Your Guide to Diving Fiji and Tuvalu
Including Beqa Lagoon/Pacific Harbor, Kadavu, Laucala, Nananu-I Ra, Taveuni and Matangi

Diving Fiji and Tuvalu Overview

For west coasters, it takes about the same amount of time to get to Fiji as it does to the Caribbean: 10 hours nonstop from LAX to Nadi, and the diving in the Fijian archipelago is arguably considerably superior to most in the Caribbean.

Prices are comparable, and air packages can include New Zealand/Australia extensions at little extra cost. Fijians are polite, friendly, modest, and religious, so watch your language, and wear nonrevealing clothes to town. They are crazy about the sport of rugby football, and Fijian warriors have traditionally made valiant soldiers in the British army.

Wetsuits are staples year-round; strong currents around Rainbow Reef (Taveuni) for example, the soft corals capital of the world, add coolness and in some places they're vigorous, so carry surface signaling devices when diving Fiji or Tuvalu.

The weather can be stormy June through September; short, heavy showers are possible any afternoon year-round, especially around Beqa Island. The coast near Suva, at Beqa Lagoon, is home to some dramatic shark diving where eight or more different species of shark will attend a staged feed. The year-round average temperature is 80°F (27°C) or above; nights average 69°F (20°C) in winter. Cyclone Winston did a lot of damage to the island of Viti Levu in 2016 from which the island finally recovered.

Fiji and Tuvalu Seasonal Dive Planner

Fiji's weather presents a real mixed bag. The usual choice is between good visibility and cool water or warm water and calmer seas with reduced visibility. June through October is the dry season when the water is the clearest, but it's also at its coldest, and the winds kick up. Water temperatures can sink to 73°F (23°C) this time of the year, making it necessary to drag out the full wetsuits. November brings a transition period. The water warms up, the winds die down, and the plankton blooms, lowering the visibility. By January and February, the water has warmed back up to 83°F (28°C). The rains pick up and the hurricane season is on (December through March). Counting Tonga and Samoa, the area gets about five cyclones a year. It's a risky time to try to catch good diving weather. Because the winds kick up so much in February and March, some resorts pick these months to close down for repairs. During April and May, the wind and therefore the seas become calmer and the water remains warm, but the plankton bloom cuts down on the underwater visibility. Of course, this offers the best odds of seeing large plankton eaters. The best time to go depends on your preferences: warm, calmer, cloudy seas, or clear but cold water.

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Diving Fiji and Tuvalu Reader Reports and Feature Articles

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Latest Reader Reports from Fiji and Tuvalu from the serious divers who read Undercurrent All Reader Reports from Fiji and Tuvalu	All 10,000+ Reports
Ra Divers/Volivoli Beach Resort Report in Fiji and Tuvalu/Fiji "Fiji Thanksgiving" filed Dec 3, 2024 by Bobby Munno (Experience: Over 1000 dives, 24 reports, Sr. Contributor )
Fiji was always on my dive wish list. After speaking with Simon representing Volivoli Beach Resort at Beneath the Sea and Travel & Adv... ... Read more
Paradise Taveuni/Paradise Taveuni Resort Report in Fiji and Tuvalu/Taveuni "Never got to the best parts of Rainbow Reef" filed Dec 3, 2024 by Robert Herrick (Experience: 251-500 dives)
Never got to the best parts of Rainbow Reef We wanted to go on a family scuba vacation over my Son’s spring break, and Bluewater Tra... ... Read more
Nai'a Fiji Report in Fiji and Tuvalu/Lau "Cruise to the Lau Group: a different Fiji experience" filed Nov 27, 2024 by Mark Rosenstein (Experience: Over 1000 dives, 24 reports, Sr. Contributor )
I have been on the Nai'a many times before, but this was my first time to the Lau Group, a set of outlying islands far to the east of c... ... Read more
Beqa Lagoon Resort Report in Fiji and Tuvalu "Relaxed Seclusion" filed Nov 26, 2024 by Matthew Reynolds (Experience: 251-500 dives)
Having gone liveaboard and shore diving all S. Pacific, added Fiji to the list. Beqa Lagoon is offshore Pacific Harbor—a 3+ hr car/van... ... Read more
Nai'a Fiji/Volivoli & NAI'A Report in Fiji and Tuvalu/Fiji "FIJI - Combination Land & Liveaboard" filed Nov 25, 2024 by Albert Ross (Experience: 501-1000 dives, 3 reports, Reviewer )
There were only two things bad about this trip. It was raining when first arrived...though it did not last long. The other was leaving.... ... Read more

