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Fiji Scuba Diving Regions > Ovalau > Dive Sites

Fiji Scuba Diving Regions 8. Ovalau

Ovalau Lomaiviti group

Wonderful diving offering walls lush with soft corals, gorgonia, feather stars and hard corals as well as profuse fish life including large fish and large sharks. The area produces many sites including the nearby reefs in Bligh Water, such as Cherybdis and the area around Vatu-I-Ra island which marks the north-western extremity of the channel dividing Viti Levu and Vanua Levu. Current sites feature black coral, profuse soft corals, hard corals, walls, caves, prolific fish life including large fish, as well as turtles, dolphins and on occasion whales on their way through the channel

E-6
... between the Lomaiviti Group and the Northern Group, an island called Namena is a reef outpost which has been appropriately named E-6. The reef comes to the surface and drops away vertically on all sides. Along one edge of this seamount there is a canyon that cuts through the reef at 27 feet. This canyon almost forms a complete circle. Both entrance and exit are on the face of the drop-off.

The canyon floor, six to twenty feet in width and shaded most of the day, is carpeted in yellow, pink, and orange soft corals four to five feet tall. The undercut sides of this reef have a staggering array of fans, soft corals and countless species of invertebrates including a highly diversified collection of nudibranches and flatworms.

Resting whitetip reef sharks are always lounging on the canyon floor. As you exit the large canyon opening, the blue water perfectly frames the riotous displays of soft corals, sea fans and profuse fish life. It is quite a spectacular scene. Along the drop off, hammerheads and grey reefs compete for attention... and food. ... There are schools of jacks rainbow runners and fusiliers enveloping the reef. Some friendly tiera batfish typically greet divers at this site as well... one of the most photographically productive reefs in the Fiji Islands...

Hi-8
This site is aptly named: "Hi-8" for the amount of video footage taken. Hi-8 is a pinnacle that starts at a depth of 3,000 feet and rise to the surface. Hi-8 has a horseshoe shaped grotto which is filled with anemones, large clams, lionfish and spectacular red sea fans and soft corals. There is a virtual smorgasbord of soft corals, hard corals, sea fans, sea anemones, octicoral, swim-throughs and is teeming with smaller fishes of the South Pacific, including sweet lips, hammer heads, white tips, occasional silver tips and if you're lucky a whale.

Mount Mutiny
A seamount similar in many ways to E-6, yet much smaller, located only four miles away and named in honor of both Captain Bligh, who passed nearby shortly after the mutiny on the Bounty.

Diving is very much like E-6 in terms of pelagics and other fish life. The highlight of Mount Mutiny is the Rainbow Wall, a wall of unusual thin-stalked Siphonogorgia soft coral in a broad range of colors which blankets the south flank of Mount Mutiny for a distance of 200 meters in depths between 60 and 120 feet. This is one of the single prettiest soft coral dives anywhere

North Save-a-tack
On an incoming tide the action is fast and furious. A diver must descend to a depth of 70 feet in water that often has a visibility of over 150 feet. On the bottom a diver may see grey reefs, white tips, barracudas and dog tooth tuna with an occasional silver tip without even moving. The current is strong and during an incoming tide and the visibility is excellent. Divers normally start on the east side of North Save-a-tack and end their dive on the west side among the hard and soft coral covered bommies. This side is excellent for macro and wide angle shots.

Chimneys
Three slender bommies which start at about 74 feet and come to within 10 feet of the surface. On the sandy bottom you'll find a field of garden eels with gobies and shrimp scattered throughout. Everywhere in the bommies of this site you can find pipe fish, cleaner fish, nudibranches, soft corals, hard corals, sea anemones with clown fish, and free swimming in the current above the bommies are unicorn fish and anthiest. Between the bommies in midwater are resident barracudas and it's not uncommon to see white tips or grey reefs.

Magic Mound
This dive sight is a single bommie 80 to 100 feet long and 30 to 40 feet wide. It starts at 80 feet on one side and comes up to within 15 feet of the surface. Its covered in hard corals, soft corals, sea anemones, sea fans and lots of lionfish lurking in between or hanging around under ledges. This sight is also known for its white tips and grey reef action.

