Top Ten Scuba Destinations

#2 Scuba Dive Fiji Islands, South Pacific

Fiji offers an incredible scuba diving experience. It is the "Soft Coral Capital of the World", the home of the "Great White Wall", the "Yellow Tunnel" and other famous underwater marvels, scuba diving conditions and visibility are unrivalled year-round.

Because of its clear water and dazzling coral Fiji is a favorite hangout for professional underwater photographers.

Top Ten Scuba Destinations

Catching the Fijian Fever | Official Website of 10 Magazine Asia

One of the reasons why people travel to Fiji year in and year out are the magnificent scuba dive sites located all over the islands. Even if you’ve never taken one breath underwater, there has never been a better time to start. Choose between simple (and often complimentary) pool dives to get accustomed to life underwater or opt for a full licensed PADI Open Water Course available at many certified training facilities around the island.

In fact, it’s far more cost-effective to take PADI training in Fiji than in many other countries. This is especially true if you head to the Beqa Adventure Divers office in Pacific Harbour (contact info below). The instructors at this surprisingly affordable course somehow manage to make holding your breath fun.

Once you feel comfortable in the water, move on to the world famous shark dive that the company offers four times a week. You can swim with tiger sharks, bull sharks, and a whole host of brightly-coloured aquatic life, and it is actually a lot safer than it sounds. Experienced divers can of course skip the course and jump right into ancient shipwreck dives, witness an abundance of coral splendour, and explore mysterious underwater caves. Plus, the water around Fiji is always warm enough for a deep ocean dive.

Best Dive Sites in Fiji

• Great Astrolabe Reef (Near Kadavu)

This great reef may not be as well-known as the Great Barrier in Australia, but it does attract a lot of manta rays and the soft coral is pleasing to the eye.

Magical Islands
Kadavu

One of the best preserved areas in all of Fiji. The area lacks a lot of the predators that prowl the main islands, allowing native wildlife to roam free and delight tourists. Kadavu also offers the perfect starting point for a dive along the Great Astrolabe Reef.

Catching the Fijian Fever | Official Website of 10 Magazine Asia

Returning Soon - Review of Matava - Fiji's Premier Eco Adventure Resort, Kadavu Island, Fiji - TripAdvisor

We have been to several places on Kadavu and find Matava the best. We would return just for the food but when you add the reef, the wonderful staff, diving, snorkeling, fishing, and the very nice beach facing the resort we will be there again in 2010 and that should be about 12 visits for us since we began traveling to Fiji in 1993-ps we did our rescue PADI Certification there.

Returning Soon - Review of Matava - Fiji's Premier Eco Adventure Resort, Kadavu Island, Fiji - TripAdvisor

Two new species of freshwater fishes discovered in Vanua Levu (Fiji) now internationally recognized

Two new scientific papers have been published in the last several months highlighting the discovery of two new species of freshwater fishes unique to Fiji and only known from two river systems in Vanua Levu. Wetlands International –Oceania staff Aaron Jenkins and Kinikoto Mailautoka, made the new discoveries as part of surveys for the Ecosystem Based Management project over the last several years.

This month, the scientific paper entitled, “Hippichthys albomaculosus, a new species of freshwater pipefish (Pisces: Syngnathidae) from Fiji” was released in Aqua, International Journal of Ichthyology, co-authored by Aaron Jenkins and Kinikoto Mailautoka. This handsome pipefish was found in a small mangrove lined tributary near the mouth of the Dreketi River and is distinguished from other species by several characteristics including 10-11 white spots on the lower trunk region.


The name comes from the latin albo (white) and maculosus (spotted), in reference to this new species distinctive series of white spots. This species reaches around 9 cm long and the males carry the eggs in a trunk pouch until they hatch. This paper is significant as not only is it Fiji’s newest endemic (only found in Fiji) animal species, it is the first new freshwater pipefish (related to a seahorse) to be discovered in about the last 30 years. Taxonomic description work was all done in country, based out of the University of the South Pacific and, recognizing the capacity being built in country, the second author is the first indigenous Fijian to have co-authored a new species of fish.

