FIJI

Bula. We visited Fiji in December 2005 and dove with Subsurface, a dive operation which operates dive shops from several of the Mamanuca Islands. Overall, we would give them a rating of Fair. We'll go into more details below.

The Mamanuca (pronounced Mah-mah-noo-tha) islands lie in a majestic arc, only a short distance from the mainland of Viti Levu, curving to the north-west, and almost touching the Yasawa chain.

There are 13 islands in all, not counting those covered by the Pacific at high tide and they all share in common pristine white sandy beaches, waving palms, crystal blue waters and, at night, the cooling influence of the trade winds.

The Mamanucas are essentially volcanic outcrops pushed up from the ocean floor in a gigantic earthquake thousands of years ago. From the air you can see that the Mamanucas group is in fact two clusters known as Mamanuca-i-ra and Mamanuca-i-cake. Within the Mamanucas is the Malolo group, three miles inside the barrier reef, extending in a curve for about 75 miles. As islands, they are certainly beautiful.

We had been asked to visit to consider taking over the operations for the new Hilton development dive concession, so we considered this a possibility we both might have enjoyed and visited on a business trip.

Here's a rundown on the dives we managed to get in;

Namotu Reef: This reef is situated in a passage on the Barrier Reef itself. The day we were there, the currents were very strong and this was not well communicated on our dive briefing. There was soft coral, but nothing really to write about as being a must see location. Visibility was maybe 50 feet, so also, nowhere near what is being promoted.

In defense of the site, the day we were there, a local told us this was the strongest they had ever seen the current.. As far as marine life, we saw nothing. Nothing. And even if we had seen something, the current was too strong to stop in anyway.

Dive rating: Don't bother.

Tavarua: Tavarua is very close to Namotu. We did this dive the same day, with a different divemaster. His briefing told us this was a drift dive and we were to descend at the anchor line. Once at the bottom, for some reason, he decided that swimming directly into the current to get around a small reef before drifting would be a good idea and I have never in 25 years had to work so hard to begin a dive. I was very nearly ready to leave the group when we rounded the corner, we were using so much air.

Once we got into the current, it was as if we were flying. This was not a drift dive. This was a fly dive. When I tried to stop to look at something, I was signalled to move on quite adamantly, in obvious fear that the divemaster may never see us again if we stopped.

Well, Yim and I finally decided that this was no fun at all and we would signal the divemaster we were going to ascend. We did our safety stop and went to the surface. The boat was a long way off, obviously not following our bubbles, which is the norm on any drift dive I've been on.

It was a good thing I had my Dive Alert siren, because I had to blow it three times to get the boat's attention as we drifted out into, well... out.

Oh, and by the way, if there were fish or coral of any kind, there was no way to see it since we were moving so fast and visibility was maybe 40 feet.

Dive Rating: Don't Bother.

Rainbow Reef: This was a nice dive site. Quite simply, it is a series of coral pinnacles in about 65 feet in depth at maximum depth, but the real joy is between 15 feet and the surface. The plate and table corals are beautiful. Some of the nicest coral I've ever seen.

But, during the dive, I was diving with six Japanese divers, who were, quite literally, standing on the reef, holding on to it to steady themselves to take photos, touching it and basically, not giving any thought to whether or not they were damaging it.

After the dive, I said something to one of the divers and was taken aside by the owner to tell me that this was a general problem with the Japanese there and I got the feeling she just did not want me to tell them not to do this. It really bugged me that no one was saying anything to them. And I somehow doubted that ALL japanese divers were like this and that all they needed was some reef education. Visibility, maybe 40 feet.

Dive Rating: Very good.

Supermarket: This is their supposedly famous shark feeding dive. What their promos fail to tell you is that they don't feed sharks there anymore and there are no sharks, just a lot of very dead coral. Visibility, maybe 30 feet.

Dive Rating: Don't Waste Your Money. It's a long boat ride for nothing.

Pleasure Point: Now this is a Dive site not to be missed! I would consider this one of the best dive sites I have ever seen. I don't know that it is worth traveling halfway around the world to see, but if you lived in Australia or New Zealand, then it would be worth a visit.

Dive Rating: Excellent!

Seven Sisters: An assortment of coral pinnacles to meander between. Lots of small reef fish and hard coral site in the area.

Dive Rating: Good.

We had hoped to go out again, but when we arrived at the shop on Sunday, we found both sets of our our gear had been given out to other guests so we could not dive on our last day on the islands, which disapointed the two of us. This has to be the height of incompetance in a Dive Shop... to 'lend out' guests dive gear who have traveled halfway around the world to consider managing their dive business.

A couple of other points I really don't like to see.

Subsurface claimed all their Instructors dive Nitrox and they have Nitrox available. This is quite simply not true. I asked the instructors and was told no. There were also no tanks marked for nitrox in the dive shops.

I do have to say that the Instructors and Divemasters were all very nice to us and seemed competant in their work. They were attentive to their divers and the head Instructor on Beachcomber was very patient and professional.

Since we were there for a short period, we wanted to dive as many sites as possible. They claim to dive 44 sites but during our stay, even upon request, they continued going to the same sites over and over again.

Another point to be aware of. The dive shop at Beachcomber makes you carry your dive gear well over 1,000 feet to the boat, so be prepared. It's not that bad before you dive but a real drag after the dive. Bring some water socks or you'll have to walk across a beach that is basically sharp coral.

We would recommend Treasure Island as a resort to visit for a week or two. The resort is quite wonderful with terrific snorkeling surrounding the entire Island. It also caters to families and has much to keep kids occupied. The local Fijian staff were extremely friendly and helpful.

We also liked First Landing, which is on the mainline, as a resort which catered to couples and families. We would suggest you consider Crusoes Retreat, a resort carved into the side of the cliffs about an hour south of Nadi. We also drove to Pacific Harbour, which had what we thought was the nicest cultural art boutiques we found.

Overall, we had a good time but would not return to the Mamanucas due to the poor quality of dive experience Subsurface offers. They have a lot to learn about running a dive operation. Don't forget your diving certification card!