Fiji
So just got back from a wonderful week of diving in Fiji. Figured it was about time to write a review of the resort and the diving over there.
We stayed at Volivoli Beach, Volivoli Beach is a relatively small boutique family run resort on the northern tip of Vitu Levu. A 4 hour long direct flight from Brisbane, followed by a 2.5 hour drive will generally get you to the resort just before dinner. The resort is situated on the beach at the end of a narrow mountain road, best not navigated by yourself in the dark unless you know what you are doing. It is quite a big drop on one side of the road.
Surrounded by mangroves, beach and lots of greenery along all the paths, each room/villa is built in such a way there is no direct line of sight into another one. The room we stayed in was a Premium Ocean View Villa, situated at the top of a hill, this room features separate sleeping area, sitting area, ensuite, kitchen, washing machine and large patio. The kitchen benchtop was the ideal workplace to prepare the camera gear each day and charging all batteries overnight.
Three bars and two restaurants make for plenty of options for drinks and meals. Once a week there is a BBQ night and a traditional Fijian style evening, both served at the Ra Bar on the beach. During the Fijian night there is traditional Fijian dancing and of course kava with the crew. Though I am not a great fan of kava, I do like the social aspect of drinking kava and getting to know the crew.
Diving around the resort is simply amazing. Volivoli Beach does not have a spectacular house reef, but it is great for muck diving. We found three sea horses, quite a few nudibranchs (even undescribed ones) and a lot of reef fish. If you don't want to dive the house reef, Ra Divers can take you out to a myriad of dive sites. Travel time to the site ranges from 15 minutes to 1.5 hours.
All dive sites feature an abundance of soft coral. This area is known for the amount of soft corals. Some sites have a single colour of soft coral (Golden Dreams is mainly yellow) while others feature all colours of the rainbow (rainbow wall at Mount Mutiny). Visibility ranges from 15 metres on the sites close to the resort to 30+ at the dive sites further away in the VatuiRa Conservation Park- FIJI.
As this is a family-run business, it is not uncommon to see the owners or their children running about in the resort. Both Steve and Nick are very approachable and always up for a chat or a drink at the bar. This makes you feel more part of the family than just being a guest at the resort.
We are most definitely looking at going back next year.
