Destination Fact File
Pacific Harbour & Kadavu Diving Holidays
Beqa Lagoon and Kadavu Island lay just off Pacific Harbour on Fiji’s main island of Viti Levu on the Kadavu Passage. This area is mecca for pelagic diving with Beqa Lagoon being home to the world’s number one shark dive and Kadavu the home to the most beautiful and majestic ocean creatures, the magnificent and stunning manta rays.
Pacific Harbour:
The diving here is mostly famous for the high-adrenaline shark dive with close encounters with numerous bull sharks, grey, white and black tip reef sharks, nurse sharks and even the occasional tiger and oceanic white tip shark. The soft corals are in multihued displays of color and reefs teem with fish, not forgetting the numerous caves and tunnels that are home to weird and wonderful exotic critters.
Being one of the most popular holiday destinations in Fiji, Pacific Harbour offers a range of restaurants and dining options ranging from contemporary cuisine to convenient and casual style dining just a short drive away from your resort. If you choose to stay at the resort you can enjoy the resort activities and evening entertainment including fire walking, singing and dancing and of course the Kava ceremony.
The costs per day in resort will depend on the resort of your choice and we will offer you the best available options. The Uprising Beach Resort is great and affordable hotel and the averaging prices are around $10.00 (£5) for breakfast, $16.00 (£7) for lunch and $25.00 (£10) for dinner. Internet is also available but at an extra cost, the standard rate at the moment $5.00 (£2) for 30 minutes of internet. Please note that prices stated are only an estimate and can change from time to time. The above values are stated in Fijian dollars.
Kadavu Island:
Kadavu is one of the largest islands of the Kadavu Group and home to the “Great Astrolabe Reef”. Just like most islands in Fiji, Kadavu is an off the beaten track island, rugged by mountainous terrain coupled with pristine beaches and secluded bays making it the perfect holiday destination for those looking to experience the true Fijian culture. The island is home to just one town and very few roads which will help you totally escape the modern life and experience Fiji’s natural beauty.
The waters around the island are crystal clear, completely unspoiled and renowned for its abundance of colourful soft and hard corals. The south and eastern side of Kadavu is surrounded by the “Great Astrolabe Reef”, known as the world’s fourth largest barrier reef stretching over 100 kilometres with currents flowing through five different passages. The biodiversity of corals and marine life here is breathtaking and the various manta cleaning stations frequently visited by schools of barracuda, turtles, tuna, groupers, sharks and mantas just make this area one of Fiji’s premier dive destinations.
Kadavu has over 40 exclusive dive sites to choose from with most just a 5 to 15 minutes boat ride away. This is the easiest and most pristine wall dives, caverns and caves dives and endless swim-throughs you can imagine, a real dream come true to many divers.
Kadavu is a very remote island which equals to nothing to do in the evenings apart from visiting the resort’s restaurant or bar. The perfect place for those looking to get away from it all, are happy with their own company or enjoy meeting other travellers. Occasionally the school kids come to the resort to do a “Meke” when fundraising for the school.
Your Ultimate Diving package will include all your meals in Kadavu but just to give you an idea of additional costs at the Matava Resort the average cost for a bottle of wine is between $45.00 and $60.00 (£15 -£20), beers is between $8.00 and $12.00 (£3 - £5), soft drinks is around $5.00 (£1.5 - £2) and spirits and cocktails between $12.00 and $18.00 (£5 - £7). Internet is also available but at an extra cost, the current rate is $15.00 (£6) for 1 hour of internet. You may want to buy a day pass for $45.00 £17) or 7 days for $100.00 £36). Please note that prices stated are only an estimate and can change from time to time. The above values are stated in Fijian dollars.
Getting to Kadavu could not be easier as Pacific Sun offers daily flights from Nadi and Nausori Airport just out of Suva. For those who want to experience inter island travel as the locals do, there is (an unreliable ferry) that departs from Walu Bay, Suva on Tuesday evenings which travels to Vunisea in Kavala Bay then back to Suva around 2pm the following day.
Pacific Harbour & Kadavu Top Dive Sites:
If you are a lover of sharks you cannot go to Fiji and not dive ”The Arena”on the fringes of Beqa Lagoon. In 1999 Brandon Paige, also known as the “Shark Whisperer” created a dive with the intent to educate divers and aid in the conservation of sharks. Today this dive has become the world’s number one shark dive. Just imagine yourself swimming through schools of groupers, jacks and snappers and all the sudden you are approaching a mix of up to eight different species of sharks including sicklefin lemons, tawny nurses, silvertips, grey reefs, white tip and black tip reefs sharks as well as the amazing and intriguing bull and tiger sharks. The reality will be you taking part on the ultimate shark encounter and making a dream come true.
Caesar’s Rock is a diver’s paradise with striking topography, colourful life proliferates and marine life abundance. Here you will find a series of spectacular coral heads and tunnels and caverns covered with soft corals of every imaginable colour. This stunning dive site captivates all visiting divers as they come across nudibranchs, lionfish, leopard sharks, sea snakes, clown triggerfish, sweetlips, shrimp, just to name a few.
The Great Astrolabe Reef surrounding the north and north eastern half of Kadavu Island is rated one of the world’s premier diving locations. The reef is about 100 kilometres long, making it the fourth largest barrier reef in the world. Here you will get to dive some of the world famous dive sites including Naiqoro Passage, Vessi Passage with Waisomo Reserve. The reef boasts a variety of stunning hard coral, colourful outer reef slopes and steep coral drop offs that will keep you busy exploring the surrounding waters.
The Pacific Voyager a tanker deliberately sunk in 1994 near Rooper Reef to form an artificial reef is the only wreck dive in Kadavu. The flank of the ship is facing upwards at a current depth of about 30 metres on the northern side of the island. Here you can begin your diving adventure searching for critters, a must dive for macro photographers or wreck lovers. You can penetrate the wreck and see what lives in the wheelhouse and crew quarters and have a very special encounter with a local resident, a one metre long grouper that often hangs around divers.
If you are looking to make the most of your time in Fiji then combine your stay in this region with a twin centre diving holiday in Northern Fifi for some of the most colourful and exciting dives you will get to do.