Dive Review of Wananavu Beach Resort in
Fiji and Tuvalu

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Wananavu Beach Resort: "Wananavu Fiji", Nov, 2017, by Henry O Ziller, CO, US ( Top Contributor 38 reports with 21 Helpful votes). Report 10053 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	Getting to Fiji from Denver: American Airlines is partnered with Fiji Airways (bags are checked thru to Nadi, Fiji). You can also get there by traveling to Auckland on New Zealand Air (partnered with United), adding about 5 hours to the trip plus airport time waiting for the connection. We took American to LAX then a direct flight via Fiji Airways; 11.5 hours. The return only takes 9.5 hours due to favorable jet stream. Passing through immigration and customs in Nadi is quick. There are two ATM’s after customs in the terminal. Our driver stopped for us along the route for use of an ATM. Some places will take US dollars and most resorts take credit cards but add 3.5% to the bill. RESORT: Wananavu Beach Resort (www.wananavu.com) is beachfront on the north central coast of Viti Levu, Fiji; near the town of Rakiraki. If you stay more than five nights the resort provides complimentary transportation to and from the airport and it takes about 2.5 hours one way. There are 31 rooms in the 21 bures (garden view, ocean view, beachfront, and honeymoon) and all are equipped with ceiling fans, A/C, bathroom with shower, comfortable beds, a sitting area, a small refrigerator and hot water pot for instant coffee or tea. Good screens on all windows and doors allowed us to use fans only and remain comfortable. We always had plenty of hot water. Electrical outlets are same as Australian two angled prongs, 220 volts. There is a table and two chairs on the patio that is perfect for relaxing. There is new management since we were here in February 2016 and the positive changes are noticeable. The menu was good before but is even better now; the desserts in particular are well presented and delicious. Much of the same staff is still there and they all remembered us by name. Fijians are very friendly and Wananavu offers a taste of true Fijian culture. Breakfast was included with our package and included cereal, pastries, fruits, juices, coffee or tea, and hot items like omelets to order with several sides like hash browns, bacon, sausage, beans, vegetarian fried rice etc. Lunch and dinner could be ordered off the ‘all-day’ menu or off daily menus that were varied, quite tasty and generous portions. The most expensive items were $34FD, but many were less than $20FD. At dinner, Mary, the new hostess greeted people at each table to make sure they were having a good time and informed everyone of available activities and tours. Very nice touch. There was live entertainment daily 5pm – 9pm. Happy Hour is from 5:00pmto 6.30 pm. Draft beer was $5.00FD and you can join in the daily kava ceremony. Everything at the resort is in Fijian dollars which means everything is about 50% less than the US dollar. Bottle beers were $7.50/Fiji Bitter to $11.25/Australian Pale Ale. New Zealand or Australian wine by the bottle ran from $26.00FD to $55.00FD. You don’t need cash as you sign as you go and settle at checkout. We are most comfortable in small more intimate resorts rather than large chains. We do expect 5 star service and Wananavu did not disappoint. Free water sports include kayaks, swimming pool, and snorkeling. Other activities include tennis, volleyball, fish feeding, crab races, and presentations on Fiji customs and Fijian Medicine. WANANAVU DIVE: (www.divewananavufiji.com) the onsite dive shop is managed by Angel. They have a large boat that holds 22 divers and a smaller boat that holds up to 12 divers. The boat has all the safety equipment you would expect and the crew makes sure everyone receives an orientation as to what equipment there is and where it is located. There is a head on the larger boat (for ladies only). Towels are passed out after the first dive. Muffins and fruit are served during the surface interval. A cooler of water and cups are offered. Beer and sodas are offered for the ride back to the resort. We used the large boat all but one day and usually had 4 to 8 divers. The divemasters Semi and Jess were very good; they know the reefs well and insure the safety and enjoyment of the divers. They also had a divemaster in training, Moses. Upon arrival you set your dive gear in your bag outside your bure you will not need to take care of anything again until you pack it up on the day you leave. They will rinse everything and hang it to dry in the shop. On the day you leave you go to the dive shop to verify that they have placed everything that is yours in your bag and then they will deliver it to your room. Dives averaged 70-feet for one hour. There was current on some dives and nonexistent on others. Jess changed dive sites before we got wet if the current was too strong. DIVING: After last year’s cyclone Winston we were not sure what to expect of the reefs. Several reefs are gone, however most are still pristine. Everyone goes to Fiji to see the beautiful soft corals and this place delivers. We were amazed at all the vivid colors red, blue, purple, pink yellow, and types of soft corals. There was abundant marine life such as white tip sharks, schools of chevron barracuda, anemone fish, hump head wrasse, wahoo, octopus jellies, lionfish, moray eels, and nudibranchs (blue dragon was a favorite). We also saw lobsters, tiny shrimps, porcelain crabs. There is a pod of 40 to 50 dolphins that entertained us during one of our surface intervals. Boat captain us they stay in the area year round. There were dive sites with numerous swim through's. It is definitely worth a trip. A side note: The day before we arrived the Fiji Siren sank about 300 yards off Volivoli Resort where they pick up and drop off passengers. Seems they should have had better knowledge where the reef was! Too bad it is too deep for recreational diving.
Websites	Wananavu Beach Resort
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Throughout the Caribbean and Central America, Micronesia, Indonesia, Philippines, Maldives, Tanzania, Australia, and Fiji.
Closest Airport	Nadi (NAN)	Getting There	Getting to Fiji from Denver: American Airlines is partnered with Fiji Airways (bags are checked thru to Nadi, Fiji). You can also get there by traveling to Auckland on New Zealand Air (partnered with United), adding about 5 hours to the trip plus airport time waiting for the connection. We took American to LAX then a direct flight via Fiji Airways; 11.5 hours. The return only takes 9.5 hours due to favorable jet stream.
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, rainy, cloudy, dry	Seas	calm, currents, no currents
Water Temp	80-81°F / 27-27°C	Wetsuit Thickness	1
Water Visibility	50-100 Ft/ 15-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	Depth and time were the instructions given
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	Schools	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	N/A
UW Photo Comments	A small 5 gallon bucket is provided on the boat. There is no facility for large cameras. They will hand down and retrieve your large camera, and it is placed in your box under your seat.

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

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Dive Review of Wananavu Beach Resort in Fiji and Tuvalu

Wananavu Beach Resort: "Wananavu Fiji", Nov, 2017,

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 Wananavu Beach Resort in
Fiji and Tuvalu