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The Great Cathedral – Intermediate
Known for its drift diving you will encounter a huge overhang where you will see soft coral and whip coral galore. Further along as the slope becomes more gradual you will encounter gardens of staghorn and cabbage coral and table and plate corals. Swim through one of the plateaus and you will be confronted by the spectacle of several spiny lobsters having a peek at you from their lair. Batfish, whitetip reef sharks, butterfly fish and wrasses also lurk around here.
Cakau Lekaleka Pinnacle – Advanced
This is located in open water with no protection from reefs or islands. The diving is amazing but is only available when weather .conditions allow. Thispinnacle, around 800 metres in diameter, is shaped like a mushroom and due to its contour the descent is usually straight down to around 24m where the undercut levels out slightly. Generally considered one of the best sites for pelagic fish observation in addition to schooling hammerheads, nurse sharks, eagle rays, mahimahi and grey reef sharks.
Caesar’s Rocks – Novice
This site consists of 10 bommies honeycombed with tunnels, windows and caves and covered in masses of soft corals. At 15m there is a tunnel with walls lined with black coral trees and massive gorgonian sea fans. Watch out for walu, tuna, turtles and schools of batfish.
Yasawa Group
This volcanic chain of islands extends for around 90km in practically a straight line. They are well known for their hilly and rugged terrain, crystal clear waters with a few upmarket resorts and numerous budget backpackers dotted from one end to the other. Access is only by boat with a high speed catamaran aptly named Awesome Adventures plying the islands picking up and dropping off tourists 7 days a week.
The Zoo – Advanced
Here you will come across schools of walu, Spanish mackerel, trevally and barracuda. The site is a steep wall that is exposed to strong currents that attracts the big fish which are after the smaller fish feeding on the nutrients. The wall is a mass of sea fans and soft coral. Cleaner shrimp, spiny lobster, large trout, long jaw squirrelfish and schooling soldier fish hang around the overhangs.
Ethel Reefs Wreck – Advanced
A wreck dive created by the folly of man taking on the might of the sea. An 18th century steamship, the wreck rests on a flattop reef dropping off to the west and east. It is exposed to currents and surges. Look for moray eels, pufferfish, rays, pipefish, nudibranches and shrimp.
Lekima’s Ledge – Novice
Volcanoes usually produce lava flows and the Yasawas was no different when its volcanoes were active. Lava flows that created the islands also ran into the water creating a series of ridges and fingers from 22 metres to 5 metres. Stop on a ledge at 5 metres and observe the passing parade of leopard wrasse, surgeonfish and convict tangs.
Mamanuca Group
The Mamanuca Group is just west of Nadi on Viti Levu’s west coast and is host to a vast range of resorts from 5-star to backpackers all accessible via a 30 minute boat ride or even shorter if you want to elevate to a seaplane. Areas around Beachcomber and Treasure Islands are classified as marine sanctuaries. The majority of the diving encompasses walls, bommies and channels and is perfect for the beginner.
Salamander - Intermediate
This 36m wreck is a decommissioned Blue Lagoon Cruise ship. It was bought by several dive operators and sunk to create an artificial reef. Soft corals and anemones now thrive on its hulk while a variety of shrimp, popcorn shrimp and gobies have made their home here. The wreck is also good for night diving.
Plantation Pinnacle – Novice
The pinnacle reaches just 6m short of the surface and is covered in anemones as well as soft corals and anemones. Twelve metres down at the large undercut you will see peach-colored soft coral and blood-red sponges and squirrelfish, cleaner shrimp and squirrelfish. Further down is a large tunnel 3 metres wide and around 15 metres long that runs right through the entire pinnacle lined with yellow soft-coral trees. Further along there is a mass of black coral trees.
Gotham City – Novice
This site is inside the barrier reef with favourable water conditions and consists of two bommies. There is a permanent mooring here and lots of small, nosey fish. Fish here are used to divers and will look for food from you. The name originates from the many batfish that live here which unfortunately today their numbers have diminished due to spear fishing. Schooling goatfish and blue stripe snappers and hump head wrasses are in residence around these bommies.
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