New freshwater goby

The second new species of fish to be named recently was also first collected by the Wetlands International –Oceania team but described overseas by Dr. Helen Larson of the Northern Territory Museum. As part of a large review paper released last month in the international journal Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters, the new freshwater goby, Redigobius lekutu has been described. This species gains its name from the Lekutu river where it was first discovered although it is also now also known from the Dreketi river system. This species is significant, as it also is only known from Vanua Levu and only generally in clean water in the upper catchment areas of these two rivers with high forest cover and nowhere else on earth. It only reaches about 2.5 cm in length and is threatened by catchment disturbances such as logging, invasive species and gravel extraction in particular.

Unique and fragile nature of Fijian freshwaters and aquatic biodiversity

Aaron Jenkins, a fish biologist who manages Wetlands International work in the region and also represents Oceania to the global IUCN/WI Freshwater Fish Specialist Group states, “These recent publications are timely to help remind us of the unique and fragile nature of Fijian freshwaters and aquatic biodiversity. Only over the last decade or so are we beginning to gain a clear picture of the global uniqueness of Fijian and other Pacific Island freshwater fish faunas. Whole of catchment and “ridge-to-reef” water resource management are absolutely essential not only for preserving Fiji’s unique natural heritage but also for protecting our own health and well-being.
Article:

Hippichthys albomaculosus, a new species of freshwater pipefish (Pisces: Syngnathidae) from Fiji

http://www.aqua-aquapress.com/latest_issues.html

NEWS

Hippichthys albomaculosus, a new species of freshwater pipefish (Pisces: Syngnathidae) from Fiji

Hippichthys albomaculosus, a new species of freshwater pipefish
(Pisces: Syngnathidae) from Fiji

Aaron P. Jenkins and Kinikoto Mailautoka
Wetlands International-Oceania, Fiji Office,
School of Islands and Oceans, Faculty of Science, Technology and Environment, University of the South Pacific, Fiji Islands.

This paper describes a new species of Hippichthys collected by the second author durng a 2009 freshwater and estuarine ichthyofaunal survey of Vanua Levu, the second largest island of Fiji.

Abstract
A new species of freshwater pipefish, Hippichthys alboaculosus, is described on the basis of 22 specimens, collected from Vanua Levu Island, Republic of Fiji. 

This species is distinguished from its closest relatives by a combination of characters that include: 13 trunk rings, total rings usually 48; dorsal fin origin on first tail ring; scutella not keeled; pectoral fin rays modally 14, trunk depth about 1.7 in head length, anal ring depth about 2.8 in head length; series of 10-11 white ocelli with dark margins bilateral to median longitudinal ventral keel and below inferior trunk ridge.

Explorer - Shark Dives in Fiji - NYTimes.com

In Fiji, Dancing With Sharks

Martywolff.com

Divers like to see big fish. At 50 feet below the South Pacific in Fiji, a dive leader feeds a piece of tuna to a white tip shark.

By GREG WINTER

Published: January 17, 2010

THERE’S a moment when the sheer awe of being arm’s length from a procession of hungry sharks — so close that you lock eyes with each one as it blitzes by your head — gives way to a sudden burst of clarity, and all your thoughts coalesce into a single edifying idea: “Maybe I should duck.”

