Fiji's Great White Wall - Diving after this will never be the same again

Yes, that's me, trying to pose for the camera, at the Great White Wall

Fiji spoiled any future diving experience for me. It ruined all chances of ever experiencing that "wow" feeling again.

A quick search for the top dive sites in the world proves that the Rainbow Reef and/or Great white Wall is still one of the world's best kept secrets - let me reveal it for you!.

I joined the Tui Tai expedition on a 5 day live aboard diving and adventure cruise around the island of Taveuni, a 20min flight from the capital, Suva. 

The rainbow of soft corals

Despite getting the recommendation to try the Tui Tai from a friend who got PADI certified on it I had not chosen the trip because of that. I wanted to experience a different side to Fiji away from the very touristy areas in the main island Viti Levu. Fiji is not, by international standards, a touristy place but the summer months do see a large amount of visitors and some areas can be packed with all sorts of tourists, be it Europeans who have come all the way on a gap year or kiwis/Aussies escaping the cold months.

To me, the Tui Tai was an opportunity to see a more genuine cultural side to the country and, of course, to snorkel in the amazing areas, to swim with dolphins and with manta rays. Even without diving the trip is still highly worth it, in fact, most of the other 15 guests were not divers leaving the diving to me and a Norwegian family of 4.

By the time I made it on board, I had already been rightly convinced by a friend to get my diving certificate. The theory was completed in the evenings and the pool sessions were in the open sea, on an isolated and beautiful beach. By day 3 I was already a certified diver and allowed to go on the 4 dives a day.

In a snap decision I reached for it, I shouldn't have but there and then she looked so beautiful and friendly

I can't be more grateful for the friend who convinced me because this has, to date, been the most incredible diving experience, much better than Sipadan, Thailand, Samoa or Tonga, particularly the Great White Wall which we dived on the last day of the trip. However, it also ruined any future diving adventure - nothing remotely compares to the beauty of Taveuni, the Rainbow Reef or the Great White Wall. I keep my hopes high for some placces I have yet to dive but after every dive so far I still miss the aquatic zoo Fiji was.

The Tui Tai boat

The Tui Tai is an old refurbished sailing vessel with comfortable rooms and amazing food cooked freshly every day. The boat sails around the waters of Taveuni for 7 days on a loop. 

 

Most of the guests are from Australia or New Zealand and it is a very popular trip with families with teenage kids as there are lot of activities every day and some culture thrown in. Couples will also find it a very romantic trip.

A typical day would start at 7am with a breakfast of toasts, coffee/tea and juices followed by an early morning dive or snorkel around the area. On return, the crew would have the hot breakfast orders ready for you to recover all energy spent. We would then head for another dive or snorkel for those interested. Usually, before lunch the crew takes you on an excursion on land. This could be to kayak, trek up the rim of a sunken volcano or climb up a waterfall. Lunch would then take place usually back at the boat. The afternoon starts with another dive or snorkel trip. Almost every night there is a trip to mainland to witness a traditional dance or ceremony from either a Micronesian, Melanesian or Polynesian tribe which lives in the area. Guests get to participate in as well dancing and singing. Finally, the day ends with dinner back on the boat. For the divers, a night dive was also possible after dinner.

You are free not to go on any of the activities but it is best to make the most of the trip - you can relax and rest when you get back home :)

Food is delicious, cooked by the crew with very generous portions, a cake or desert always to finish off and fresh meat or fish nicely cooked. I managed to put on a couple of kilos on this trip despite the very active days we had :)

Going through one of many rock formations

The Tui Tai gives you the magical chance of experiencing some of the most remote parts of Fiji, away from tourists and the business of the main islands. Some of the dive sites are hard to reach and therefore you will have them all to yourself. In our trip, we only saw other divers in the Rainbow Reef's Great White Wall on the last day and even that meant only 3-4 other people. Aside from Tui Tai's guests the dive sites are served by some of the dive operators in Taveuni and surroundings but tourist is yet to take off significantly in the area so it remains a very well kep secret.