Editor's Book Picks for Scuba Diving Fiji and Tuvalu
Including Beqa Lagoon/Pacific Harbor, Kadavu, Laucala, Nananu-I Ra, Taveuni and Matangi

The books below are my favorites about diving in this part of the world All books are available at a significant discount from Amazon.com; just follow the links. -- BD

Reef Creature Identification: Tropical Pacific
by Paul Humann and Ned Deloach

Paul Humann and Ned Deloach have done it again, releasing a definitive identification guide to 1600 extraordinary reef creatures of the Tropical Pacific. with this 500+ page softbound guide, you get upwards of 2000 exceptional photos of shrimp and crabs and stars and worms and lobsters and nudibranchs and slugs and squid and bivalves . . . well, all those invertebrates that move along the reefs of this region without fining, so it seems. There are several photos of some creatures to help you identify them during different life stages, and about ten percent of the book is descriptive copy so you can tie down your identification. Even if you have no plans to go to the tropical Pacific, just to thumb through the pages, gawk at the complexity and uniqueness of these animals, and read a thumbnail sketch will give any serious diver vicarious thrills for endless hours.

Click here to buy it at Amazon.

Reef Fish Identification: Tropical Pacific
by Gerald Allen, Rodger Steene, Paul Humann, & Ned Deloach

At last, here's a comprehensive fish ID guide covering the reefs of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The generous 500-page text, displaying 2,500 underwater photographs of 2,000 species, identifies the myriad fishes that inhabit the warm tropical seas between Thailand and Tahiti. The concise text accompanying each species portrait includes the fish's common, scientific and family names, size, description, visually distinctive features, preferred habitat, typical behavior, depth range, and geographical distribution. This is an essential book for every diver traveling westward. 6x9 inches.

Click here to buy it at Amazon.

Dive Sites of the Great Barrier Reef
by Neville Coleman.

With 2900 reefs in 220,000 square miles, the enormous Great Barrier Reef has incredible dives -- and some very ordinary ones. If you're contemplating a trip, Neville Coleman's Dive Sites of the Great Barrier Reef and the Coral Sea will help you ensure you pick the best. This 176 page book, with good maps and scores of colorful photos, describes the significant sites, the topography and the critters, then rates and ranks them so you can pick the best. Don't even consider a trip to Australia without consulting this. $24.95

Indo-Pacific Coral Reef Field Guide
by Gerald R. Allen, Roger Steene.

I was trying to pack light for a change. Surely the Solomon Sea would have good identification books aboard. Not so; the only book on the boat belonged to a fellow passenger. It was one that I had not seen before, the Indo-Pacific Coral Reef Field Guide, by two of the best fish guys around, Gerry Allen and Roger Steene. The problem was this fellow passenger kept it in a plastic baggie most of the trip and I had to beg to see it. Great book, good traveling size, and it covers everything from fish, shells, marine plants, mammals, corals, and invertebrates to sea birds and more. Now I've got my own, and it won't do you any good to beg me to borrow it. This is one of two books that I will not travel to the Pacific without. Good for travel to the Red Sea, East Africa, Seychelles, Mauritius, Maldives, Andaman Sea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Australia, Micronesia, Polynesia, and Hawaii, it has 1,800 color illustrations in a 6x8 1/2 paperback format with 378 pages. $39.95.

There's a Cockroach in My Regulator
by Undercurrent

The Best of Undercurrent: Bizarre and Brilliant True Diving Tales from Thirty Years of Undercurrent.

Shipping now is our brand new, 240-page book filled with the best of the unusual, the entertaining, and the jaw dropping stories Undercurrent has published. They’re true, often unbelievable, and always fascinating. We’re offering it to you now for the special price of just $14.95.

Click here to order.

You might find some other books of interest in our Editor's Book Picks section.