First Leg: March 24-31, 2008
The Resort:
Wananavu Beach Resort in Raki Raki is 2
1/2 hour ride from Nadi by not so perfect road. The resort is rather
isolated, but has a beautiful view, a nice spa, a good bar, and good
meals for everybody. The staff were always helpful and friendly. A
week has passed very quickly. We did not have Lovo because rain turned
their fire pit to a small pond. We all tried Kava, enjoyed their meke
(singing and dancing), and joined their dance at the end. We bumped
into Mary and George we knew from the dive store. The world is getting
smaller indeed.
Focus of the trip: Diving Bligh Water
Dive Sites: Wheat field, Deligans Rock
Water Temperature: 84 F
(28 C)
Bligh Water offered us lots of different
dive sites. We particularly liked diving pinnacles. There we found,
actually Doug found lots of nudibranchs and hidden fish like scorpion
fish and
stonefish, and we photographed them. It was really nice to have a
designated spotter with good eyes. Thanks, Doug. The other fish we saw
include white tip shark, common and clearfin lionfish, reef pipefish,
anemonefish (Tomato, Orangefins, Black and red, and Pink), moray, and
many
reef fish.
 |
 Inter-Ocean Group: Brian Ladd, Doug Sweeney, Ben Odegard, Katie and Courtney Nystrom, Kyoko Takayama and Jordan Lawrence. |
The Resort:
Matana Beach Resort on Kadavu Island is
1/2 hr flight from Nadi, if the air plane shows up. In our case couple
Island Hoppers flew us after 2 hrs wait at the Nadi airport. We were
told that the scheduled plane had a mechanical problem. Matana
is a basic diving resort on generator working only in the morning and
evening. But Bob, the owner thought this resort out for divers.
Each
Bure has a wet locker for your dive gear, and a rinse shower and tub to
wash off sands and sea water. The white sandy beach is facing west and
we saw beautiful sunsets from the beach bar. Food is all Fijian, and
the managers Mere and David are always there
for you.
Focus of the trip: Diving Kadavu
Dive Sites: Disney Land, Aquarium, Sea Fan Alley
Water Temperature: 84 F
(28 C)
one. Dive manager, Joeli took us on the dives and he knew
the reefs and had eyes to find small creatures. If you had something you want to
see, all you need to do is to ask. We also dove the Nabukelevu-I-Ra Reef
on the other
side of Island. Joseph is in charge of diving there and he dropped us
on top of the very healthy hard coral reefs. We were lucky enough to see 4
Giant Mantas feeding and
dancing all around us. Visibility is never good when you see Mantas feeding, but it is a
magical moment anyhow. There is no guarantee for Manta encounters, but
it's worth a try. We did not get a chance, but there is also a wall
dive at
King Kong Reef.
