Fiji: Beqa Lagoon vs Kadavu/Astrolabe Reef

[SouthernSeas]

Hi Folks -

My husband and i are going to Fiji for two weeks after Christmas. A dive shop here suggested going to Beqa Lagoon and Kadavu at this time of year.

We're trying to split our time between the two and would like some advice on whether one spot is better than the other. (ie. should we spend more time at one over the other -- or just split between the too.)

Has anyone dived Beqa and Kadavu and provide a comparison.

Thanks.

[Reg]

We've dived with Beqa adventure divers. Although renowed for there shark dives they do nice Coral dives as well. We stayed in Pacific Harbour for about 5 days in April last year just doing the sharks and Coral Dives. I haven't been to Kadvau so i can't help you with a comparison.. We are planning to go back to Fiji in 2009 so I'm interested in hearing about other dive locations in Fiji.

[Travelnsj]

I have not been to either. I have done a lot of research and have heard the Bligh waters is some of the best diving in the world. For land based you can reach it out of Rakiraki located on the northern part of Viti Levu. The diving (people say) is up there with Palau and Raja Ampat....hope this helps.

[Shenanigan]

I haven't been to either of the resorts you mentioned. I have gone out of Wananavu Resort (Rakiraki) and Castaway Island. Both were great. Wananavu was more secluded and a tad bit better diving, but the food got boring at the end of the week. Castaway Island, coming from a Yank's perspective, seemed to be more of an Aussie's family get-away, not a bad thing, just an observation, still a great resort. Our group was probably an annoyance to them. (Sorry if you were there with us ... but we had a good time!)

[SouthernSeas]

Hi Folks -

Thanks much for the info on Beqa and Kadavu. Now for some feedback:

Kadavu had some great diving. The reef there is in pristine shape -- there are very view villages and resorts on the island, so there is little fishing and few divers to wreck the reefs. I've never seen hard corals so abundant and unspoiled. One big highlight was the "Manta Point" dive site -- huge manta rays cruising above your head like jets buzzing an airport. Very cool. Mantas also showed up at a couple of other spots, but they wouldn't get very close. The other site I liked a lot was "Golden Chimney," which had cool overhangs and a big chimeny clad with yellow soft coral.

On Kadava, we stayed at a place called "Matava Eco Resort." It isn't a "resort" in the common sense of the word. They have only about 8 private, grass-clad huts and one small shared hut. The accomodation and whole "resort" area is really basic -- its more like living in a small Fijian village than a "resort." Because its so remote, food is included -- but that too is pretty basic and a bit sparse on some days. So, be prepared for pretty rudimentary living.

Also, there is no house reef -- Matava is located near a freshwater stream and you really need kayak to paddle out to the corals. That said, their dive staff is really good and very flexible about when they take the dive boats out, what locations you go to etc. The diving and dive staff really made the trip worth while.

After a week at Matava, we went to the main island for a week to dive around Beqa. Stayed at The Pearl South Pacific Resort in Pacific Harbour. The diving in Beqa is not nearly as good as in Kadavu -- there is a lot of fishing in the area and the reefs are in much worse shape. On the other hand, there are other things to do in the area if you want to take a day off diving. We also really liked the hotel.

We dived with both Aqua-Trek (located on the grounds of The Pearl) and Beqa Adventure Divers (about 5 minutes away by shuttle). Beqa Adventure Divers were a MUCH better dive operation. Aqua-Trek seems to attract a lot of inexperienced "resort divers" and their whole attitude was pretty poor. Also, they have only one dive boat and do the shark dive three times a week -- so you don't get much variety. The whole set up at Beqa Adventure Divers is much more suited to "serious" divers. They have two boats which go to different locations, which gives you more variety. They are also much more interested in the ecology of the reef and willing to share their knowledge.

We didn't have brillant visability at either location -- but this was probably due to the time of year (its summer down here) -- in winter its supposed to be more clear. Also, I've heard that some of the northern islands have the best diving in Fiji -- so I would try there the next time I go to Fiji -- although Kadavu was a memorable experience.

Hope this helps.

Best,
SoutherSeas

[Travelnsj]

Good informative report....Thanks

[mrm777]

Thanks Southern Seas....all the necessary details...much appreciated.

[Desert_Diver]

Thanks for the report. I've only done Fiji once, and I stayed at Matana Bay on Kadavu. The facilities there were a tad rustic and we didn't have 24 hour electricity. However, I was with a fun group and we were never at a loss for something to do. I didn't have any problem with the food. The resort is run by Aussies (who have a weakness for vegemite on their breakfast toast- the memory makes me queasy even today) but I had no problems with the other choices available to me.

I agree with you that the coral reefs we dove there were in excellant shape. I enjoyed the diving even though in retrospect we timed it too close to the wet season which caused a slightly degraded viz. But I would give the Kadavu diving a .

Art

[SouthernSeas]

Desert_Diver:

Did you stay at Matana or Matava on Kadavu? There names are really close -- only one letter difference!

I hear that MataNa is a bit nicer than MataVa (we stayed at the latter). They also on opposite sides of Kadavu island, so they don't have the same dive sites.

Best,
Southern Seas

[Desert_Diver]

Originally Posted by SouthernSeas

Desert_Diver:

Did you stay at Matana or Matava on Kadavu? There names are really close -- only one letter difference!

I hear that MataNa is a bit nicer than MataVa (we stayed at the latter). They also on opposite sides of Kadavu island, so they don't have the same dive sites.

Best,
Southern Seas

We were at MataNa Bay Resort.


I agree that the resorts are on opposite sides of the island, however, Kadavu Divers (the Mantana Bay house dive op) did take us to Astrolabe Reef on the other side of the island.

Proceedure: Get on the dive boat. This involves wading to the boat in shallow water. Matana Bay has no dock. Motor down (south) to about the airport. Wade ashore. (Again no dock.) Do a Texas pickup truck type trip (all the divers in the back of one teeny tiny pickup truck sitting on top of the dive gear) across the island which is very narrow at that point. The dive crew humps the gear for you on and off the truck. Wade out to a second dive boat. Ride the boat to several different dive sites. (I don't have my dive log available. I'm at work. Working of course. ) Most of the dive sites are on Astrolabe Reef. We had lunch at a private home who had contracted with Matana Bay. The lunch was Parrot Fish (quite tasty) with teeny tiny red peppers. (Hair curling hot, even for you Texicans). At the end of the dive day, do the travel thing in reverse.

I cannot comment on the MataVa resort. I've never been there.

Art