Diving in Fiji

The soft coral capital of the world, the Beqa Lagoon shark dive and the mantas of the Yasawa Islands

1 yacht for liveaboard diving, 6 resorts

Fiji — the Rainbow Reef and the Great White Wall in Somosomo Strait, eight shark species in Beqa Lagoon, Yasawa mantas. Dive resorts and liveaboards, schedules and prices.

Why divers come here

The Rainbow Reef and the Great White Wall in Somosomo Strait — a solid carpet of white soft coral on a wall from fifteen metres down
Beqa Lagoon — a feeding dive where up to eight shark species pass in a single morning, bull sharks and a tiger among them
Vatu-i-Ra and Bligh Water — a chain of sea mounts in the centre of the archipelago with the densest pelagic action in the country
Namena Marine Reserve — coral gardens and the Grand Central Station sea mount
Mantas in the Yasawa passages from May to October — snorkelling in the current alongside the school
Fiji's soft corals bloom all year because the currents feed them without a break

What you'll meet underwater

Soft corals in every colour — the country's signature

Bull sharks and a tiger shark (Beqa Lagoon)

Grey, whitetip and blacktip reef sharks

Reef mantas (Yasawa, Namena)

Green and hawksbill turtles

Schools of trevally, barracuda and snapper

Napoleon wrasse and groupers

Humpback whales pass through from July to September

Photos: credits and licences

Practical information

Best season

May to October is the dry season, with the clearest water and the calmest sea.

November to April is warmer and greener but brings rain and cyclones

the Yasawa mantas are around from May to October

Water temperature

25–29 °C

Visibility

15–40 m

Wetsuit

3 mm year-round, 5 mm in July and August and for three or four dives a day

Experience level

Open Water for the reefs and soft corals

Advanced and drift experience for the straits and for the Beqa Lagoon shark dive

Getting there

From Moscow the journey takes 25–35 hours: there are no direct flights, so you fly to Nadi (NAN) via Seoul, Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney or Auckland.

From there Fiji Link domestic flights reach Taveuni (TVU) or Savusavu (SVU) in about an hour, or a boat transfer runs to the Coral Coast resorts and the Yasawa Islands.