| Choices for Certified Divers |
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37 incredible dive site within 20 minutes of Castaway Island, Fiji
For the dive enthusiast check out these wonderful dive sites: 1. Tavarua Wall
A spectacular drift dive, tide dependent, along the outer barrier wall with great visibility to around 30m/100’. Abundant soft corals, trigger fish, pelagics and turtles. Depth: 25m 2. Coral Garden
A sheltered shallow dive, great for novice divers. Sandy bottom with fish life in abundance including moray eels, and turtles. Depth: 6-12m 3. Swimming Pool
A terrific drift dive, tide dependant, featuring mostly hard corals and a good possibility of seeing pelagics, turtles, rays and sharks. Depth: 26m 4. Magic Island
Follow the sandy slope down to 18m/60’ and along the wall. Return in shallows browsing the bommies. Large variety and density of reef fish to be seen including many resident lionfish, titan triggerfish, cruising grey and white tip reef sharks, flounders, leaf fish, moray eels and garden eels. Depth: 5-27m 5. Namotu Wall
A spectacular drift dive along the outer barrier reef starting from Namotu Caves along large areas of hard coral which house a myriad of fish species including lionfish, snappers, sweetlips, long nose emperors, clown triggerfish, crayfish and blue fin trevallies. Depth: 14-30m 6. Wilke’s Pass
A drift wall dive,current dependant, featuring mainly hard corals with the likelihood of stingray encounters in areas on the sandy bottom with a good chance of seeing pelagic fish and manta rays. Depth: 40m 7. Fish Store
Two pinnacles provide a home for an abundance of fish life including lionfish, clownfish, Spanish mackerels, grey reef sharks, and moray and garden eels. Depth: 12-20m 8. Plantation Pinnacle
A single pinnacle starting at 8m and dropping to 25m with a swim-through at its base. Offering a wide range of soft corals, hard corals and macro life, this pinnacle is literally a fish magnet for lionfish, trevally, Spanish mackerel, flat worms and flame fire shells. The top of pinnacle is covered with sea anemones. Great photo opportunities!. Depth: 8-25m 9. Papas Mountain
One of the more recently discovered pinnacles that is covered with sea anemones and baitfish. See the trevallies cut through them as they feed. Other highlights are a pink leaf fish, pipefish and an abundance of nudibranchs. Great photo opportunities!. Depth: 15-25m 10. Sunflower Reef
Novice and experienced divers alike will enjoy this hard coral garden with large areas of cabbage, staghorn and large table corals. Look for macro life such as nudibranch, pipefish and flatworms, midnight and red snappers, sweetlips, white tip reef sharks and feather stars. Depth: 7-20m 11. Wilky Wall
A sheer wall drift dive, current dependant, dominated by massive hard corals, an assortment of tropical fishes with the possibility of seeing big pelagic fish life, manta rays, barracudas and sharks. Depth: 40m 12. Big W’s
A spectacular drift dive along the outer barrier reef featuring many caves, tunnels and swim-throughs along the coral head walls. Wonderful rolling hills of coral to deep ocean featuring great reef life as well as pelagics, including sharks and mantas sometimes appearing from the deep. Always excellent visibility. Depth: 14m-39m 13. Bill’s Cave -
Easy shallow dive close to Castaway Island. From the mooring line, swim to the reef wall to find an entrance to a swim-through where you will emerge to a crater shape in the coral reef. Depth: 10m 14. Charlie’s Patch
Great as second dive, you will explore the most colourful soft corals dotted around the six pinnacles, where you may see the occasional leopard shark sleeping. An abundance of nudibranchs, sponges, giant clams and many kinds of shells. Depth: 5-22m 15. Camel Humps
Numerous coral bommies and larger areas of reef are featured in a chain that is not far from Castaway Island. This reef is spread over a large area and as such we dive only a small part of it each time. The bommies covered with hard corals where Spanish mackerel, trevally and barracuda are present together with coral trout, sweetlips, fusiliers, butterflies and angels and schools of squids. Depth: 16m 16. Vonu Range
’Vonu’, meaning turtle in Fijian, gives us ‘Turtle Range’. Expect to see turtles amidst the tops of the pinnacles which are covered in a fabulous array of hard corals. Look for pick handle barracuda, nudibranch, pipefish, bubble coral with cleaner shrimp, and white tip reef sharks. Depth: 10-25m 17. Saqa Cave
This easy drift dive along a ‘mini-wall’ provides many interesting formations and caverns to explore. The top of this reef has an abundance of hard corals, mainly table corals with some areas of staghorn as well as brain corals and soft corals. Turtles, coral trout, sweetlips, nudibranch, passing predatory Spanish mackerel, fusiliers, red bass and reef sharks are in abundance. Depth: 12-16m 18. Papas Patch
A large round patch of reef directly north from Castaway, this has to be one of the best hard coral gardens in Fiji. A gentle drift dive around the edge of the reef reveals a wealth of table corals in all colours at the top, nudibranchs, clams and moray eels. A great macro photo opportunity! Depth: 2-25m 19. Big Blue
