Fiji Islands Travel Guide | DiveMe | Scuba-Diving History

FIJI'S SCUBA DIVING TRAILBLAZERS

In 1963 an Australian couple, Lorraine and Dave Evans, visited Fiji on their 3-week honeymoon and stayed at the then-world-famous Korolevu Beach Hotel. They met the hotel's huge Fijian guide, Walai, who introduced them to coral reefs for the first time and that, for them, was the beginning of a fascination with the tropical underwater world and its exquisitely fragile creatures.

Within a few months, they had packed up and moved to Fiji where Lorraine joined Hunts Travel Service and Dave joined the Fiji Times as Advertising Manager. Weekends continued to be taken up with the excitement of exploring and photographing Fiji's amazing underwater world using the then-new self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA) which allowed one the freedom to explore without dashing to the surface to breathe air.

A small boat and compressor and diving equipment were purchased for private use, but pretty soon enthusiastic visitors and locals started knocking on the door wanting to be part of the adventure.

And so in Suva in 1970, Scubahire Limited, the first diving operation in the tropical South Pacific, came into being and the hard work of developing the diving industry began. Underwater enthusiasts were considered a foolhardy breed of little consequence until the 1980s.

Determined to share the delightful turquoise shallows and mysterious indigo depths with anyone who was interested, Lorraine set up packaged diving tours and began convincing the skeptical tourism industry that there was a valid connection between the diving and tourism industry.

Meanwhile, Dave took care of operations and wrote his early "Downunder" diving columns in the local newspaper. The local Underwater Club was transferred into a branch of the internationally recognized British Sub-Aqua Club, with Lorraine and Dave as founding members and Dave as President. B.S.A.C. was patronized by the many British expatriates stationed in the former Colony of Fiji.

Stephen Fink:

“We dropped into the blue and descended to a sandy ledge at 100 feet where a hammerhead shark was sighted. Schools of barracuda and jack inhabit the channel where a large coral pinnacle is washed by 100ft-plus visability.

From bottom to top there were intense pockets of filter feeders: crinoids, giant gorgonian fans, black coral and massive soft coral trees. The diving is timed to hit enough current to engorge the soft corals and cluster the fish together. That’s what makes these reefs so vibrant and alive.”

The B.S.A.C. flourished for 20 years before being overtaken by more aggressively marketed commercial training agencies such as PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors). The Evans' played a crucial role in the establishment of PADI in the Fiji Islands, and employed Fiji's first PADI instructor. A PADI-based Club, Suva Scuba, was set up to function alongside B.S.A.C.

The spread of SCUBA was assisted greatly by Scubahire's importation of quality diving equipment and compressors. Sales, service, training and advice to new operators encouraged the geographical spread of the industry. Scubahire's early branch operations at the Regent of Fiji and Lautoka Wharf came into being to service visitors to the West, but it was the diving at legendary Beqa Lagoon which captured the imagination and those branches were subsequently sold.

Early visiting divers were indeed fortunate to be amongst the first to dive Fiji's pristine reefs aboard the famous 'Fiji Diver', 'Sundowner' and 'Beqa Diver'. Extended charters to all areas of Fiji were arranged by Scubahire aboard a variety of liveaboard vessels - 'Sta Reta', 'Mollie Dean, and 'Tau'.

The trip from Suva to Beqa Lagoon proved too tedious, and so Beqa Divers at Pacific Harbour came into existence. Over the years, an estimated $500,000 has been invested in promoting Beqa Lagoon by Scubahire Ltd on overseas promotions, advertising, as well as hosting visiting journalists and influential underwater photographers.

Scubahire Limited was the first South Pacific Island exhibitor at overseas dive promotions such as Oceans in Canada, DEMA in U.S.A., and Diving Festival in Japan where educating the diving public on the geography of the South Pacific and Fiji in particular was a major, ongoing task.

The concept of co-operative advertising began with Scubahire's invitation to U.S. 'Skindiver' magazine's former editor, Bill Gleason. Special funding for niche marketing of the diving industry was obtained in the mid-1980s through Scubahire's representation on the Fiji Visitors Bureau Board. Fiji's profile as a diving destination was thus introduced to the U.S. market.

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