Dive Review of Bamboo Reef Dive/Bamboo Beach Resort in
Fiji and Tuvalu/Bligh Water

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Bamboo Reef Dive/Bamboo Beach Resort, Jul, 2004, by Jill Rain, WA, UNITED STATES . Report 1119.
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	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	I booked a week of my trip to Fiji here expecting a 5-star experience, but found it was not entirely as advertised, particularly the diving opportunities. The resort: Bamboo Beach is brand-new, located in the narrow middle of Nananu-I-Ra Island, with the dining hall and bures strung out along the crest of the ridge. The good points --> Spectacular views of the sea, sunrises, sunsets, a wonderful beach on the windward side of the island. The food is generally very good and well presented. You check off what you want the day before (if you forget to check it off, you're out of luck). The Fijian serving staff were always wonderfully warm, helpful and friendly, as were the housekeeping and dive staff (and the Filipino office staff). The bad points --> While the bures are spacious and attractive, with big picture windows, an outdoor shower and a deck with a great view, there are no windows that can be opened. This means that once the mosquitoes come out in the late afternoon, you have to go inside, close the doors and listen to the air conditioning, rather than hearing and smelling the tropical breezes, birds and ocean down below. Also, the bures are duplexes, with thin walls so you can hear conversation and people walking around next door. The dive operation: Bamboo Reef is the new incarnation of Crystal Divers, and from what I saw, compared to past years, it has taken a giant leap backward. The owner, Dan Grenier, was nowhere to be seen - reportedly he was out of Fiji for a few months. His replacement was new, not around much, and knew little about the dive sites and the local scene. Bamboo Reef caters primarily to big Saturday-Saturday groups. As an independent traveller, my dive choices were limited by the whim of whatever big group happened to be there at the time. Two independent couples and I had to tag along to mostly fringe reef sites, in spite of the BR information flyer which advertises trips to the outer reef sites on request, because that's what the "big groups" wanted to do. Based on the 2 big groups I saw when I was there, BR is designed for casual occasional divers. Some people hadn't dived in years, none were very experienced, most were freaked out by mild currents and few had dives longer than 40 minutes (many were shorter, or skipped pre-paid dives altogether). BR requires 6 divers (and an extra $40 US) to go to the outer reef (8 to E-6), where the really spectacular diving Fiji is known for is to be found. We "non-group" divers got shut out of that option (except 1 day out of 6) because the group divers weren't interested in the longer boat ride, and BR doesn't find it worthwhile to take less than the minimum policy number even for passionate divers who had travelled a great distance expecting the old Crystal Divers experience. The bottom line of the current operation can also be seen in cramming as many as 13 divers (+ dive staff) onto one boat. In sum: If you want a pleasant tropical upscale vacation spot and you have a casual interest in diving, Bamboo Beach will work for you. If you are a serious diver wanting to dive the best of the Bligh Water, either do a live-aboard, or book with Kai Viti Diving, which is based in Raki Raki (on mainland Viti Levu opposite Nananu-I-Ra) which is the only dive operation in this area that routinely goes to the outer sites (unfortunately they were closed when I was there). Ra Divers, serving Wananevu clients, is mainly a fringe reef operation like Bamboo Reef Divers. Note: If you do happen to find yourself diving the fringe reef, be sure to request the dive site BR calls "Breath-taker" which has, at the right tide, lots of schooling sharks, barracuda, trevallies, and rays. And as always at any site, head to the side of the bommie where the current is strongest: that's where the best soft corals and most numerous fish are.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Caribbean, Canada, Australia, Baja, Hawaii
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy, rainy	Seas	choppy, surge, currents, noCurrents
Water Temp	78-80°F / 26-27°C	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	25-75 Ft/ 8-23 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Not over 100'
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	1 or 2
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	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]

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Dive Review of Bamboo Reef Dive/Bamboo Beach Resort in Fiji and Tuvalu/Bligh Water

Bamboo Reef Dive/Bamboo Beach Resort, Jul, 2004,

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 Bamboo Reef Dive/Bamboo Beach Resort in
Fiji and Tuvalu/Bligh Water