The Great Wall is rated as one of the best dives in the world by the experts and if you get to see it you will immediately know why, it has, undoubtedly, the most amazing corals you will ever see. The entire Rainbow Reef is truly magical because it is made of soft corals of extremely bright colours. It is hard to imagine it until you see it. 

Reef sharks are very common

The Great White Wall, part of the Rainbo Reef, was the final cllimax on our trip. Just as I thought things could not be more beautiful or special, there we were, at 30m below the surface witnessing a wall covered with shining white corals that looked like someone had lit them alive and sprinkled them with snow. I lost track of time and of depth and quickly found myself at 35m in a state of mixed drunkenness from the depth and nitrogen in my bloodstream as well as the perfect beauty of the surroundings. Nothing can compare to that wall.

This environment is the result of a very rare phenomenon which pushes large amounts of water through the narrow shallow passage of the Somosomo Strait. 

The pressure creates currents which are rich in nutrients that feed the corals allowing them to expand and grow. There is always a strong current in the area which encourages the corals to show their true colours. The current also makes the dive easy as you just stand still and let the water take you ona sightseeing tour of the wall.

Jacques Cousteau named Fiji the "soft coral capital of the world" and you can easily understand why while diving.

The Great White wall

Apart from beautifully colorful soft corals every dive had a tone of fish and there were always reef sharks, turtles and other large pelagic fish in sight. The quality and quantity of marine wildlife was overwhelming. Everywhere you looked there were new species you had not yet seen, new formations, a cave, a group of turtles, a school of fish, a swim through... 

But diving was not the only incredible experience on the trip. On the 1st day before I arrived guests got to snorkel or dive with enormous manta rays which live in the area. You basically jump in and are surrounded by these large elegant creatures. I sadly missed that because I joined on the 3rd day of the 7day trip to make my 5 days but I shall return to experience it because the photos from my travel companions were extraordinary!

 

The details

How to get there

The Tui Tai is a long journey away for most people. 

You need to first get to Fiji which has direct connections to LA, Auckland and a few cities in Australia then fly to Taveuni and then be picked up by the crew and driven to the boarding point. It is not extremely hard but unless you already live in one of the Nadi direct connection airports you should add 1-2 more flights. From Europe, that is a trip half way around thwe word but very much worth the effort

Best time to visit

Fiji has mild weather throughout but it is best to go in the winter dry season (june to September) so you enjoy sunny days without so much rain and better visibility. The winter temperatures cool down a bit (surface maybe to low 20s) but the water remains pretty warm, even for a summer person like me! I can imagine the warmer summer months might be a bit unpleasant when you go on shore

What to do 

Enjoying down time after a hour's kayaking

You can see a sample itinerary on their website but as mentioned above there are land activities and cultural visits every day. 

Do not miss any of the land excursions because they are all very nice. Whether it is a kayak around the rim of an old volcano now submerged into the ocean or a trek up a mountain to bath into a couple of waterfalls it is all well worth the effort. You will also get some time to enjoy the postcard perfect Fijian beaches.

And dive, dive, dive. Even if, like me, every next dive is never going to be as beautiful, do it, it is the experience of a lifetime

Practicalities

1. Book the 7 day to ensure you get to do both the White Wall and the Manta. You can usually join the trip anytime even if they have set dates but it might be less efficient to join in the middle of the trip
2. The crew organised my local transfers to Taveuni and this was included in the price when I booked as an offer, ask
3. The price was around USD2,500 per person excluding diving and alcohol all-in. That was for single ocupancy, double sharing is much cheaper
4. Cabins are split into different levels and if you pick one in the upper deck you also get a small balcony/chillout area. I had a single cabin and it was ok. You are on a boat so the space in the cabins is small. AC ensures that you can sleep in the hottest nights. bathrooms are rather tiny
5. Buy the photos and videos. The Tui Tai has an in-house professional photographer and videographer who comes with you diving under water. You can then buy the photos at the end of the trip and they are totally worth it, they are stunning (some of my photos on this post were taken by the professional photographer). If you have an underwater camera bring it with you too 
6. For the excursions on land bring some waterproof rough sandals which will come in handy when you walk on the park, when you trek in your swim suit or when you climb up a waterfall
7. Spend a night under the stars on the top deck of the boat. They have a few small matresses and blankes for this, you won't forget the starry night. Away from the polution the sky has never been so dotted with shiny stars,

