Fiji Soft Coral & Shark Bonanza Photo Workshop Oct 2026

Trip overview

Trip Overview

Start off your Fijian adventure with a day of reef diving followed by 2 days of exhilarating shark diving in the Pacific Harbor area where you have the opportunity to observe and shoot several species of sharks, including bull sharks, silvertip sharks, lemon sharks, and the occasional tiger shark. There is also the opportunity to explore the hard coral reefs and massive sea fan gardens in the southern part of Viti Levu.

In Fiji, it's all about the corals. The colors are so incredibly vibrant and the anthias so plentiful that its hard to ever look away. Around every corner is the next world-class image. One of the main draws of diving Fiji is the reef scenes - they are quite spectacular!

The gorgeous, lush, color-splashed images of Fiji that you see in dive publications are courtesy of a soft coral called dendronephthya. Few other places in the world offer such an abundance of this coral, nor the wide spectrum of colors, ranging from pink, purple, and orange, to yellow, and fiery red. Dendronephthya soft coral needs a brisk current to really look their best. With little current present the soft coral colors are muted, but as the current increases they inflate with water and their color really begins to glow. As the current picks up, planktivores such as beautifully colored scale fin anthias spring up off the reef in polarized schools. Together, this forms a rich pageantry of color. Underwater photographers will want to shoot when some current is present, making a dramatic difference to the color of the underwater imagery.

One of the best places for soft coral in Fiji is the Bligh Waters between Viti Levu and Vanua Levu where there are numerous reefs and pinnacles. The reefs in the surrounding Bligh Waters, also known as The Vatu-I-Ra Passage, are some of the healthiest in the world, with very little pollution and few boats, so youll be able to see an array of marine life including anemone fish, turtles, colorful soft coral, and reef sharks.

Read the trip recap from our Fiji Trip Report here.

Marine Life To Photograph

You're going to see the healthiest soft coral in the world, more colors than you can imagine, and some extremely rare macro creatures like the ornate ghost pipefish, orangutan crabs, frogfish, nudibranch, and seahorses and in all likelihood, turtles, moray eels, schools of barracuda, trevally, giant groupers, grey, black and white tip reef sharks, and the occasional tiger shark.

(L) Colorful Reef By Paul Gruner. (M) Clown Fish By Dan Bishop. (R) Sharks By Cindy

Read the reviews on diving Fiji here.

Diving Conditions In October

June through October is the dry season. During that time, the water is clearest with visibility often reaching 100 feet or more, but it can be windy and water temperatures can drop into the mid-70s. Most likely marine life sightings during this season include sharks, eagle rays, whales, and turtles.

Important Information

No. of dives: 2 days of 2-tank shark dives and 1 day of 2-tank reef dives at Pacific Harbour plus 3 days of 2-tank boat diving and 3 days of 3-tank boat diving at Volivoli Beach Resort - includes all tanks, weights, and dive guide
Avg. visibility: 50 - 130 feet
Required skill: Beginner to advanced
Wetsuit needed: 3-5mm full-length wetsuit (recommended)
Topside temperature: 72-81F (22-27C) in October
Currents: We can, and regularly do, encounter medium to strong current

Recommended Scuba Gear

Download our full scuba gear guide to Fiji, Bluewater Travel guests receive 10% OFF!

3mm wetsuit. Browse Wetsuits at Bluewater Photo
SMB. The Mares Dive Marker Buoy is our choice!
Skins. Check out these sharkskins
Snorkel gear. We recommend the Cressi ZS1 & Corsica Snorkeling Package
Travel BCD. Read our Best Travel BCD Article
Travel regulator. We suggest Mares Ultra 62X Dive Regulator

Trip Leader

Mark Hatter

Mark Hatter is an accomplished photojournalist who has had nearly one hundred feature articles with many hundreds of images published in more than two dozen fly fishing and diving publications over the last two decades. His most recent destination features have appeared in Alert Diver and Diver (UK) magazines.

Mark has traveled the world in pursuit of new underwater photography challenges, including cold-water destinations such as British Columbia and even Antarctica in January 2018.

“Of course, I love shooting in tropical locations but I think cold water diving is a great forcing function to hone one’s photography skills as the environment and equipment are much more demanding of a diver. Good image capture in cold water is particularly rewarding.” Mark tells us.

Mark has been shooting underwater since the early 1980s and has worked in both film and digital mediums in his photojournalism pursuits. In 35 years of diving, Mark has logged over 2000 hours, much of it doing underwater photography. Currently, he teaches underwater photography classes locally at Seminole Scuba in Lake Mary, Florida.

Gill Flaherty

Gill is in charge of all Bluewater Travel's Photo Workshops and is a PADI and TDI Instructor in her free time. Gill learned to dive in her home country of Scotland and continued with much of her dive education in the UK. She quickly expanded her diving repertoire with trips to the Red Sea, Mexico, and Indonesia, and was surprised to learn that diving didn’t always involve poor visibility and chilly water temperatures. Gill has a thirst for travel and adventure and spent a year driving around Europe in a motorhome before settling in Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean. After working full-time as a Dive Instructor for three seasons, she now teaches and guides in her free time on the famous Zenobia wreck. When not underwater, Gill can be found paddle boarding, hiking, or rescuing cats.