Manta Resort/Dive Kadavu by Roger

Manta Resort/Dive Kadavu, 1999
Author: Roger Freely

The following is my impression of the Matana resort and Dive Kadavu based on a trip from 24-June-99 through 2-July-99. Before I booked the trip, I spent considerable time looking for information on the internet. The report below does not try to bring all that information together. Instead, it attempts to fill in some of the gaps in what I found.

This is my first trip report, so let me know how I did.

GENERAL: The island of Kadavu (Pronounced "Kan-daw-vu" with accent on the second syllable) is something of a throwback to "old Fiji". 1. The mongoose was introduced by the British and has apparently eaten many of the birds on the other islands. Not on Kadavu. 2. The Cane Toad was introduced by the British and has multiplied out of control to the point of being a nuisance. Not on Kadavu. 3. During colonial times, the British found that the natives were not all that ambitious, so they imported workers from India. But not to Kadavu. 4. The Crown of Thorns starfish is killing some of the coral around Fiji. Kadavu is relatively unaffected. I didn't see any.

Mantana is the resort and Dive Kadavu is the dive operation. DK operates dive operations at several resorts on Kadavu.

The resort can hold up to 25 people. It consists of the bures (pronounced "boo-rays"), a dive center and a common building that serves as a dining room, living room, library, and bar. The beachfront bures are just that. Walk out your door, go 30 feet, down three steps and you are on a 2000 foot sand beach that is just for the resort.

It is not unusual to be completely alone on that huge beach. They do not dress or rake the beach so it is a great place for shelling. The collecting of shells from the beach is encouraged in moderation. The taking of anything from the dive sites is strictly forbidden. Also, the beach is community property, shared with the village so it is strictly 'G' rated. You will see children from the village go by fairly often and you will also see fishing parties go by. You may have come to see beautiful fish, but to the villagers, those fish are food.

The resort lives in a close symbiosis with the village. You will be advised that the village (right next door) is off limits unless you are invited and they will show you where the borders are. About 25 (our guess) villagers are employed by the resort and they all seem to get on very well. Other than the owners, the dive manager and resort manager are the only non-Figians working there.

The resort is all-inclusive and tipping is considered rude. They have a Christmas fund to which you may contribute that is distributed equally each year. They also will take donations for the high-school fund. Figiians must pay to go to high school and on Kadavu, that is a boarding school. It costs about $300 per semester per student for all expenses.

They will give you a key to your room but we didn't use ours. We locked up our passports and money in the office safe and left the key in the room. They do suggest that you bring your dive gear in at night. We did that much. In a testament to Fijian honesty, the dive operation sets up the gear for the next day's dive in the afternoon and leaves it on the boat all night. Never a problem.

There is no pool or hot tub. They do have a couple of wind surfing boards and about 3 sea kayaks. If you want, you can hike around the hills. There is a waterfall somewhere but we never went there. Other than that, this is a place where you eat, dive, sleep, fool around in the ocean or the beach, and fool around in the bure. No other place to go.

THE ROOMS: The bures are not air-conditioned but very well ventilated. To my thinking, this can be an advantage because you are not always running in and out of your cool room and are more likely to go outside. Also, some people get stuffed up by the constant temperature change. Since we were there in winter (late June) the temperature was not an issue. I can imagine that in summer things can be pretty hot. While there is a breeze, you are behind a wall of vegitation that can block the movement of air somewhat. The view from almost everywhere is gorgeous. In the BVI, they transplanted in vegitation. At Bonaire, there just wasn't any to speak of. Here they cut it back.

The vegetation comes with a price. Expect some rain and insects. We forgot (ok, I forgot) our repellent and still, we didn't come back with very many bites at all. Every bure has a can of insect spray, but we hardly needed it. The secret is to keep the door closed and always leave one light on during the day and evening. If there are any insects, they will be drawn to that light and you can play Dr. Death. The dining room is another matter. You are there in the early evening and it is very open. While we didn't have a big problem, I would suggest repellent before you go up for dinner.

The bures are very large. Ours was a beachfront bure and I didn't see the others. It was about 18x30 feet not including the bathroom and veranda. The bathroom was pretty much like a locker room with a concrete floor that didn't drain all that well. They put out a bath mat each day but it quickly gets soaked and just holds water. A wooden slatted mat might help with this.

The veranda stretches across the front with a truly outstanding view. No hammocks but you get two chaise lounges and two Adirondack type chairs which you can take to the beach.

Power is provided by a 4 generators which run from 7AM to 10PM. They were down to just one while we were there (waiting on parts). While we were there they put in a 24V system to power the bedside lamps 24 hours. They said that their next project was to put in inverters for the ceiling fans. A very nice idea to my way of thinking.

THE FOOD: All meals are at set times and are announced by the beating of a drum. I found it to be an excellent alarm clock. At about 6:55, if you have sharp hearing, you can just hear the generator start. At 7AM, you feel the ceiling fan come on. At 7:30AM, the drums announce breakfast. Lunch is at about 1PM and happy hour starts at 6:30 with dinner at 7.

All meals are taken together family style at just a few large tables and you dine with other guests and the staff. This makes the atmosphere very intimate. We got to know some very interesting people. Much more personal than other, larger resorts.

