only 10 guys!

Fiji Airways does a great job of grouping us together on the plane with our buddy teams, but they are sticklers on baggage weights.  Having been told about the baggage limits ahead of time, we were prepared.

Greeted at the Nadi airport by the lovely Volivoli staff and driver, the adventure begins.  After our requested stop at a market to gather some snacks and cocktail fixings for our rooms, the air conditioned coach took us on a scenic 3 hour trip up North to Volivoli, our beautiful portal to the Bligh Waters, near the village of Rakiraki.  Passing first through the city then sugar cane fields, sugar factory, fields with grazing brahma cattle and goats, getting closer, we pass the Fiji Water spring access road, and watch it wind into the mountains.  The drive is beautiful, but not nearly as beautiful as all of the local residents who greet us Fijian style as we pass.  Children and adults alike wave and smile at us enthusiastically, and it makes us do the same right back.

We are tired from all of the travel and happy to make it to our home for the next week.  Staff members greet us with cold drinks as we get off of the bus.  Immediately, they begin to learn our names and will greet us by name for the rest of the week, I think it’s a Fijian super power.

Led by a staff member to our appointed rooms, we take in the beauty. The resort grounds are overlooking the ocean, bordered by flowering gardens and a citrus grove.

Some of us stayed in the private cottages called Vales complete with a kitchen, washing machine, couches and shaded porch with padded recliners.  Others opted for the hotel style rooms, which are fairly large with 2 queen beds desks and a lanai with table and chairs.  There is a third choice for groups with 3 person buddy groups, a hotel style room with beds for all.

We meet up with the group in the dining area.  Open air dining with a million dollar view of the bay, islands, mangroves and the pool area below.  Each meal is ordered off of the menu at Volivoli and expertly prepared with local fruits and veggies, using grass fed beef, local chicken or fresh fish.  Every day finds new fresh specials to try.

Morning finds us at the dive center on the beach below.  We were diving in winter, so we had our wetsuits along, you probably wouldn’t need them in Fijian summer, they are below the equator, so seasons are reversed.  Heading to our boats, we walk down the sand bar anticipating our first dive in the soft coral capital of the world.  Colorful soft and hard corals, sharks, starfish, glass shrimp, nudibranch, anemones with clownfish and thick clouds full of anthias and so many other tropical fish, it was like diving inside of a liquid rainbow.  Every day.

The reefs in the Bligh Waters are some of the healthiest in the world.  (If the name sounds familiar, think “Mutiny on the Bounty”, the area is named after the historical figure Lieutenant William Bligh, who sailed these seas in the 1780’s.)  This is the stretch of sea that between the islands of Vanua Levu and Viti Levu  There are no crowds here, we only saw a hand full of other dive boats the whole week.  The area is so nice, it’s on fancy live aboard boats schedules.  Don’t worry, there are over 50 sites for the small number of boats to choose from

Currents in the Bligh can be swift, but that is why the reefs are so healthy.  Incredibly nutrient rich waters flow through and feed the corals and smaller fish, this attracts bigger fish.  There are many seamounts and pinnacles (called “Bommies”) covered in colorful fans and corals to choose from.  Famous dive sites like Mellow Yellow, Black Magic Mountain and Mount Mutiny are roughly 20 minutes away from Volivoli.  From steep walls to swim-throughs, macro life to megafauna, beginners to veterans, there is something for everyone.

Typical dive day:  wake up, breakfast, dives, lunch, free time (for shore dive, showing off your best photos so far, beach, resort planned activity, rest, pool, cocktails or kava, massage) then comes dinner, cocktails and, on most nights, a bonfire on the beach with the resort owners, sleep and repeat.

Everyone had a fantastic time and were sad to go when our week ended.  Reluctant goodbyes and promises to return were given to the friendly staff and the Kiwi owners, the Darling family, as we boarded our coach for the ride back to the airport.   As one last great send off, the driver managed to convince a shop owner to open his store on Sunday,  just so we could buy some souvenirs in town before we headed back to reality.  Fijian hospitality is hard to top.