Map

Fiji

Scuba diving in Fiji, a collection of some 300 islands strewn across the South Pacific, poses a kind of recreational Sophie’s Choice for anyone with less than a month on his hands. Do I chase manta rays across the famed Astrolabe Reef off Kadavu Island? Can I make it to the pristine, remote waters between the big islands? What about the legendary soft corals carpeting the Great White Wall in the Somosomo Strait? Shark diving in Pacific Harbor, a couple of hours’ drive from the international airport on Viti Levu, elbowed its way onto my list because it offers a fairly certain chance of seeing what any honest diver will admit to yearn for: lots and lots of big fish.
Giant trevally, each bigger than a grown man’s torso, racing around in swarms. A grouper the size of a love seat. Schools of plump snapper. Stealthy suckerfish, with their eerily flat heads. And such vast quantities of smaller reef fish clouding the deep that they alone, not the raging seas above, often pose the biggest obstacle to an unobstructed photograph of the huge bull sharks lumbering by.
There is a trick to luring sharks, I quickly learned when I was in Fiji last fall, and it is deviously simple. Dive boats chum up the waters with hundreds of pounds of discarded fish scraps, drawing a storm of life from miles around. Purists may call it cheating. Biologists fret over the potential impact on shark behavior, or on the delicate balance of life around the reefs. But there is no debating its efficacy.
Kneeling on the sea floor, almost 100 feet down, I counted 10 adult bull sharks circling directly overhead on one of my six shark dives, their skin taut over thick layers of muscle. Higher up, as many as two dozen speedy, smaller sharks — gray reefs, black tips and white tips, with their catlike eyes — darted by our stunned group, close enough that I felt a swoosh of water on my face from a passing tail. Had we not been clamping down so tightly on our regulators, our mouths would surely have been agape.
But if attracting the sharks is a relatively crude affair, handling them is nothing short of an art. With no cage to protect us, professional divers flanked the group, gripping aluminum prods in case the predators became overzealous. Then the feeder would reach into his bag of fish parts and wave the sharks in, one by one. Clad in chain mail under his wet suit, the feeder would dangle and sway the waiting flesh, enticing the powerful beasts, some of them about eight feet long and hundreds of pounds, to eat right from his outstretched hand.
The smaller sharks, graceful and lithe, needed little encouragement. With surprising discipline, they took turns approaching the feeder in an orderly single file, snatching the treats and quickly swooping away, their white bellies nearly grazing our heads as they scurried off.
Keenly aware of the ritual, they then circled around for the next spot in line. When a brazen newcomer from another reef broke ranks and rushed up from behind, one of the feeders, Manasa Bulivou, a Fijian man who goes by the nickname Papa, deftly grabbed the five-foot shark, spun it around and socked it in the gut with an uppercut — a lesson in manners, Papa later explained.
But the big bull sharks, despite their reputation as aggressive man-eaters, were strangely shy. An enormous and visibly pregnant one the divers called Big Mama seemed almost finicky as she warily sniffed at the flesh being offered her before turning up her nose entirely. Some of the bulls lurked in the distance, no more than silhouettes in the blue. Others swam languidly toward us, as if playing a lazy game of chicken before nonchalantly turning away.
R. Dean Grubbs, a shark expert at Florida State University, says this is probably the safest way to encounter bull sharks, in deep, clear water, where they are far less likely to mistake you for their normal prey, as they do with swimmers and surfers in the shallows or at the surface. Some sharks, including bulls, also have space issues, so the fact that they’ve come to you, not the other way around, means they’re less likely to feel crowded and testy.
But George H. Burgess, director of the Florida Program for Shark Research, contends that once you start luring big sharks all bets are off, pointing to the death of a tourist on a shark dive in the Bahamas last year. Still, he acknowledges that statistics don’t show that chum dives are any more dangerous than normal dives. In fact, the bigger concern for researchers like him and Dr. Grubbs is the impact on the sharks themselves.
Even Papa wonders if his beloved sharks have grown a little complacent under his care, though they still adhere to many of their natural habits, like migrating or disappearing up the rivers for weeks on end when it’s time to breed. And because some shark-diving profits go to the villages themselves, no one fishes along the reef or drops anchor on it, granting it a welcome reprieve from overfishing.
Some of the local divers say the reef certainly looks a lot healthier than it did before the shark diving started here 10 years ago. Long before Christianity, Papa said, the people of his village considered sharks their spiritual guardians and looked to them for protection before going into the water. Now, Papa said, he is the protector, boasting that he and his crew are deputized to impound illegal fishing boats that wander in the area to pluck from the healthy fish stocks there. He even speaks of the sharks as his children.
“They know Papa’s coming,” he said, heading out to sea one morning, his nickname emblazoned across his T-shirt. “They’re waiting for me.”

Explorer - Shark Dives in Fiji - NYTimes.com

Non rebreather masks available in Fiji

This disposable mask provides oxygen for breathing persons who cannot tolerate demand-valve oxygen regulators or when two divers need emergency oxygen.

Adult Nonrebreathing Mask (also called Constant-flow, non-rebreather mask)

• Low-resistance check valves prevent rebreathing and allow exhaled gas to escape
• Clear, soft vinyl for patient comfort and visual patient assessment
• Complete with 7-ft. oxygen supply tubing
• Adjustable nose clip assures comfortable fit

As a reminder, this mask should be used with/on the constant flow barb of your regulator with a MINIMUM setting of 15 lpm to try to maintain a high concentration of inspired oxygen.

