Dive Review of Ra Divers/Volivoli Beach Resort in
Fiji and Tuvalu/Rainbow Reef

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Ra Divers/Volivoli Beach Resort: "A Really Enjoyable Week", Apr, 2022, by Gary & Robin Schiendelman, PA, US ( Top Contributor 31 reports with 46 Helpful votes). Report 11919 has 1 Helpful vote.
Photos Submitted with this Report Click on an image to see an enlarged version and captions
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Entry into Fiji and through immigration and customs was quick and easy. Good thing since we’d been traveling for over 24 hours when we arrived at 6am. After exiting the terminal, Volivoli had a driver waiting to take us the hour and a half drive to the resort. Upon arrival, we were greeted by Simon, the manager and given a brief orientation prior to being shown to our room. Our room (premium ocean view) was excellent. There were windows with screens front and back and a sliding door with screens so we didn’t need to use the ac the whole week. A large seating area was just in front of the door to allow for relaxing and enjoying the view. There was a nice porch with 2 reclining chairs. In addition, the room had a kitchenette with a washing machine(!) There was an outdoor drying rack on the side of the villa. With the seating area and kitchenette, we had lots of room for stuff and lots of outlets for cameras, lights, etc. Electrical adapters and converters are needed. Bedding was comfortable, linens good quality and plenty of hot water in the shower. All the comforts of home! Do be aware that the resort is on the side of a hill so there are many steps and ramps as you go from your room to the restaurant to the dive shop. Food was good. Meals were all plated. The menu got a little repetitive after a week but all in all, we had no complaints. Restaurant service was pretty good. It slowed somewhat after a large group arrived but the servers were all pleasant and accommodating. Daily happy hour offered a discount on drinks so we usually ordered a bottle of wine during happy hour (at the Ra Bar) and it migrated up to the restaurant with us at dinner. There were 2 “special” dinners during the week which were held at the Ra Bar. A BBQ and a Fijian night which also featured some local dancers and a cava ceremony. We unloaded our dive gear upon arrival and left it on the front porch where it was picked up and transported down to the dive shop. They load your bc, reg and fins on the boat and you don’t need to touch it again. At the end of the day, rinse your own wetsuit (nice, large rinse tanks with clean water) and hang it on outdoor racks. At night, the crew moves it indoors then, in the morning, they lay all the wetsuits out on tables and chairs and you need to find yours. It is a bit chaotic. We would suggest that you label your wetsuit!! There were a couple of instances where someone picked up the wrong one. In one case, a departing guest had packed someone else’s suit. Fortunately, they hadn’t left the resort. Frustrating because the person owned a 3mm black suit and she took a 5mm suit with a blue shoulder design. Daily dive schedule was either 2 or 3 boat dives plus unlimited shore diving. After talking to a number of divers who had done the shore dive, we decided to skip that option. They all said it was not worth it. Poor vis and not much to see. If you’ve been out of the water for a while, it would be good for a check out dive before getting on the boat. You are assigned a boat for the day and told if it is a 2 or 3 tank dive. If 2, you are back by lunch. If 3, they send a pre-ordered packed lunch to eat on the boat. Boat night dives are offered at an additional charge but only if there are 4 or more divers. We were able to night dive only once. The two dive areas were Vatu Reef and Vat-i-ra (a marine protected area) which was definitely the best diving. The coral was stunning and the reef fish life prolific. We did see some evidence of bleaching. The amount varied between sites. We saw only a few sharks and not as many critters as expected, except nudi’s. We saw no cephalopods the entire week. There are sites with medium to strong currents, but they were always manageable. The dive boats were comfortable with protection from sun and rain and awesome ladders with railings that extended up and onto the boat. It was really easy to exit wearing your gear, although they were happy to have you remove it in the water. The crew switched your tanks between dives. The dive crew were good and although you were encouraged to stay with the guides, they moved pretty slow. All of the dives were an hour plus. All in all, we would recommend Volivoli Beach Resort. Fiji is relatively easy to get to, especially from the West Coast. Since the resort is on the same island as the international airport in Nadi, there is no need for a puddle jumper. The diving is good and the resort is well run and comfortable. Simon and his staff are always approachable for questions or problems and the service was excellent. The Fiji Cares website does a great job of listing the Covid requirements for visitors. It is clear, concise and updated as needed.
Websites	Ra Divers
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Indonesia, PNG, Solomon Isl, Red Sea, Maldives, South Africa, Mozambique, Cocos Isl, Galapagos, Socorro, Palau, Var Caribbean locations, New Jersey, Florida, No Carolina, Philippines, Fiji
Closest Airport	Nadi	Getting There	PHL-LAX-NAN
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, rainy	Seas	calm, surge, currents
Water Temp	81-83°F / 27-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility	60-100 Ft/ 18-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	Stay with guides. Depth and dive time.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
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	N/A	Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	Rinse bucket on boat. Really nice camera room on shore with everything you need. Also lots of space in our room for camera gear.

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

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Dive Review of Ra Divers/Volivoli Beach Resort in Fiji and Tuvalu/Rainbow Reef

Ra Divers/Volivoli Beach Resort: "A Really Enjoyable Week", Apr, 2022,

Photos Submitted with this Report

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 Ra Divers/Volivoli Beach Resort in
Fiji and Tuvalu/Rainbow Reef