Rolling hills of pristine corals stretch all along the outside of this barrier reef and provides an ideal drift dive in either direction with little current and excellent visibility. In the shallows there is plenty of reef life with gullies and sand patches worth exploring for sleeping sharks and stingrays. From the blue look out watch for ocean sharks, big rays and pelagics. Depth: 14-40m 20. Gotham City
Named after the numerous batfish seen in the vicinity this is a dive where you may find free swimming 2m/6’ moray eels. This world class site features three pinnacles providing a home for Maori wrasse, rock cods, turtles, clown triggerfish, schools of blue bar snappers amongst soft and hard corals. This advance dive must be dived at slack water due to strong current running between the pinnacles. Depth: 8-40m 21. Castaway Pass
A great drift wall dive on the outer barrier reef with the possibility of seeing big pelagic fish. Watch the blue as you might see some interesting rare sights! Depth: 14-40m 22. Mana Pass
With or without current, this is a drift wall dive outside the outer barrier reef with good visibility. This site usually promises excellent visibility featuring pristine carpets of coral growth. You have a good chance of seeing larger pelagics such as sharks as well as a variety of reef fish in the shallows. Depth: 10-60m 23. Supermarket
A shark encounter dive where you can get up close and personal to these fascinating creatures. Bronze whalers, white tip and black tip reef sharks are in residence here. After spending some time watching the sharks, enjoy a drift dive along the wall where you can find schools of banner fish, lionfish and moray eels. Depth: 7-32m 24. Ika Bazaar
This deeper submerged wall provides an excellent opportunity to find juvenile white tip reef sharks together with a huge variety of sea fans and brain corals. Schooling fusiliers, barracuda, other pelagics and large crayfish inhabit the area. Depth: 5-28m 25. Fish Fingers
Drift dive along the wall with visibility usually between 20 to 30m. Home to many different varieties of corals, abundant fish life, spotted stingrays and nudibranchs.. Depth: 5-30m 26. Turtle Head
Easy wall dive drifting either way. Great for novice divers to experience as Maori wrasses, turtles, white tip reef sharks and spotted stingrays are often seen here. Depth: 25m 27. Sunset Wall
Easy reef dive for novice divers featuring a sandy bottom in shallows with gradual decent to deeper waters.You will see coral trout, schools of fish, small reef sharks with the good possibility of a Maori wrasses encounter. Depth: 6-26m 28. Seven Sisters
An assortment of coral pinnacles to meander between. Hard corals and reef fish abound in this area. Look carefully for octopus, scorpion fish and crayfish camouflaged in the coral. Many conch shells hide on the sandy bottom and pelagics such as mackerel, trevally, stingrays and reef sharks also like to pay a visit. Depth: 12-25m 29. Distant Cousins
An easy reef wall to follow around to ‘Seven Sisters’. Lots of hard coral together with plenty of reef fish on the lip of the reef wall make for a good dive experience. Watch for giant puffer fish, surgeon and unicorn fish. Depth: 14-17m 30. Yadua Wall
A relaxed and easy drift dive featuring a hard coral garden with many varieties of plate coral. You can also see gorgonian sea fans and blue spotted stingrays. Depth: 5-20m 31. Yadua Pinnacles
These four pinnacles and overhangs are covered with giant sea fans. These gorgonians make for exceptional photographic opportunities including the possibility of seeing pelagic fish cruising through, manta rays, turtles and sharks. Depth: 25m 32. Yadua Gardens
This hard coral heaven has several fingers of reef radiating from a central core. Excellent formations including brain, plate and staghorn corals, all in magnificent colours. Large shoals of fusiliers, peacock groupers, lunar tail groupers, emperor angel fish, Moorish idols, hawk fish and trumpet fish are found. Depth: 8-20m 33. Bird Rock
An advanced deep dive where experienced divers can drop to a cavern system with hiding crayfish and explore a nearby swim-through before continuing to drift along the wall at a shallower depth. Look for a school of red bass who like to hang around the caves. The wall has lots of soft coral, sea perch and coral trouts with nudibranchs found easily in the shallows. Depth: 5-32m 34. Salamandra Wreck
This 40m cruise ship sits upright in 26m, totally intact and has been stripped for the safety of divers and the environment. Descend down our mooring line and head off due south to encounter the wreck and circle her deepest part first, then multi-level to the top deck. Watch for large puffer fish, coral trout and resident lionfish inside her structure. Depth: 18-26m 35. Joe’s Farm
A great dive for novice divers along a single reef which slopes deeper gradually to reveal hard and soft corals, gorgonian sea fans, and an assortment of reef fishes. A good place to find schooling blue tangs. Depth: 7-25m 36. Monuriki Reef
A drift wall dive with a sandy bottom offering good coral formations, garden eels, crayfish and blue spotted stingrays. Depth: 20m 37. Sherwood Forest
This five pinnacle dive site is definitely best known for its amazing array of Gorgonian sea fans which adorn the pinnacles in every direction. Big enough to hide behind, these gorgonians make for excellent photo opportunities. The pinnacles teem with tropical fish life of all kinds and many species of coral. Depth: 8-30m |