The food is good. Breakfast is a small buffet with eggs, some kind of meat, (bacon or saugage on alternating days), and plenty of fruit and cereal. You get two choices for lunch and dinner. They remind you that, if you don't like the choices offered, just say so and they will try to accomodate. We never had a problem but the kitchen staff are like a bunch of mother hens and love to please. Don't expect expansive buffets where you stuff yourself. The portions are very adequete but not overly large. You won't go hungry and you won't gain weight.

DIVING PROCEDURES: I have dived with Kilbrides in the BVI and Cap't Don's Habitat on Bonaire and this operation beat them both in terms of service. --When you arrive, you will be given an orientation to the dive operation. They will interview you about how you like your equipment set up. They will take it from you tag it with a number that they assign you so they can keep it all straight. When you get on the boat, just look for your number and everything will be set up. I was diving with a rented Dacor Rig BC which has all the flotation on the back. I was concerned with it's tendancy to put me on my face when at the surface and inflated, so I requested trim weights on the tank at the bottom to balance things out. They were there every day. They rinse your stuff after every outing. --The owners are active in an organization of dive operators in Fiji and are pushing to require that all divers wear computers. To that end, if you don't bring a computer with you, they will lend you one at no charge. That saved the three of us about $150 right there. --The morning dive is a 2 tanker. You get up at about 7, eat a 7:30 and be at the boat at 8:30 with mask, fins and snorkel. Your gear will be set up. The boat that we used (they have two of these) is a multihull (pontoon boat) with a double bench down the center. To make your entry, you stand up, walk forward one step and take your giant stride. Getting back in the boat is by ladders on either side. They allow up to 12 on a boat, but we never had more than 6. No facilities on the boat. --All the dive sites are owned by the local village so DK is the ONLY operation using them. There are stories about people coming in and using the reefs without asking. They get a warning the first time. The second time, the villagers will go out and strip the boat. --For each dive, the divemaster will conduct a briefing that includes a map of the site, they will point out where the boat is on the map and then orient you to the coral heads in the water. They have maps on plexiglas made up for every dive site. --The surface interval is interesting. None of the sites is more than 15 minutes away by boat so they could bring you back. Instead of doing that, they take you to a special beach just for surface intervals. I suppose it is to keep from having to chase down divers. Anyway, this is a 1000 feet of white sand beach with a small hut where you can enjoy the shade, a cookie and a drink. Look out the front of the hut and you see the beach. Look out the back and you see virgin rain forest. If you are very quiet, the birds and butterflys start coming out. You are welcome to go back into the forest a short way to look around. There are no facilities at the hut other than the forest. While you are relaxing, they are changing your equipment for you.

--When you get back from your dive, return to your bure and there is an outside faucet and a big plastic basin for rinsing your stuff. Also, there are pegs and clotheslines for drying it.

--At the end of the trip, they rinsed and dried our equipment for us. They took care of the outside of the bc, but didn't rinse and drain the seawater out of the inside of the bcs and, had I known that, I would have done it myself. No biggie.

In addition to the 2 Tank dive in the morning, they offer a 1 tank dive in the afternoon and a night dive. By special request, they will run a full day at the Astrolabe Reef with 3 tanks. We were told that the Astrolabe wasn't any better than the local reefs and it was a longer boat ride, so we stuck with the local reefs. Unlimited shore diving, day or night, is included and there is a very nice reef just down the beach and about 30 feet off shore.

We did not rent equiment from DK but the stuff that they rented out looked recent and we heard no complaints. They don't do Nitrox.

THE DIVES: Chock full of life. There were times that I felt like I was swimming in an acquarium. The fish seemed to be less afraid of us than in other places. I could easily get within 12 inches. Gobs of coral (hard and soft). We saw a few large critters: Manta Rays, Eagle Rays, small white tipped reef sharks and sea turtles. We had been warned to look out for sea snakes but never saw any.

Very little current. You just about had to stop and hover to see if there was any. The water was really smooth by my standards (6-9 inch swells) and the owner told me that he thought things were a bit choppy.

The water temperature there was between 74 and 78 (winter). I dove with a polarfleece and was just comfortable. Another degree colder and I would have had trouble. My hands got cold, though, so next time I will take gloves. My daughter dove with a shorty of thin neoprene and did fine. In summer, I would imagine that no thermal protection would be necessary.

WOULD I GO BACK: Yes.

Pros: 1. Knock down gorgeous location. Looks like what Gilligans Island wanted us to believe. 2. Exellent dive operation. Valet diving makes it easy for lazy guys like me. 3. People, people, people. This was more like a bed and breakfast. We met some very interesting and entertaining folks; something that I don't do easily. 4. Some people might think this a Con, but we liked the modest food portions. Given the chance, we would have eaten too much.

Cons: 1. The stinkin' plane flight from LAX is 10 hours and I just don't sleep at all on planes. If you have the miles, go for the 1st class upgrade and get some Z's.

Note: I am not affiliated with the resort in any way. Just a recent customer. The opinions expressed above are my own and should be integrated with other reports for a more un-biased view.

If you have additional questions, you can eamil me at
rfeeley@biteme.bridge.com
rfeeley@biteme.worldnet.att.net
Non-spammers please remove the "bite me". Spammers will know what to do.