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