Tuesday 31 July 2018

Fiji s 2018 Dive Fiesta Tourism Fiji

Tourism Fiji wants to revitalise the dive tourism industry to Fiji

I was lucky to be invited to sample seven resorts in a wonderful whirlwind tour of diving
and resort living in March 2018.

OUR group of eleven from NZ, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Germany met in Nadi and headed off to the massive Captain Cook Cruise boat early on day one. We heard about their 4, 7 and 11 day cruises. The eleven day one goes East to the Lau Group and looks like a grand adventure.

Captain Cook Cruises do one to two dives a day and lots of cruising including two mammoth cruises for eleven nights to the Lau Group of Islands in the far East and the Northern islands.

Our first dive was “Golden Dreams” at Voli Voli with Ra Divers on the North side of Fiji. We were promised five ghost pipefish and were lucky to find eight including one of the rare hairy robust ghost
pipefish. I had left my macro lenses at home and only took the wide angle set up.


The overcast conditions meant that there was limited light and so I tried to do close up wide angle photography.

Voli Voli is owned by the Darling family from Christchurch. They have rebuilt the resort to an even higher standard after Cyclone Winston and are also adding more luxury family units and accommodation for groups of six. There are beautiful gardens on each Vale. Nick, the manager says that it can accommodate a family or six friends in total privacy and luxury. They are still celebrating the Excellence in Tourism award for quality accommodation. That evening, we had drinks and some very fine dining at their new restaurant.

In the morning we set off for the famous Mellow Yellow dive site.  This site has stunning coral gardens and coral windows. The next dive was Chile. I found a coral Window of Dreams and took a few photos of Nick.

For keen underwater photographers, Chile is a dive to capture those stunning model photos. It has so much colour and fish life. It is a vivid reminder of the incredible underwater panoramas that Fiji has
been famous for. Of course, anyone who has dived at the Bligh Waters will know just how beautiful and photogenic these reefs are.

On day two we took the bus to Wananavu Resort a few kilometres away. This is a beautiful garden resort in the protection of a bay. Without taking a breath, we headed off for a dive even before the
resort orientation.

Friday 20 July 2018

Fiji Scuba Diving Adventures



Fiji Scuba Diving - Taveuni Adventures!!! Just a short clip from this awesome trip to Fiji to meet dive centres around Taveuni and Savusavu. Thanks for all the hospitality, 3 more days in Savusavu meeting members and running a member forum then off to Pacific Harbour for the day... I will have to wait to get home to edit a full length Vlog of this epic adventure but in the mean time, enjoy the short clips and let me know if you like them :-)

Massive thanks to Garden Island Resort and their team for having me out on the boat to do the Rainbow Reef while I was there :-)

#PADI #WeArePADI #RainbowReef #Fiji #Scuba #Diving

Tuesday 17 July 2018

Mai Dive Astrolabe Reef Resort Fiji 2018

Wednesday 4 July 2018

Namena Marine Reserve Dive Tag Photo Competition 2019

Once again, Namena Marine Reserve would like to invite you to participate in their annual Dive Tag Photo Competition! The winner of the competition will have unique privilege of having their photo featured on the 2019 Namena Marine Reserve Dive Tags.

The deadline to submit photos is 15th August 2018



The winner of the competition will have unique privilege of having their photo featured on the 2019 Namena Marine Reserve Dive Tags.

Individuals from around the world are invited to submit up to five underwater photos from the
Namena Marine Reserve in Fiji, containing a solitary animal or fish (see below for examples of past Dive Tags). Clear credit will be given to the photographer.

As you may know, people travel from around the globe, at great expense, to dive in the Namena Marine Reserve with exclusive dive operators. When they leave, they keep their dive tag as a treasured token from their time in Fiji. Not only is this competition a great opportunity to highlight your art to an international audience, your participation means a lot to the native people of Kubulau, who take great pride in Namena and have made a long-term investment in the protection of their resources. 

The dive tag program has been very successful over the past 14 years and continues to show people from around the world that Namena is a special site.

We acknowledge and appreciate your commitment to the Namena Marine Reserve and hope that you will participate by submitting your photo(s) for consideration. The deadline to submit photos is August 15, 2018. Please email up to five original photos along with a signed photography license agreement (see below) to Peni Were at namenamarinereserve@gmail.com

If your photo is chosen, we will contact you to request a high-resolution version to be submitted by September 15, 2018. The winner will receive a free dive tag featuring their winning photo. 

Thank you in advance for your interest and participation. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. We look forward to seeing your spectacular photos.

Vinaka vakalevu,

Peni Were


Peni Were

Mobile: Vodafone: (679) 925-4564, Digicel: (679) 728-8855/7912257