Jean Michel Cousteau, Jul, 2005,by Vicki Singley, TX, USA (![]() |
|||
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 |
The Cousteau Resort is gorgeous and lush, and the accommodations and food are outstanding. The service from the Fijian staff is wonderful -- very warm and accommodating. We had a one-year-old with us, and the set-up was ideal: private nanny all day long for any child under 5 years, and an outstanding "Bula" camp for other kids. Adult areas, and adults with kids areas, are kept separate. We definitely gave up something on the diving in order to stay at Cousteau -- you would get much better diving on a liveaboard in Fiji, and better land-based diving at resorts like Wananavu. The diving on the farther-out sites at Cousteau (45-60 minutes) like Namena and Nosomisomi Passage was outstanding, but the boats are dependent on the weather in order to go, so if you ran into some bad weather, they would be inaccessible. The diving in Savusavu Bay ranges from good to great, but the area is definitely overfished. We saw very few pelagics, and the number of fish in general was a lot less than Palau or PNG. But the coral was excellent. Cousteau had problems with their big boat halfway through the week, so we switched to their smaller boat, which is also very fast but not as comfortable. The dive staff was great and was very accommodating about diving whenever we wanted to. There were probably only about 10 divers total at the resort, so the service was very custom. Luckily, we knew that the water temp would be colder than we were used to because it was Fiji's winter, so we brought extra protection. The women wore from 6-8mm, and the men from 3-6mm, and we were OK. The air temp during the day was quite warm, and the evenings were cool. Our overall experience was just outstanding. A dream vacation for a family with any kids along or with some divers and some non-divers. There is plenty to do for non-divers: snorkeling, sea kayaking, small sailboats, hiking through the rainforest, village visit, gorgeous pool and beach, etc. We booked our trip through Kirsten Treias at Reef and Rainforest, who did her usual excellent job of answering myriad questions and booking complicated arrangments. |
||
Reporter and Travel |
|||
Dive Experience | 101-250 dives | ||
Where else diving | Thailan, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Roatan, Bonaire, Cozumel, Flower Gardens | ||
Closest Airport | Getting There | ||
Dive Conditions |
|||
Weather | sunny, windy, cloudy | Seas | calm, surge |
Water Temp | 72-76°F / 22-24°C | Wetsuit Thickness | 7 |
Water Visibility | 40-100 Ft/ 12-30 M | ||
Dive Policy |
|||
Dive own profile | yes | ||
Enforced diving restrictions | Depth limits were given for each dive, and in general we followed the divemaster's profile. | ||
Liveaboard? | no | Nitrox Available? | N/A |
What I Saw |
|||
Sharks | Lots | 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 | N/A | Boat Facilities | N/A |
Overall rating for UWP's | N/A | Shore Facilities | N/A |
UW Photo Comments | [None] |
| Home | Online Members Area | My Account |
Login
|
Join
|
| Travel Index |
Dive Resort & Liveaboard Reviews
|
Featured Reports
|
Recent
Issues
|
Back Issues
|
|
Dive Gear
Index
|
Health/Safety Index
|
Environment & Misc.
Index
|
Seasonal Planner
|
Blogs
|
Free Articles
|
Book Picks
|
News
|
|
Special Offers
|
RSS
|
FAQ
|
About Us
|
Contact Us
|
Links
|