Dive Review of Garden Island Resort in
Fiji and Tuvalu/Tavenui

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Garden Island Resort, Jun, 2010, by Mike Cavanaugh, TX, US ( Contributor 12 reports with 2 Helpful votes). Report 5557.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Garden Island Resort has undergone a small change in ownership, management and renovation. The rooms were nicely furnished with beach views. Plenty of balcony space to hang out wet items to dry. Housekeeping was good and towels were changed if requested. The restaurant was moderately furnished but felt cold and sterile. We caught the resort in between dive groups so there were not many people staying at Garden Island while we were there. The restaurant provided a menu daily which had 1-3 choices in food selection for lunch and/or dinner. You were required to pave your order for lunch and dinner at breakfast before you took off diving for the day. Food quality was always good and portions were appropriate. Service was very slow but this is "island time" and there is really nothing else to do but drink "kava" or go to your room :) The manager was friendly but didn't seem really plugged in. Everyone was very happy to accommodate but you would not get what you asked for the first time (quick to please, slow to deliver). We were greeted by many of the staff and our farewell was again many of the staff singing a farewell song. There is "NO" TV in the rooms but you could borrow DVD's from the front desk for the DVD player in your room. The dive shop was sparsely stocked with dive gear and accessories so bring what you need because you won't find it here. We brought our own gear but the dive shop did have gear that was in fairly good condition. On our first day after arrival the dive shop agreed to take 6 divers for 2 afternoon dives and then a night dive. The dive shop normally makes a 2 tank boat run in the morning and only dives in the afternoon at special request. The Rainbow reef diving was quite nice and there were lots of soft coral, reef fishes and macro stuff to find and photograph. The dive leaders (I won't call them all dive masters as I'm not sure that would be a fact) were for the most part attentive to the divers often pointing out things to look at but several of them would just find a place to hang out on the bottom waiting for the divers to explore and move on. The dive staff (water & boat) was not overly helpful or attentive getting off or on the boat but we had all experienced divers on the boat that didn't require much assistance. The dive staff would cart your dive gear off the small aluminium transfer boat and they would rinse and then hang your gear for the next day. The wet suits were rinsed separate from the regulators (another pet peeve for me). The only complaint or pet peeve I had with the dive shop is that their compressor for air was located less than 20 feet from a gas pump for their vehicles. The smell of gasoline was present on a daily basis. If you are anal about your air quality like I am that is a problem. My dive buddy had a banger headache after the first dive but no one else reported and bad air symptoms. The nitrox is blended using partial pressure and they were consistently spot on for a 32% blend. Overall this dive destination ranked in the top 10 location we have been to and I would give it a 7 overall average ranking.
Websites	Garden Island Resort
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Caribbean, Australasia
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	cloudy	Seas	currents
Water Temp	78-81°F / 26-27°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	30-50 Ft/ 9-15 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Dive time was limited to 45-50 minutes. Required to stay with group as group would surface together due to strong surface currents.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	No rinse buckets on boat for cameras or video housings. Would place camera in basket but "NO" water bath or tub. The dive shop had to water rinse tanks for cameras but they never filled them with water. Rinsed gear with hose and then took to room for proper wash up.

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Dive Review of Garden Island Resort in Fiji and Tuvalu/Tavenui

Garden Island Resort, Jun, 2010,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Garden Island Resort in
Fiji and Tuvalu/Tavenui