Category Archives: Locations

Places around the world

Rainbow Reef Dive

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Diving Rainbow Reef and the Great White Wall has been a dream of mine for a few years.  We had tried to dive here last season, but Matt injured his ear and then we tore our main sail and couldn’t get to the site.  So, this trip back to Fiji was focused on diving this spectacular area.  We arrive in Viani Bay which is our launch point for the dive sites on Rainbow Reef.

Rainbow Reef is legendary and has well over 20 pristine dive sites.  It has been called the “soft coral capital of the world” but I might beg to differ when comparing it to Bonaire.  Some of the most popular dive sites include The Great White Wall, The Fish Factory, The Zoo, and Cabbage Patch to name a few.

Where is the Rainbow Reef Located?  It lies in the Somosomo Strait which is the passage that runs between Vanua Levu (Fiji’s second largest island) and Taveuni Island (Fiji’s third largest island).  In Fijian Somosomo Strait means “good water” and it is called this because the strait has strong tidal currents, providing a good supply of nutrients, just the right ingredients for healthy and diverse soft coral and abundant fish.

Photo courtesy of Taveunit Dive Resort

The Great White Wall Dive

Our friends on Pogeyan who have been diving this area for years take us out on our first Rainbow Reef dive.  They take us to the Great White Wall which happened to be in full bloom (a rare occurence evidently).

Matt and I had not been diving in awhile so we take it slow.  First we wanted to make sure his ear (which he perforated last season) was ok and second we wanted to make sure all of our gear worked properly.  Our friends took the adventurous way down to the wall which was through a tunnel.  But I was not having any of that!  So, Matt and I took a leisurely descent down to about 12-15 meters and swam over the edge.  And let me just say “WOW”

It was as if snow had fallen on the soft coral under water!  The top left photo shows the white coral with the naked eye (25 meters/85′ below the surface) and in the upper right corner is the same white coral with a light on it (from our friend).

I am not sure how it happens but the white wall actually glows and shimmers!  It doesn’t come out so great with my little GoPro and no light, but it was glorious.

Once you swim past the Great White Wall you get into tons of color.  It is obvious why they call this the rainbow reef.  So many purples, yellows, and greens!

The dive takes my breath away with its pure beauty!

So many bright colors, tons of schools of fish in all sorts of varieties, and hard and soft coral intermixed on the wall.

We found a rather large clam with a personal guardian and a beautiful black soft coral growing in the center of a larger white hard coral.

Our total depth for the Great White Wall was about 26 meters (85′) and the water was moderate but we did have wet suits on (3mil).  There was a slight current pushing us along the wall.  A truly amazing dive.  I wish we had more time to do this multiple times!

The Zoo

Our next dive with with Dive Academy at the Zoo!  We hired a guide to dive with us on the Rainbow Reef “Zoo” because there can be dangerous currents.  It is super nice to be picked up from the boat, borrow tanks, and be picked up and dropped off at the dive site.  Our guide, Ian was full  of excitement at diving the zoo.  This particular dive site is known for its large pelagic fish and it is also known as a mating grounds for gray sharks!

We saw schools of barracuda, two gray sharks (not mating) several white tip sharks, a few trevallis and groupers. Of course, I did not get any photos of these big guys as they were a bit too far away for them to come out good.  But I did get a couple of sharks playing with Matt (top two photos).

We saw lots of soft coral with little nemos protecting each of them.  I don’t know why, but I always want to stick my finger in the center of the soft coral….but I never dare to!

And we saw lots of these hard corals with little protectors.

So much beauty in one spot on the reef.

An Octopus!

It is always a special treat to find an octopus and this one wanted to check us out too.  He was huge!  Can you spot him in the top photo??  He blends in so well with the coral.

He was so curious!  It reminded me of the documentary “The Octopus Teacher.”

It was the perfect way to end a perfect dive!  Truly wish we could spend a month here exploring the other dive sites at Rainbow Reef!  An absolute must see when you are in Fiji!

