Tong/Fiji, 1999
Author: Lori

This is my first attempt at a trip report and it has gotten quite a bit longer than I expected.  Anyway, here goes:

We spent 1 week in Tonga and one in Fiji from 11/28/99 through 12/15/99. This was a return trip for 3 of the 5 of us. The first trip was 2 years ago.

Vavau, Tonga:
Getting to Vavau got a bit more difficult / time consuming in the last month. We had booked a direct morning flight from Nandi, Fiji. However, Royal Tongan Airlines discontinued this flight in mid-October (without notification to those of us who had already purchased tickets and no notification of the rerouting path). We found out, purely by chance, the day before Thanksgiving that we had been rerouted and the new route took an extra 3 days travel and sitting around waiting for planes. After a fair amount of last minute hassle, we were able to rebook the flights again and only ended up losing 1 day.  The new flight schedules make it virtually impossible to avoid spending a day in Nandi, Fiji and a night in Tongatapu, Tonga on the way to Vavau.

We stayed at the Tongan Beach Resort in Vavau. This resort is fairly remote - about 1/2 hour taxi ride or 15 - 20 minutes by boat to town...exactly the way I like dive resorts. The resort is made up of 14 2-person bungalows. It has a nice beach, sand bar, and open air restaurant. The staff of this resort are very friendly and helpful and are definitely concerned with making your trip as perfect as possible. The food is wonderful. Single person kayaks are available to help pass non-dive time, although I often prefer one of the hammocks. There is also a kayak rental company located next to the resort and they do single or multi day trips. We rented kayaks one day when the boat broke down and we were unable to dive. I would recommend this as a great way to spend a non-diving day.

We dove with Dolphin Pacific Divers. The staff was new since our previous visit. They spoke about a 50 minute dive limit...although this was only enforced when the divemaster was running the boat. He seemed a little too concerned with recovering from the previous night’s activity at the disco for my taste. If this had been enforced any more than 1 day, I think I would have raised some serious issues with the instructor. As it turned out, it was only enforced on our last dive...still a pain though.

The diving in Tonga revolves around absolutely beautiful hard coral structures that seem to go on forever. I have never encountered the number, size and variety of hard corals anywhere else. Some favorite sites would have to include the coral gardens, king neptune’s sea fans, split rock, hunga magic...the list could go on forever. We spotted a few turtles, small white tip reef sharks, huge titan trigger fish, and many, many other species. The diving is very laid back...very little current. We had small groups (often only 3 or 4 of us) on most days. Even on the day with a larger group (9 or 10), the group spread out enough so that it did not become a cattle boat operation.

The boat trips are 2 tank dives in the morning. The dive boat is pretty slow, and some of the trips can be long (20 - 30 minutes to the far sites). The shore diving in front of the resort at night is easy and very nice. Dee Scar was at the Tongan before our last trip and apparently dove this site every night and found many new / exciting things. Our experience was similar...lots of activity and unusual creatures. The shop will leave tanks out and you can shore dive whenever you want. Overall, I love diving in Tonga and would return in a minute.

Taveuni, Fiji:
A few items had been posted on this board regarding the diving ban in Taveuni - specifically on the rainbow reef and Somosomo Strait - due to the death of the chief of the village surrounding that territory. This ban was lifted 12/2 - shortly before we arrived in Taveuni.

We stayed at the Garden Island Resort. This, along with the dive operation, is run by Aquatrek and was under new management since our last trip. This has resulted in many improvements, in my opinion. The overall upkeep of the resort is much better and the staff seem much happier under the new management. This translates directly into the level of customer service. Staff make the effort to know everyone’s name by the end of the first day and make the effort to make everything about the stay enjoyable. One staff member, who we have gotten to know on past visits, even invited us to his home for a lolo (sp?) - a traditional Fijian feast - when we found out that the hotel did not have enough guests to put one on. Experiencing village life and meeting his family and people from his village was truly a highlight of the trip. There is a restaurant on site which is good, although a bit expensive (relatively speaking). A visit to the Cannibal Cafe next door is definitely a must. This is a very basic Chinese restaurant next door. There are 3 or 4 tables set up next to the breakwall and the food is fantastic and cheap.

We dove with Taveuni Divers / Aquatrek which is on-site. Many of the divemasters have been there for several years. All know the reefs and tides extremely well. This is crucial, as the current can really rip through the straits and can make sites undiveable at certain times of the day. There are so many wonderful dive sites, but the great white wall, jack’s place, and the fish factory would be some of my favorites. The soft corals in this area of Fiji are absolutely amazing. Whole areas of the reef are covered in soft corals of every color - some of the most beautiful diving I have ever done is in this area of Fiji. The best time to see soft corals is towards the end of the tides - the current has slowed enough to dive comfortably, and the soft corals are still out and actively feeding.

The fish life in Fiji outshines Tonga by far. Many more large schools of fish, many more pelagics, and the variety is stunning. It is easy to “get lost” in schools of fish. We saw many white tip reef sharks, a couple of turtles, many tuna, trevally, and other predatory fish, along with lionfish, nudibranchs, moorish idols and others that are too many to name here - easier to just get out the fish books. We did have one experience with a large titan trigger fish which I don’t care to experience again. It was apparently nesting and we swam about 10 feet above its nest. As I was preparing to get closer for a picture (dumb - I now know), it went after one of my buddies - he fended it off with his fins. A minute or 2 later, my other buddy swam over the same area and the fish tried to attack her also. She found out that the strobe on a camera can be used as a defensive weapon! These fish can give a nasty bite - a divemaster had been bitten (through his wetsuit) on one of our previous trips and ended up being hospitalized due to the infection.

The highlight of my trip actually came on a surface interval. I have wanted to see a manta ray since I started diving. As divers were exiting the water, the crew spotted a manta ray feeding at the surface. Once all divers were aboard, the skipper maneuvered the boat closer. He got us close enough, without frightening it away, that we were able to jump in with snorkeling gear to get a close-up look. As we all jumped in the ray started to move off, and then turned and came straight towards me...what an unbelievable sight!! It was a small one - about 7 - 8 feet wingspan. It came to within arms reach and then turned off.  Most of the rest of the divers fell back at this time and I continued to swim parallel with it.  It turned and came towards me 3 or 4 times and each time was more amazing. It felt like an eternity, but realistically was about 10 (maybe 15) minutes. Eventually, the manta took off, leaving me in total awe. These animals are so graceful and elegant...truly one of the most magnificent animals I have ever had the privilege to dive with. This is an experience that I will remember for a lifetime.

About the only bad thing was the weather. It rained (heavier than I have ever experienced) for about 4 days straight in Tonga. We even saw waterfalls in Tonga that the locals said have never existed before. It rained for 3 days (on and off) in Fiji as well.  This put an end to topside activities which we had planned in Fiji - hiking to waterfalls, through the jungle, and other areas.

Still it was an incredible trip...the manta more than made up for the weather and travel hassles.

DSAO,
Lori

©1999-2007 DiveAtlas Web Publishing.  All Rights Reserved
This entire domain and all associated e-mail addresses are located in the State of Washington,
and sending mail to addresses at this domain is subject to the provisions of the Revised Code of Washington.