The past couple of years, we’ve dove in Hawaii and the Caribbean, and consequently have missed seeing the colorful clown anemone fish. Happily, we had an abundance of them in Fiji, and a few different species (and in different types of anemones) at that!
The storms were just abating Monday, the first day we plunged in the waters. But by Tuesday, the winds had died down such that the waters were calm, glassy.Baby Nemo
There’s obviously tons of other colorful fish besides these cute clown anemones of course, including our new favorite wrasse, the bird wrasse.
Except for one day, we spent the rest of our mornings in Fiji underwater. With over 2300 species of fish and nearly 400 species of corals, every dive was an exciting one.
Before this trip, I wasn’t really a fan of drift diving, because I preferred the opportunity to stick myself in one spot and have the luxury of slowly figuring out the proper exposure and strobe lighting for my subject. But currents are what lends the Somosomo Strait its fame and the title ‘soft coral capital of the world’. And with dive sites so brimming with life at every turn, photography can take a back seat. Half the time, I honestly did not know where to turn my head. From the moment we descended, there were so much to look at. Schooling black and red snappers, jacks, barracudas, big eyed brim, to the tiny thousands of blue chromis, orange and purple anthias. Heaps of corals – soft orange, white, blue, pink, purple polyps, hard stag horn corals, table top corals, fan corals. Beds of anemones with shy clown fish occupants. The odd sleepy white tip reef shark, the rainbow colored parrot fish and trigger fish. Nudibranches in all colors, stripes and patterns. Oy.
I did take photos though, loads of them. And I feel like I’m slowly getting the hang of this underwater photography thingy. If only half the time my camera doesn’t mysteriously reset itself to jpeg mode.
Getting ready for our first dive
This little puffer reminded us of the ubiquitous puffers we saw in Belize
Lobsters, always a feast for the eyes
We saw so many different colored groupersThousands upon thousands of these orange anthias greeted us on every diveInitially, we lamented about not spotting any turtles. But Julie, owner of Taveuni Ocean Sports explained that wasn’t a bad thing, since turtles fed on algae and these reefs were healthy enough to have minimal algaeNudibranchesSpotted this tiny eel on the night diveHoney and Tiger Cowris
Flying Gurnard
Puffer trying to hide behind this little twig of a coral
Golden Tunnel DiveBlue ribbon eels are a rare sight in Fiji
These highly venomous sea crates are a fairly common sight in Fiji. We also saw a baby one climb up our dive boat
As a friend so aptly dubbed it, the scorpion fish with the ‘resting bitch face’
It wasn’t till our last day of diving that we saw morays. On dive #10 at The Ledge, we saw a giant moray. On dive #11 at Fish Factory, we spotted this green moray and a white mouth
White mouth morayAt our safety stop, the surge kept pushing us back and forth over this octopus, so safely ensconed in its hole
We got lucky with the weather. It had been raining steadily the few days before we arrived, and was pretty wet the Saturday afternoon we landed. But the clouds steadily cleared up such that by Sunday evening, patches of blue sky could be seen overhead.
Spearfishermen at nightOur little haven for the week, Nakia Resort & Dive
Sunsets over the Somosomo Strait
Jeff reviewing his dive videos from the day
The moon was waxing the week we arrived. It set at midnight Sunday, then at a later hour each night. The half moon meant we enjoyed slighter currents though. I’m not sure we could have handled 4-6 knots of current!
We’ve just come back from a phenomenal week in Taveuni, Fiji with a couple old friends. What a trip!
We took a 12-seater propellor plane from Fiji’s international airport in Nadi to Taveuni
I’d picked Taveuni, out of the 300 Fijian islands, because of its fame as the ‘soft coral capital of the world’ (Jacques Cousteau). What we didn’t realize – and reveled in – is that Taveuni, also known as the Garden Island, is a quiet slice of haven still quite set back in time and away from the bustle and smog of city life. The island is 42km long and 10km wide, and has only 18,000 or so inhabitants who mostly stay in small villages dotted around the lush land. There are two small towns with grocery stalls, but most of the villagers grow their own crops, rear their own animals, and catch their own fish. There isn’t much to do in town, and there are only a couple restaurants that the locals frequent.
We spent most of our time on land lounging around our resort anyway. Nakia Resort & Dive, a small eco resort with 4 bures (Fijian word for wooden and straw huts) and a maximum of 12 guests. The week we were there, there were just 6 of us, and our routine was that we’d wake up at sunrise for an early breakfast before going diving. In the afternoon, we’d come back to a late but hearty lunch, then lounge around by the pool or the hammock with a book in hand. In the evenings, we’d gather for more food and drink, spend a couple of hours comfortably chatting or playing some board or card games, then retire to bed by the moonlight. Rinse and repeat.
We did spend a day poking around the north-eastern part of the island though, on the Lavena Coastal Walk:
Visitors can choose to do a roundtrip walk (13km) to the waterfalls and back. We took a boat one way – the lazier, but infinitely more fun optionThe villagers typically keep a vegetarian diet, but rear animals for meat for special occasionsWainibau Falls, the highlight of our walk. To get to the falls, we actually have to wade / swim our way through strong current. But the water was most refreshing
Along the trek back, we passed by little villages and tons of banana, kava, cassava trees / plants
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