Only F$20.00 each + VAT (plus shipping $5 within Fiji)

This mask consists of a mask that has a reservoir bag attached. The bag is separated from the mask by a one-way valve that prevents air and patient exhalation from diluting the oxygen in the reservoir bag. When the patient inhales, the valve opens and the patient breathes primarily oxygen. There are also one-way valves that cover the holes on the mask to allow patient exhalation to escape without allowing large quantities of air to enter the mask.

These masks have this one-way valve on both sides of the mask. Care must be taken beacause if both sides are covered and gas flow ceases, then the patient will not be able to breathe because the valves keep air from entering during inhalation.

The common high oxygen concentration mask has a one -way valve on only one side so that if gas flow ceases, the patient can still breathe.

At a minimum oxygen flow of 15 L/min, as long as the reservoir bag is kept filled and a good seal is maintained, this mask can deliver 60 - 75% oxygen to the patient

But remember, for denitrogenation we need the highest possible concentration of oxygen, so, although this system is better than nothing, all efforts should be made to supply accident management kit with a demand system.

Contact Stuart at Stuart@ResortSupportFiji.com or call +679-336-3625.

Save our sharks, Miss Fiji to tell pageant

Please support Fiji's Miss Hibiscus at the South Pacific pageant. She is championing the Fiji Shark Campaign as part of her bid to become Miss South Pacific. This is a great way for us to get the message out! Please spread this on all your Facebook, Bebo, Google + and Twitter networks!

You can support her by voting for her at :misssouthpacificpageant.ws/about-us/contestants-2011.html. You can do it once a day so come back again and again to assist the effort of protecting sharks in Fiji.

Miss Hawaii is FAR ahead at the moment, let's get Miss Fiji up there!

FIJI SUN
Save our sharks, Miss Fiji to tell pageant
writer : SITERI SAUVAKACOLO

Reigning Miss Vodafone Hibiscus Alisi Rabukawaqa will advocate for the stop to the exploitation of sharks across commercial fisheries at the Miss South Pacific Pageant in Samoa next week.

Hibiscus Event Group Executive secretary Aqela Cakobau in a statement said Miss Rabukawaqa would use the pageant as a platform to advocate for shark protection.

“This issue has prompted me to use the Miss South Pacific Pageant platform to champion the protection of the shark species, a species that is held in high regard (as a totem) in the Pacific, and particularly in Cakaudrove where my mother hails from.

“Sharks have a critical role to play in keeping the marine ecosystem in balance,” the Bua lass said.

“As Pacific island people who rely heavily on our marine resources we must be in the forefront of protecting these resources and support initiatives that drive governmental policy changes to save sharks from extinction and at the same time protect the future health of our seas.”

Preparations began in October for Miss Rabukawaqa. Brothers Craig and Warwick Marlow design her sulu/sarong category wear, award winning designer Epeli Tuibeqa who’s designing her traditionally-inspired category costume, music composer Igelesi Ete is assisting with her talent. Head of Communication at the Fiji National University Shailesh Lal is also working with her on her communication and public speaking skills.

The Hibiscus Event Group is funding all aspects of Miss Fiji’s preparations and trip to Samoa and Pure Fiji is donating gift packs for Miss Fiji’s fellow contestants.

The Miss Fiji entourage will leave for Samoa on Sunday December 4.

The Miss South Pacific Pageant proper will take place on Saturday December 10 at the Samoa Cultural Centre.

Vote for Miss Fiji

Sea Save Foundation - Auction Home Page - BiddingForGood Fundraising Auction

The Sea Save Foundation Holiday Auction is now open!

The proceeds will go to Sea Save Foundation in order to support ocean conservation.

Auction items range from exotic diving vacation getaways, diving equipment and gear, underwater photography courses by noted oceanographers, and incredible hand crafted works of art guaranteed to delight and surprise.

So, tell your friends, family, and community. Let the bidding begin!

Sea Save Foundation - Auction Home Page - BiddingForGood Fundraising Auction

Shark Hope Teaser video by CORAL, Pew and Shark Defenders

Exciting dive and surf documentary turns viewers on to diving and the underwater world

Released on: 7/27/2011

More than 100,000 households tuned in to Drop Zone: Fijiduring the month of May, introducing viewers to the exciting world of scuba diving. This action-packed dive and surf documentary produced by PADI, Body Glove, Air Pacific andSport Diver magazine, first premiered on Fuel TV in March and continues to generate interest in diving among members of Generations X and Y.

