Dive Review of Taveuni Dive/Aroha in
Fiji and Tuvalu/Taveuni

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Taveuni Dive/Aroha: "Taveuni Fiji", Nov, 2018, by Henry O Ziller, CO, US ( Top Contributor 38 reports with 21 Helpful votes). Report 10796 has 1 Helpful vote.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Getting to Fiji from Denver: We used miles on American Airlines which is partnered with Fiji Airways. We took American to LAX then a direct flight via Fiji Airways; 11.5 hours. The return only takes 9.5 hours due to favorable jet stream. Passing through immigration and customs in Nadi is quick. There are two ATM’s after customs in the terminal and we used one without any issues. Some places away from Nadi will take US dollars, but prefer Fiji dollars. Most resorts take credit cards but add 3.5% to 5% to the bill. Due to some issues using miles with American Airlines we could not book our interisland flights using miles so we booked our flights to Taveuni and Kadavu on Fiji Airways direct. The issue here is that there are weight restrictions on those flights allowing 33 lbs. (15 Kg) checked baggage or pay a fee. If you book your interisland flights with your international flights your checked bag can weight 50 lbs. We paid $70 FD ($35 USD) on the flight from Taveuni to Nadi. There did not seem to be a limit for carry-on. They just weighed you with your carry-on so we filled up our carry-on bags. My backpack had over 25 lbs. Since we scheduled our flights and resort stays nine months in advance we thought we were all set that is until American Airlines informed us that they could not get us to Los Angeles on November 16, we would need to leave on either November 14th or 18th. We opted to leave all our resort stays as is and changed our flight to Nadi to the 14th and stayed three nights in Nadi at Aquarius on the Beach. This was a small basic hotel right on the beach at Nadi Bay in what is called Newtown. There are other hotels there as well, probably the best would be the Ramada, but it cost over $400 FD per night. It has a fantastic restaurant on the top floor outside. Perfect for watching the sunset! The Aquarius has 19 rooms but only a couple superior rooms with a view of the ocean. The standard room you have to pay extra for Wi-Fi. The free breakfast is not much, eggs with toast, fruit platter, or pancakes and one cup of coffee, or juice. They have plunger coffee pot for $7.95 FD (French press) that is worth it. There is a menu you can order from. The beach access is nice and you can swim in the ocean here. They also have a pool. There are hammocks and a beach volleyball setup. You can walk quite a distance on the beach, it is hard packed with lots of shells, but not enough to warrant walking with shoes. The bus comes right by the hotel so you just walk to the corner and wait. It costs $1.11 FD to go downtown to the main bus station where you can catch a bus to almost anywhere. You buy an electronic card in $2.00, $5.00 or $10 FD right on the bus. From the airport it costs $14.00 FD to take a cab to the hotel, and the same going back. We had to overnight in Nadi after returning from Taveuni one night before we flew to Kadavu and stayed at the Gateway Hotel right across from the international and domestic airport. It cost $75.00 FD. You can actually walk from the airport to this hotel or take the free courtesy van. Our flight to Taveuni took about 1.5 hours on a Dash 6 (19 passengers, unless they have a surfboard inside the plane, then it holds about 9. Aroha Beach Front Bures (www.arohataveuni.com) is where we stayed and we dived with Taveuni Dive (www.taveunidive.com). Dennis the owner of the resort picked us up at the airport and drove the 20 minutes to the resort. Dennis and Ngaire Irwin built the resort about 12 years ago. The resort consists of only two duplex bures, the owner’s house with a pool and a restaurant. The pool is open to guests from 10 to 6. The bures are all beachfront and are equipped with double closet, ceiling fans, A/C, bathroom with an outdoor shower, comfortable beds, a sitting area, refrigerator, microwave, and hot water pot for instant coffee or tea. There are dishes, glasses and silverware, but with such a great restaurant and all inclusive we had there was no need to use them. Water from the tap is drinkable and quite good. Good screens on all windows allowed us to use fans only and remain comfortable although you can close the louvered windows and turn on the A/C if needed. We always had plenty of hot water. Electrical outlets are same as Australian and New Zealand, two angled prongs, 220 volts. There is a table and two chairs on the patio that is perfect for relaxing, but there is also a concrete pad with two lounge chairs and table with a large umbrella just off the patio, and then another set of lounge chairs in the grass area just before the beach. Great care was taken to insure every bure has privacy in their layout of all the plants and bushes. We enjoyed the social hour with Dennis and Ngaire along with other guests every day before really great dinners. Some dinners were specials or you can order off an extensive menu. They make really great pizzas in the wood fired oven. Bottle beers were $7.00 FD/Fiji Bitter or Gold to $9.00 FD/Corona. New Zealand or Australian wine by the glass ran from $9 FD to $11 FD. You don’t need cash as you sign as you go and settle at checkout. Many meals were $16.00 FD to $38.00 FD. We are most comfortable in small more intimate resorts rather than large chains and if there is a better one than this we haven’t yet found it! TAVEUNI DIVE: (www.taveunidive.com) the dive shop is located about 10 to 15 minutes by car away, but they pick you up every day between 7:30 and 8 and bring you back after two tank dives around 1 to 1:30. They have several nice boats that holds 12 divers. The boat has all the safety equipment you would expect and the crew makes sure everyone receives an orientation as to what equipment there is and where it is located. Towels are passed out after the first dive, or in our case they were provided by Aroha every day after breakfast. Muffins and fruit are served during the surface interval. Surface intervals were taken on an isolated beach. A cooler of water and cups are offered. Upon arrival you set your dive gear up and you will not need to take care of anything again until you pack it up on the day you leave. They will rinse everything and hang it to dry. Dives averaged 70-feet for 45 to 50 minutes. There was light current on some dives and nonexistent on others. DIVING: Everyone goes to Fiji to see the beautiful soft corals, but here there were more hard corals, but very colorful and large, mostly staghorn and table top type corals. There was abundant marine life such as white tip sharks, anemone fish, colorful reef fish, moray eels, and nudibranchs (blue dragon was a favorite). We also saw lobsters, turtles, white tip shark, tiny shrimps, porcelain crabs. It is definitely worth a trip. We did learn that the nearest recompression chamber is in Auckland as the one is Fiji is currently not working, nor is there anyone who can operate it. The trip to Auckland is about 4 ½ hours from Taveuni.
Websites	Taveuni Dive Aroha
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Throughout the Caribbean and Central America, Micronesia, Indonesia, Philippines, Maldives, Tanzania, Australia, and Fiji.
Closest Airport	Matei on Taveuni, Nadi International	Getting There	Denver, CO to Los Angeles, CA on American who is partnered with Fiji Airways. Fiji Airways to Nadi, Fiji then Fiji Link to Matei Airport on Taveuni, Fiji.
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas	calm, no currents
Water Temp	79-80°F / 26-27°C	Wetsuit Thickness	0
Water Visibility	50-80 Ft/ 15-24 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	Depth and time were limited to 80-feet and 55 minutes
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	no
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	N/A
UW Photo Comments	A large container with fresh water was provided on the boat. The Aroha Resort does not have a camea facility but you have power for charging and a table in your bure.

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

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Dive Review of Taveuni Dive/Aroha in Fiji and Tuvalu/Taveuni

Taveuni Dive/Aroha: "Taveuni Fiji", Nov, 2018,

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 Taveuni Dive/Aroha in
Fiji and Tuvalu/Taveuni