 |
Email Signup
|
Subscribe
|
Login
For Divers since 1975 The Private, Exclusive Guide for Serious Divers Since 1975 |
"Best of the Web: scuba tips no other source dares to publish" -- Forbes |
Qamea, May, 2008,by Christina & Alex, CO, USA ( 1 report). Report 4091. |
|||
|
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 | This is essentially a lovely four-star resort (by USA standards) in the north-east part of Fiji, though it's officially designated as a five-star property in Fiji. A friendly driver meets your plane at the Taveuni airport and escorts you and your luggage to the boat dock for the quick trip to Qamea island. After a nice orientation tour and refreshment you are shown to your bure. We stayed in the 'Honeymoon Bure' and it was well worth the extra money for the upgraded facilities and most of all the privacy (which is not available in most of the standard beachfront bures). During our stay we visited the Premium Villa and it's spectacular and we highly recommend it for it's size and near complete privacy away from majority of the resort. The staff at Qamea are extremely warm, kind, and amazingly remember your name from the first introduction. The food was delicious and the kitchen accommodated our dietary allergies (but needed to be reminded before each meal). Internet access is available (per minute charges apply) at a communal computer room (internet access is slow but fine for a quick email home). The dive manager and entire dive staff are wonderful and knowledgeable. The diving is full service with all gear set up, rinse, and storage. The dive shop facility is adequate with a rinse tank and cool water shower (but no restroom facility as all the bures are close-by). There is no dive shop sales so make sure to bring everything you need from home (ie extra batteries, defogger), but equipment rentals are available should you need. The dive boat has a covered area with more room than is needed for the quantity of divers. Over 5 days of diving, there was 1 dive for which we had 8 divers, split into 2 groups of 4 with a guide each. On 3 dives, there was just the two of us with a dive guide. The diving has a good variety of: hard coral, beautiful brightly colored soft coral, pinnacles, walls, and pretty tropical fish. This is not a destination for pelagics though there were many white-tip reef sharks and barracuda; we have heard that at times there are mantas although we did not see any on this trip. We chose not to take the optional full day trip to the Somosomo Straits, as we will be visiting the Somosomo area next year. As in many land-based diving facilities in Fiji, there was no Nitrox available. Dive times are based upon your air consumption (with none longer than approximately 75 minutes). The surface interval for the morning 2 tank dive, is done back on shore at the resort, as all the dive sites are very close-by. Surface intervals were extremely casually paced and often 75 minutes in length. Private afternoon or night diving is available upon request (for an additional fee). Overall impression: if you want to get away to dive and relax this is an excellent location where the staff will take good care of you. This is not a dedicated dive resort, so expect to encounter many honeymooners, snorkelers, people coming just to relax. For those i your group who don't dive, there is a daily adventure trip planned (extra fee) to various interesting locations (waterfalls, pearl farm, local village, jungle hikes, etc). Happy diving! | ||
Reporter and Travel |
|||
| Dive Experience | 26-50 dives | ||
| Where else diving | Beqa Lagoon Fiji, Wakatobi Indonesia | ||
| Closest Airport | Getting There | ||
Dive Conditions |
|||
| Weather | windy, rainy, cloudy | Seas | choppy |
| Water Temp | 83-84°F / 28-29°C | Wetsuit Thickness | 3 |
| Water Visibility | 50-60 Ft/ 15-18 M | ||
Dive Policy |
|||
| Dive own profile | yes | ||
| Enforced diving restrictions | Surface with 500 PSI | ||
| Liveaboard? | no | Nitrox Available? | N/A |
What I Saw |
|||
| Sharks | 1 or 2 | Mantas | None |
| Dolphins | None | Whale Sharks | None |
| Turtles | None | 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 fresh water rinse tank on dive boat. No area on dive boat to prep camera. No special area on shore for camera prep other than your bure. Some of the dive guides love to lead UW photographers. | ||
Subscribers can post comments, ask the reviewer
questions, as well as getting immediate and complete access to ALL 494 dive reviews of Fiji and Tuvalu
and all other dive destinations. Complete access to all
issues and Chapbooks is also included.
All Fiji and Tuvalu Dive Reviews and Reports
Diving Guide to Fiji and Tuvalu
Diving Reviews for All Dive Destinations
|
||
|
Want to assemble your own collection of Fiji and Tuvalu reports in one place? |
||
|
Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above. |
| 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
|