MY TIP

If you can't do the 7 day trip, make sure not to miss the manta rays

A solo traveller in the Pacific

After 7.5 years as a strategy consultant I desperately needed a break. I had asked for a sabbatical 8 months before and after careful planning trying to fit in as much as I could in my 7 weeks I finally boarded a plane from LA, my first pit stop visiting a friend, to Nadi in Fiji.

To say that I was excited would be a major understatement, I was finally living the dream I had been waiting for for years. I was ecstatic. 

Not to mention that the Pacific has some of the most stunning sights, beaches and experiences you will ever partake in from active volcanos to isolated islands, diving the largest ship wreck in the world to WWII relics

You would be forgiven for thinking that 7 weeks is not really a sabbatical, not enough to disconnect and recharge but to me, 7 weeks was 4x longer than my longest vacation in 10 years so it was a real treat. And, more importantly, there would be no phone calls or emails to catch up on every hour of every day, no conference calls to attend while sipping cocktails in my over water villa, no requirement to answer client requests day or night, and no power point - it would be just me and my adventures.

I had chosen the Pacific islands after a lot of research. Having already visited a lot of Africa I had short-listed the Caribbean and the Pacific as the two options but the Caribbean proved to be a hard to hop on/hop off destination not to mention that some of the biggest islands are quite dangerous, even more so for a solo female traveller. A friend was going to be in the Pacific for 2 months as well and we would overlap on his last week and my first so I thought it would be a good warm up to spend the first week in Solomon with him and get all the insights.

Trivia night in Vava'u

From day 1 I can honestly say I was never really a solo traveller. Not only did not feel alone once but I also was not alone for most of the time. Either because the locals were extremely welcoming and helpful or because I met fellow travellers or expats, very few days did I actually spend on my own. In fact, in several occasions, I found myself trying to actively avoid conversation with people because I genuinely wanted some me time. But it only required the most subtle eye contact or passing look to invite anyone to a conversation. And then, how could I say no?

Most people were absolutely stunned by the fact that I was travelling alone for almost 2 months, they simply could not understand it and one of two thoughts crossed their minds: they felt terribly sorry for me and felt the needed to keep me company AND were very curious to hear my adventures, on that specific trip or on any of my previous travel adventures. 

A kiwi & an Aussie in a night of kava in Vanuatu

This was the case with an American family who had trouble sleeping in American Samoa because the nights were dark and silent, they had to leave the lights on and turn on the radio in order to sleep - I found this an odd combination of sadness and disbelief. They invited me to their table with their three teenage kids and although in an endearing manner, I felt that they were trying to provide their children with an experience to meet a well traveller interesting person. They asked me all sorts of things and generously paid for my dinner.

It was the same with a couple of grannies from New Zealand in Samoa, they saw me alone at dinner and immediately invited me to join them, I presumed in their generation girls did not travel or eat alone and so I must have been really lonely and scared. 

Our guide in Vilnu War Museum, Solomon

Although in some of the countries such as Fiji or to an extend, Vanuatu, tourism is starting to have an impact but, for the most part, tourists are scarce so when you combine a tourist, a solo traveller and a woman you find a very rare sighting for the locals. And just like the kiwi grannies, they feel terribly sorry and their communal attitude and culture makes them invite you to partake in their activities. In Solomon we picked up a priest and a "vagabond", for lack of a better word to describe him, when we asked for directions to a lost WWII museum and they took it to their hearts to not only make sure we found the place but also to get us a guide, a mostly sleepy caretaker who had not seen a tourist in weeks, and also to share with us everything they knew about the place. Even when it started to rain they stoically remained there recounting every single detail they had been passed down by their parents about WWII. 