Shark Fin Point
This site on the north east point of Koro Island can be action central. On most dives you will see a large school of about 500 barracudas, eagle rays, many white tip, lots of grey reefs, lobster, eels, and we have even seen whale shark here, yes we really have. Not only are the fish and shark abundant but it's covered in both hard and soft corals. When the tide is running this can be a most enjoyable drift dive because little effort is needed to move and its seems as if the show just swims by you.

Black Rock Caverns
In the mouth of Dere Bay and the host of many swim-throughs, caverns and caves. This is also one of our favorite night dive sights that is the host to large file fish, many decorator crab, white tips, flashlight fish, eels and occasionally squid. This site also has a large school of barracuda. It is in the lee of the island of Koro and can be dove most any time during the year but visibility is usually limited to 60 feet.

Koro Gardens
Koro Gardens is marked by a single large bommie that comes to within 15 feet of the surface. The area around the bommie is about 45 feet to the bottom and drops off to 95 feet in some areas. Hard corals cover everything while an abundance of reef fish crowd the waters and make the diving spectacular.

Coral Gardens
A series of bommies that have a beautiful supply of hard and soft corals. This sight also has turtles, white tips sharks, moray eels, lion fish and once in a while a nurse shark. Visibility can sometimes be below 40 feet because of heavy plankton.

White Rock
White Rock is at the entrance of Makongi channel and aptly called because the waves always break on it causing the reef to have a white cap. This sight has white tips, occasionally eagle rays and mantas, eels, large file fish, an abundance of hard and soft corals but most of all it has the friendliest school of fuseliers.

Sand Point
Sand point is a wall dive between the island of Wakaya and Mokongi. On this dive you will frequently see mantas, eagles rays, turtles, white tips and the various colorful fish of the South Pacific in abundance along with hard and soft corals.

Wakaya Passage
The Passage is located at the southernmost point of Wakaya's small barrier reef. On the lagoon side of the passage, numerous reef fishes such as the lovely purple queen hover atop the hard corals. On the sandy bottom, the wary sentinel goby guards its burrow while its life long companion, the blind prawn, works continuously to keep the burrow free from sand and coral debris.

From the shallower lagoon, the passage floor gradually slopes down to about 90 feet before dropping away into the ocean blue. In 30 feet of water there are loads of hard and soft corals, free swimming lion fish and a resident sailfin leaf fish. Butterfly fish and lyretail anthias cloud this reef as well.

Expect manta encounters and hammerhead sighting in schools of four to sixteen. Below 70 feet, fields of four foot tall burgundy and gold soft corals are draped along the sheer wall. The photographic possibilities here are endless and the current is usually negligible. This is arguably one of the best reefs in Fiji.

Gem Stone
Gem stone is on the outside edge of Wakaya passage. This is a wall dive with swim throughs, hard and soft corals and as one guests who has dove around the world said, this sight is as good as they have in the Red Sea. Mantas also frequently visit this location along with hammer head and white tips sharks. When diving this location on a night dive the light fish here are very abundant and make for a great light show.

Golden Rock
A bommie that starts at 35 ft. on the high inside edge it then comes up to 10 ft. and is 20 ft. across. This site has soft coral, hard coral, cleaner shrimp, blue ribbon eels, lionfish, and most important it is a cleaning station for mantas. Expect to see mantas here 90% of the time.

Nigali Passage
This action adventure is a drift dive through a 100 yard wide cut in Ngau's barrier reef. During high tide, clear ocean water rushes through the cut at about three to four knots. Visibility at high tide often exceeds 200 feet with hundreds of silvertip trevally, swirled in circles and a massive school of barracuda. You can only move enough for you to swim through them without causing a head on collision.

Toward the back of the passage (closest to the lagoon side), the grey reef sharks outnumber the divers. Here the passage narrows and you are literally being funnelled through big schools of snapper, huge grouper and extremely inquisitive sharks.

The passage depth is at 90 feet. Because of the scouring effects of the current coral growth on the bottom is very limited. This allows photographers to slow themselves along the bottom long enough to take any photos they desire. The passage sides are by contrast, pulsating with colorful soft corals and hordes of wondrous reef species. It is however, difficult to take notice of the reef when there is so much high voltage big game action to observe.

Jim's Alley
Jim's Alley consists of 3 large bommies that start at about 15 feet from the surface and drop to the floor at about 60 to 70 feet. The bommies are covered in soft and hard corals, sea fans, whips and anemones. This sight also frequently has white tips, turtles, barracudas and an occasional ray.