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Sightseeing Around Somosomo

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We played tourist while visiting Somosomo and Meridian villages on the island of Taveuni.  Our goal was to check out the local markets, visit the Catholic mission and the meridian dateline, do some provisioning, get lunch, do the natural waterslide.

Somosomo was a pleasant surprise.  We were able to find a good selection of produce and a few handicraft stores.  The one main street is lined with stores, shops, and produce stands along both sides of the street. Super cute villages.

Our first stop is the Waitavala Natural Waterslide.

Waitavala Natural Waterslide

The Waitavala Natural Waterslide is great fun for thrill seekers.  It is a 50 meter natural waterslide that snakes through the rocks before dumping you into a small pool of cold, fresh water.

It is a short 10-15 minute walk to the slide.  You have to traverse across the falls.  We were grateful for the rope which prevented an early swim.

You don’t need to start at the top of the falls as it is rocky and not too comfortable on the bum.  So, follow the locals and kids to find the best path.  

Unfortunately, for us, there were no locals or kids.  We were the only ones around.  Which was nice as we had the place to ourselves.  But bad because we had nobody to show us the ropes. 

A few bumps and bruises later we left with huge smiles on our faces.

180 Meridian / Dateline

The date line divides the island of Taveuni and the country of Fiji in half.  This  created a significant problem for the Fijians.  Half of the country was in one time zone and half in another.  And I don’t mean different times of the day – but different days!

The Fijian government decided to make the entire country one time zone and basically ignored the actual meridian line.

So, the time line actually skirts around countries rather than following the true 180 meridian.

On the western side of the meridian the day is ending, while on the eastern side of the meridian that same day is just beginning.

Holy Cross Catholic Mission

Somosomo built the first parish Holy Cross church in 1862. 

After 14 years later they built a a wooden church in 1876.  This church consisted of three naves and was considered a masterpiece in its time.

Later a stone church was built in 1884.  However, in 1895 a hurricane destroyed all of the parish buildings. 

The local community quickly restored the church and its surrounding buildings.  

Don’t miss the blog post about our amazing dive at Jerry’s Jelly on the Rainbow Reef!

Our blog posts run 6-18 weeks behind actual live events.

We were in Somosomo around the early part of July 2025.

The Sublime Beauty of Jerry’s Jelly Dive Site

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Jerry’s Jelly dive site is one of the most sublime places we’ve dove since Bonaire.   What a surprise!  We were riding on a high from the previous day’s dive on the Great White Wall.  We truly did not expect much from this dive.

Jerry’s Jelly is a sloping reef with depths ranging from 5-18m.  Two pinnacles with a variety of soft coral live under a ledge and gentle sway in the current.

A large number of garden eels, small colorful coral fish, Spanish mackerel, dogtooth tuna and white tip sharks can be found here.

However, we were proven very wrong!  Just when I thought nothing could possibly compare to the Great White Wall.

The Dive Crew

Our dive crew for Jerry’s Jelly dive site with Dive Academy: Matt and I, our friends Chris and Sarah (on sv SeaGlub), the driver, the guide (Marina) and the free dive guide (Tomu).

The dive site is about a 10 minute boat ride from Viani Bay Resort.  You drop in on the first bommie which is about 7-18 meters deep.

Here is a map of Jerry’s Jelly dive provided by Taveuni Dive Resort.  We actually dove with Dive Academy and they took us all around, not just the path indicated below.  We saw so much more and covered a lot more underwater ground than most dives.

Jerry’s Jelly Dive Site on the Rainbow Reef

The first bommie is magnificent!  There is a peek through arch which is covered in the same beautiful, white coral as the Great White Wall.  Next to it are yellow, red, green, and purple coral and fans next to it.  There are bazillion small fish around this area as well.

It was so difficult selecting the photos for the collages. I wanted to share them all with you.  However, that would have made for a very long blog post.

I admired this emerald green, leafy coral with its orange, yellow and blue fish.  Then I rounded the corner of the bommie and found another green coral with a vibrant white coral next to it.

So many varieties of fans and soft coral. I just did not know where to look first!

It was time to move on to the next bommie which I did reluctantly.  But then I was enraptured with this new bommie and its huge variety of sea life.  Holy cow it was stellar!

You could spend several hours around each bommie and still not see all of its beauty.

We continued on across the “gravel of the bottom of the sea.”  We were told not to expect much in this area.  Yet, there were still tons of colorful fish and vibrant corals.

We found a lovely clam and a pregnant white tip shark hanging out on the sea bed.

So Many Fish!

There were a lot of pelagic fish, tiny fish, and schools of fish on this dive.

And the schools of fish

And me in love with Jerry’s Jelly dive site!

The max depth was 18 meters (51′) and we were underwater for about 51 minutes. 