FUEL TV is dedicated to the sports, lifestyle and humor of males ages 12-34. “Having Drop Zone: Fiji on FUEL TV is a tremendous opportunity for the dive industry because it introduces a new audience to the sport. The numbers of viewers not only proves that Drop Zone: Fiji is a hit, it demonstrates Gen Y’s growing interest in becoming divers,” says PADI Americas Vice President of Marketing and Communications Kristin Valette.

In addition to airing on FUEL TV, thousands of viewers have seen Drop Zone: Fiji on university campuses, at trade shows or in restaurants and hotels at more than fifteen venues throughout North America. “Scuba diving is receiving an ever-increasing amount of attention from nonendemic media as a result of Drop Zone: Fiji,” continues Valette. “In fact, water sports enthusiasts are now learning about diving through surf-related magazines, trade shows and online channels.”

PADI Members can purchase DVD versions of Drop Zone: Fiji and Drop Zone: Tahiti by contacting their PADI Sales Consultant and soon will be able to download digital versions from the iTunes Store. For more information, contact PADI Americas Marketing Consultant Cambria McConnell.

Drop Zone: Fiji Powers Up More Than 100,000 Fuel TV Households

DRT UW Photo Competition 2011

DRT Show 2011 will feature the largest underwater photo competition in northern Asian region. If you have great underwater photo, please submit online to join our competition, you will got the chance to win over US$30,000 in world class prizes.

This event supported by EZ Dive, Scubapro, Aqualung, Akona, Sherwood, 10Bar, UK, Scuba Formula, Aggressor Fleet, Minahasa Lagoon Resort, Hans Christian Andersen Cruise and many more... On April, there is also underwater slide presentation show in GuangZhou and Shanghai presented by Stephen Wong, Takako Uno and Takaji Ochi. For more information, please visit our website. www.divingandresorttravelexpo.com

1) Categories:

• Animal Behavior
• Reefscapes
• Marine Conservation

Deadline for submissions 18 June 2011

• Winners will be announced on 8 July online.
• Display in the DRT Show Exhibition Hall.
• Published by our media partners worldwide.

2) Rules & Guidelines:

• The DRT Show Underwater competition 2011 is open to entrants of all skill levels.
• All submitted images must have been taken by the entrant and taken underwater.
• Each individual can only win one prize or prize package. Entrants with multiple winning entries will be given priority in prizes by value.
• Winners will be announced on 08 July during DRT Show 2011.
• Any images that have won or placed in photo contests with winning entries may not be submitted.
• Photographers retain all copyrights to their images. DRT Show, EZ Dive Magazine retains the right to publish the contest entries in print or online to congratulate or feature the winners and their respective images, and to promote future events.
• Winning images will be included in a press release for third party websites and publications in the context of congratulating and/or featuring the winners and winning images, and to promote future competitions. Strict guidelines requiring photo credit and specific one-time press release usage are issued along with the press release.
• Entries may have been taken from any camera, film (as scanned slides) or digital.
• All photo contest staff and judges are not allowed to enter the contest.

3) Photo Submission Guidelines:

• Entries must be saved in jpeg format and upload to our web server, please limit your images to a maximum file size of 3,000KB (3MB) when uploading.
  a) Register at www.divercommunity.com
  b) Create a Photo Album under your profile and name it “DRT Underwater Photo Competition 2011”
  c) Upload your competition photo into this Album, provide title and description of each photo.
• Entries must also use registered mail to send your competition image raw file or print quality image (A3 size, 300dpi) in CD to our office: Rm 1801 Wing On Central Building, 26 Des Voeux Road C., Central, Hong Kong. (Please attached a copy of your payment slip)

4) Entry Fees:

• USD10/image
• No limitation of entry!

5) Payment methods:

• International Bank TT:
  Account Name: LX Development Group Limited
  Bank Address: 1 Queen's Road Central, Hong Kong
  Account No: 015-300775-838
  Swift Code: HSBCHKHHHKH
• Creditcard payment by Paypal to: sales@divingandresorttravelexpo.com
  
  Download Application Form

DRT UW Photo Competition 2011