Mana Lagoon Backpackers
Mana Lagoon backpackers is located on a beautiful Mana Island within Mamanuca Islands, island group west of Viti Levu. The backpackers is a solid cheap option for long-term travelers. It is a very basic accommodation with a dive school and cheap gear rental. If you don't mind 'Robinson Crusoe style' of traveling, then you'll enjoy diving around Mana Island.
The rooms are, as said, very basic as in any other cheap backpackers in Fiji. They've had bed bugs, but that's also common for Fijian backpackers. I was bitten in another backpackers. There are no lockers, so one should have his/her own padlock for the room door. If you sleep in a dorm, have a common lock which you will share with the other guests from the room. There have been missing wallets and iphones and guests suspected on staff, which is also common in Fiji.
I know this might sound terrifying, however if you are an experienced traveler with a small budget, I'd still recommend to give it a go. It is an adventure for sure :-)
Food provided by the backpackers is good - Fijian traditional food (taro, coconut, fish)..
I dove at a few locations around Mana island and my favourite was the one in the north of Mana at an amazing bommie with exceptional visibility. I can't remember the name, but it's about 100m N of the N beach. The other one with luxurious marine life was a famous dive spot - Supermarket (NW of Mana). That was absolutely spectacular! Coral life is amazing and it's also known for a good shark dive. I also dove withing the lagoon, which was actually very interesting because there is a no-take zone on the NW part of the lagoon and a take zone on the SE and the difference in marine life is obvious. Even the behavior of fish is very different in those 2 zones. Fish were curious and friendly in no-take zone, whereas in the take zone there were practically no fish and most corals were dead. I found diving in Mana very interesting from an ecological and environmental point of view. Here's a list of dive spots with descriptions: http://www.aquatrekdiving.com/sites.html
Dive gear was in good state when I was there in April 2013. However, one thing should be noted - safety! One time I was worried about my safety when I went for my first night dive alone with my instructor and he took spear fishing gear to catch fish for dinner. He took only 2 fish, but, as I was taught by CMAS instructors, spear fishing is not allowed in SCUBA diving. I was told this regulation doesn't apply for Fiji.. Arguable..