I could have easily spent days exploring this beautiful area.

Surprise, Manta Rays!

Sarah and Tomu went free diving and we met them back at the boat after our dive. 

They told us they had the pleasure of swimming with manta rays so we went to find them. 

Not 5 minutes later we were in the water  with 2 huge manta rays.  

I know the photos are not great, but there was a lot of plankton in the water.

Our blog posts run 6-8 weeks behind actual live events.

We dove Jerry’s Jelly dive site on 6 July 2025.

Don’t miss our blog post on the famous Great White Wall Dive site.

Jerry’s Jelly on No Foreign Land

Favorite Photos

Photos taken with DJI OSMO Action 5 with no light and no lenses. 

We were 20 meters deep with clear-blue water.

 

 

No Foreign Land write up: www.noforeignland.com/place/6755338971803042

Diving the Great White Wall

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We hired Dive Academy to take us out to dive the Great White Wall which is part of the Rainbow Reef.  Ian, our guide took Chris (our friend on SeaGlub), Matt and I on this adventure. 

We specifically scheduled the Great White Wall dive during the neap tide.  We waited a month for this perfect time.

The peak, cathedral-like appearance, or vibrant “bloom” of the white wall occurs during neap tide (twice a month).  This is when the soft, white coral is feeding.

What is Neap Tide?

A neap tide is when the gravitational forces of the sun and moon are perpendicular to each other relative to the earth.  This provides a tide with a minimal tidal range.

Neap tide happens during the first and third quarter phases of the Moon. Neap Tide occurs every 2 weeks +/-.  Visit Taveuni Dive Resort, scroll down their website for the neap tides through 2027.

I should note that you can dive the Great White Wall at any time and it will be be beautiful.  However, it flourishes during the neap tide.

Dive Academy picks us up from the boat and we load our gear.  Matt and I took all of our gear except our tanks (we used theirs).  We assemble our gear and prepare for the dive into the deep.

Here is a map of Jerry’s Jelly dive provided by Taveuni Dive Resort.  We actually dove with Dive Academy and we slowly made our way down and across the white wall.  

Swimming through Tunnels / Shoots

We hop in a fairly shallow area to adjust our gear and ensure everything is functioning properly.

We then begin our dissent and prepare to enter the first shoot (tunnel).  You can swim over the top of the ridge and descend down the wall.  However, we opted to go through nature’s tunnel.

The first tunnel puts you at the “entrance” of the Great White Wall (about 70′). You enter the tunnel and go down to the lower opening.  

The second tunnel let’s you out closer to 35′.

There are loads of fish and soft coral fans inside the tunnel.

The Great White Wall simply takes my breath away.  It is like snow fell under water coating the soft, delicate coral.  The fish provide a vibrant pop of color along with the random green, black, and red coral.

I am using a DJI OSMO Action 5 without a light.  I know the photos could be so much better if I had a light.  However, I am barely able to focus on my diving and camera and could not possibly deal with a light too.

The Great White Wall seems to go on forever.  It is so deep that you can’t see the bottom.  The depth begins is around 75 meters and it is 60 meters wide.

Life Along the White Wall

So much beauty!  The water temp at 101′ was 81F. Can you believe that? 

I love this iridescent bubble.

So many fish, critters, plants, fans, and corals.  I wish we could stay down longer than 30 minutes!

I am a nervous diver, especially on the initial descent.  Ian, our guide was so attentive and calming.  He and Matt kept a very watchful eye on me.  

You’d think this would be one of my first dives.  Nope, I have well over 75 dives under my belt and still get nervous.

Ian checking on me with the “ok” sign a number of times.  At the end he was trying to make me laugh by making rings in the bubbles.

Matt on the top and bottom photo and me in the middle.

Cabbage Patch

We did not have an opportunity to dive the Cabbage Patch off of the Rainbow Reef.  However, our friends did and they shared their photos.  The Cabbage Patch is rumored to be over 4,000 years old and is very extensive.

This is a shallow dive and is most often used for beginner divers. You can see the incredible size in comparison to the diver.

Free Diving

Chris’s girlfriend, Sarah is a free diver.  She dove the White Wall with another boat but we saw her as we were surfacing  

Free diving is relies on breath holding until resurfacing.  They don’t use any breathing apparatus’.  Sarah can free dive down to 20+meters (60′) in good conditions.

It is just her, a bathing suit, weight belt, and a camera.  Absolutely, terrifying, but yet a thing of beauty.  I captured Chris (diving) taking video of Sarah at about 35′.  We were all surfacing.

Our blog posts run 6-8 weeks behind actual events.  

We dove the Great White Wall on 5 July 2025.

Learn all about Fiji Sea Salt in our last blog post.

Find the Great White Wall on No Foreign Land