I got invited to Sunday church and lunch in Tonga, a truly memorable experience. Sunday dressing up all in white just like the outfits Southerners used to wear in the times of separation in the US completed with large white hats, lots of singing and lunch cooked underground. I felt like in a movie.

Diving with the Norwegian family in Fiji

In American Samoa a conference took all the 80 rental cars available on the island so I was stranded. It didn't take long for the lady at the Tourism Information office to lend me her personal car. She tried to help me find one for an entire afternoon without success and finally, the following morning, at 7am, she turned up at my hotel with the car keys and her son ready to be dropped off at school. She had gotten her husband's permission to lend me their car, a huge pick up truck, for me to drive around the island for as long as I wanted it. For free! Of course I made sure to invite them for dinner and to leave the tank full but it was probably the kindest gesture a stranger ever did to me.

In Tonga the pilot and co-pilot of the plane offered me a ride to my hotel which was made more interesting by the fact that the car broke down in the middle of the road. In Vava'u, the archipelago in Tonga where you can swim with humpback whales, I met a group of mostly American and Kiwi expats working in a few super yachts anchored there and a few others working for NGOs in the area with whom I partied in the full moon on a deserted island, played trivia and explored the islands. In Samoa I hired a driver for the day who happened to be the captain of the national football team moonlighting as a taxi driver, football in Samoa is not as big as in Spain I realised. In Fiji I met a Norwegian family who had been travelling in the country for 4 weeks.

One half of the honey mooners

One of the most interesting people I met were three Spanish. A couple on their honeymoon was visiting something like 15 countries in 5 weeks, they were literally island hoping across the Pacific, Australia and Japan with an average of 2-4 days in each location. They had an incredibly well mapped trip, a home made travel guide which contained every information they needed, all deeply researched and bookings in every place to make the most of it. Because most of the countries are served only on a few days a week by flights departing from Fiji I met them in three places: In Vanuatu, where we first met on our way to see the active volcano (by that point they had been more than 36h on the road and had crossed 2/3 of the world: Galicia -> Madrid -> Los Angeles (US) - Nadi (Fiji) -> Port Vila (Vanuatu) -> Tanna (Vanuatu)), a couple of weeks later in Fiji airport on a stop over, me to Tonga them to Kiribati, and lastly in Samoa where, we shared an interesting dinner with the third Spanish who was my dive instructor. The dive instructor had decided to leave Spain when he lost his professional underwater construction diving job as a result of the crisis and had ended up in Samoa. If that wasn't enough of a coincidence, they were also from the same part of Spain. It was heart warming to share an evening where Spanish, not English, dominated the conversation.

As a result of all the invitations and conversations that I randomly started with people I ended up behind on my diary writing. I had set-off on this adventure committed to writing a diary of everything that would come to mind mind. Perhaps one day I could write a book? The fears, the experiences, the learnings or the people I would meet along the way, the beauty of some of the places, the stunning nature...yet I was constantly 3-4 days behind because, contrary to what I had foreseen, I was not usually eating lunch or dinner on my own. What saved me where the multiple flights and waiting times at airports when I could concentrate on my writing. Although airports are places full of solo travellers, ironically,  I never stroke a conversation with any there.

Fales - Acommodation in Samoa

A lot of people asked me if I was scared or felt unsafe and I can honestly and without a doubt say that the Pacific is an extremely safe area for anyone to travel. Crime is very low and locals very friendly so save for the odd barking dog in Tonga, a real problem in the capital, Nuku'alofa, for the rest of my trip I not once felt unsafe or scared. And this is despite the fact that, in Samoa, accommodation was in the traditional fales, a hut-like room with no walls, even at night, you are sleeping in the open and the locals live in such type of houses. Driving around you may see fridges or TVs under the roof but no house has walls. What clearer illustration is there of how terribly safe the place is when everybody's possessions are in plain sight 24/7?

I hope that this inspired any debating traveller to take the plunge and travel solo in the Pacific.

My travel included Solomon, Fiji, Vanuatu, Samoa, Tonga and American Samoa (American territory)