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  This blog post occured toward the end of August.  In our last blog we have a posse part at Nawi Marina.

A Party for a Posse

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The Pacific Posse is a non-rally rally.  It is a group of sailors that are crossing the Pacific that share communications, discounts, and navigation assistance.  Our friend Chris has been associated with it from the beginning and was the representative for the Pacific Posse party at Nawi Marina.

The Pacific Posse was hosting a rather large party for all cruisers, whether you were a member of their organization or not.  They offered free rum and a pig roast.  As you can imagine it drew in a large crowd. The party was held at the new Nawi Marina to help bring awareness to the marina.

The organizations owner, Dietmar was out of the country so Chris organized things locally.  But his boat was in Musket Cove so he decided to fly over to Savusavu and stay on Sugar Shack for a few days.

A Posse of Partiers

It was a wonderful gathering of old and new friends!  Anna and Paulo (top left) met us in French Polynesia and then we saw them in New Zealand.  Chris and I in the top right, Allen and I (middle), Milli and I (bottom right), the Marina and Chris (the hosts).

The Party Begins

Lots of cruisers arrived before the start time….they know the rum won’t last.  The marina went all out and closed both the bar and restaurant for the party goers.  They offered a full Fijian Traditional lovo for a small fee of $35 Fijian ($16USD) which included fish, chicken, tons of sides, and a variety of salads).

The marina brought in a large group of men to make and host the traditional kava ceremony.  I am totally not dressed appropriately for a kava ceremony!  My shoulders and knees are exposed and shouldn’t be — but this is my party dress!

The marina really out did themselves with so many extras to make sure all of the posse members (and non members) had a good time.  And let me tell you – a good time was had by all!  And we got to enjoy a gorgeous sunset.

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  This blog post occured late August.  In our last blog post Matt tries foiling – it is super amusing if you missed it.

Foiling: A Young Man’s Sport?

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Foiling, all the kids are doing it!  They sure make it look easy as they let the air pull them up and fly across the water at crazy speeds.  It caught Matt’s interest and so he bought a full foiling package (board, fins, foil, kite, pull rope, jacket, and helmet).  

last seaon he was able to balance on the board and get momentum with the kite as I trailed behind him prepared to rescue him and or bring him back up wind.  But he only got a few practice runs in before he perforated his ear drum and had to stay out of the water.  Then we were in NZ where it was too darn cold to get in the water which brings us to today.

Back in Savusavu with our good friend Chris from “Seaglub.”  He is staying with us for a few days to host a party (more on that coming up in our next blog post).  He has a lot more experience and practice surfing, kiting, and foiling.  So, we all go out to see if Matt and Chris can foil behind the dinghy.

Getting Up

Matt used to be a huge wakeboarder and taught many of our friends how to get up and wakeboard and surf behind his mastercraft boat.  So, he uses his starting stance to get to his knees, then up on one leg, then both legs….balance….balance…balance.

With each try he gets better, he gets up easier, he balances more, and is able to get the board down when all it wants to do is go up.

One time the board just took off and I swear we all thought he was going to touch the sky.  I love his expression when he brings it back down and then his complete sense of accomplishment when he lands it.

Practice Makes perfect

of course there were lots of these….

Foiling plays tricks with your sense of balance and your center of gravity because it has the long foil (mast) underwater.  Matt is used to the board being the bottom, but with foiling, the fin on the bottom of the mast (which is 85cm below the water’s surface) is the bottom.

Which caused some more of these….

But Matt kept getting back on and trying.  His body took a beating but no blood was drawn.  Then Chris got up making it look easy (even though we know he has had much more time practicing).

Conclusion

I am not willing to say that foiling is a young man’s sport as these two handsome guys were out there giving it their all and getting it done.  I am sure with a few more practice runs Matt will be foiling like Chris.

Stay tuned for another update as Matt and Chris ditch the dinghy and foil with the kite!

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  This blog post occured in mid-August.  In our last blog post we have an amazing snorkel experience at the Chimney’s in Namena.