Dive Review of Nai'a Fiji in
Fiji and Tuvalu

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Nai'a Fiji: "Great diving despite lack of sun", Nov, 2014, by Ms Lynda Durfee, VA, US ( Top Contributor 49 reports with 24 Helpful votes). Report 7997 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	After first booking on the Island Dancer late in Dec 2013 (with a $700 discount), I switched to Nai'a after several poor reviews of the Dancer, forfeiting about $450, but my flights had already been booked. Nai'a is well worth the difference in price, due to comfort level of accommodations, meals, crew and diving operations. Diving is done from two rubber skiffs (8 divers plus DM and driver), but crew loads your tank/scuba unit in racks, so you don't have to climb in with your gear on your back. Enter water simultaneously via back roll; take off your scuba unit and hand up to crew, then flop yourself into skiff. Crew will help you up (they grabbed me under my arms and landed me like a tuna!) Skiffs have fishbone ladders they can lower on one side, but it was difficult to use in the rough chop, so most of the time it wasn't used. Crew transfers your tank/scuba unit from skiff to racks on back of boat, so all you have to do is step back on the boat with your fins/mask. We saw the Dancer nearby a few times; their divers had to walk down steps to the swim deck on the stern with gear on, then climbed into their skiff, which wasn't very stable (according to Nai'a crew). Nai'a has hot showers on dive deck; you get a numbered towel to reuse (dried after each dive). My only negative was that there wasn't a head on the dive deck (big camera room takes up all available space), so you had to peel off your wetsuit, shower, dry off, then dash to your cabin. Weather was mostly overcast during the week, with rain mostly during the night. With air temp around 80 deg F and winds 15-20 mph most of the time, there wasn't much sunbathing except for the hardiest. Water temp was 76-77 F at beginning of week; 79-80 later; wore 5 mm suit; many divers wore hoods, gloves, several layers. Bring gloves for shark watching dives (to hang on to dead coral)and other dives where current is strong. As to the food: meals were fantastic with fresh local ingredients (Fiji grows a lot of fruit and vegatables; beef, dairy, not to mention fish!) Continental breakfast for early risers before first dive at 6:45 am; muffins and cooked to order breakfast entree after first dive. Plated lunches and dinners, with selection of two entrees and one vegetarian. Entree choices for BLD made after dinner on previous day. Afternoon snack mid-afternoon. Soft drinks and hot drinks available 24/7. Beer and wine complimentary during dinner service, small charge at other times; liquor also available for $5/pour (honor bar). OK to bring your own beer on board. Cabins comfortable, clean, lots of storage in drawers, under bed; individually controlled AC, and hair dryer. Plenty of hot water in shower, hooks for drying bathing suits, etc. For the diving: this was my first trip to Fiji (Hawaii 10+ trips, and two to Palau), so I was somewhat familiar with Pacific fish, but I saw a lot of fish that were new to me. I'm not a photographer, so I enjoy looking for new things on each dive (I counted 21 different butterly). Dive sites were chosen based on conditions (wind, currents), but they seem to have a regular itinerary, and since you rarely dive close to an island, visibility is pretty good (no worries about runoff from rain, rivers, etc.) Two dives in Nigali passage to watch reef sharks from "bleachers" along one side (not a shark feed). Other dives were a mixture of drifts, circumnavigating underwater mounts, etc. with lots of fish, soft and hard corals, anemone, etc. Very strong currents on some dives. One of the divers had only 15 dives prior to this trip (she did fine), but most were veterans with hundreds of dives or more. Hosts Josh and Amanda do a fantastic job, along with the Fiji crew. Kava ceremony and singing on boat one night with crew and guests. Visit to local village late Thursday afternoon with singing, dancing, kava ceremony. This was well worth doing, and the people were genuinely welcoming and appreciative of our gifts. (I brought several tubes of toothpaste and antibiotic cream). Three dives on Friday, with boat returning to port in the afternoon, then dinner onboard. Continental breakfast on Sat., with shuttle pickup at 8 am to day hotel (Raffles) or airport. I'd do this trip again. I arrived the Monday prior and spent 5 nights at Pacific Harbor, then got a day room at Raffles after the Nai'a to use the exercise room, pool, and relax before the evening flight.
Websites	Nai'a Fiji
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	All over Caribbean, all Hawaiian isles, Palau, Maldives, Lake Tahoe
Closest Airport	Nadi	Getting There	Non-stop from LA; arrive about 6 am; shuttle pickup at 1 pm; get a day room
Dive Conditions
Weather	windy, rainy, cloudy	Seas	choppy, currents
Water Temp	76-80°F / 24-27°C	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	50-100 Ft/ 15-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	No deco; follow DM or go on own with buddy.
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	1 or 2
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish	N/A
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter	N/A	Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	I'm not a photographer, but there was a large enclosed camera room with shelves, towels, charging stations.

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

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Dive Review of Nai'a Fiji in Fiji and Tuvalu

Nai'a Fiji: "Great diving despite lack of sun", Nov, 2014,

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 Nai'a Fiji in
Fiji and Tuvalu