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Diving with - Joseph |
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Diving with - Joseph |
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Name: Joseph Ross Nationality: American E-Mail: jross26@hotmail.com Certification: Dives: 1000+ B.C.and Reg: Computer: Camera: Wet Suit: Fins: Mask: |
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Indonesia June 2001 |
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Indonesia is made up of roughly 17,500 islands. If I spent a day diving
each one it would take me 48 years to see them all. This is slightly more
time than my airline ticket and resources allow, so I'll try a different
plan of attack. I will start in Bali and neighboring Lombok, which boast a
variety of excellent dive sites: the famous Liberty wreck in Tulamben; fast
drift dives and manta cleaning stations at Nusa Penida; strange sea
creatures in Teluk Gilimanuk Bay; beautiful tropical fish and caves at
Menjangan Island. Then I'll try to get out to as many of Indonesia's world
class dive sites as time allows: spectacular wall dives at Manado, Sulawesi
and some of the best diving on the planet around Komodo and Alor Islands. If
I had unlimited time I would go further east to Irian Jaya and the Banda
Sea. Wherever I end up it will be adventure all the way!
Bali and Lombok
Selamat Pagi! My first Indonesia dive site was the Liberty wreck at
Tulamben. I went on a two-day Dive Safari with Scuba
Duba Doo. We departed from Kuta and drove past Hindu temples and
statues, magnificent terraced rice paddies, colorfully dressed women
balancing baskets of fruit on their heads, and majestic Agung Volcano
sleeping on our left. The cargo ship Liberty was torpedoed in 1942 and
remained beached at Tulamben until Agung Volcano blew its top in 1963 and
pushed her underwater. Liberty's mangled remains lay 50m off shore and are
covered in colorful soft corals. The hard corals are still young, so you can
actually see a reef in the making. Come back in 2,000 years and the little
brain corals will have all grown up! Make sure you also dive Liberty at
night. Divemaster Yadi or Oliver will guide you around the 100m-long wreck.
Blue and green sea squirts shine translucent in the artificial light. Soft
corals open in the current and burst into color. I saw four huge humpheaded
parrotfish, more urchins than at any other dive site, and a special treat:
my first juvenile emperor angelfish-a deep blue beauty with concentric black
and white rings! Liberty is so huge it's like diving through an underwater
city!
For your second dive, walk up the beach to Tulamben Wall. Girls or women
from the Tulamben Diving Helpers Club will carry your tanks. You'll
immediately gain respect for these women, half your size, who balance up to
three tanks and BCD's on their heads and shoulders, drape several weight
belts on top, then tromp ten minutes up the beach over lava stones in
flip-flops or barefoot! There is an amazing variety of marine life at
Tulamben Wall. The most striking feature is the number of sponges: barrel
sponges, vase sponges, tube sponges; blue, green, orange, purple; covered in
a rainbow of feather stars! I saw the biggest and most colorful nudibranch
I've ever seen, the kind you would die for! There were yellow morays,
colorful wrasses I'd never seen, large yellow angelfish with blue lips, and
more juvenile emperor angelfish!
Next, I dove Nusa Penida Island with Aqua
Marine Diving. Aqua Marine dives out of Pandangbai, which is one
of the most charming fishing villages in Bali. On day one we boated over to
Nusa Penida for two exhilarating drift dives. At S.D. the sloping bottom is
covered in tiny staghorn coral, colorful sponges, and school after school of
blue triggerfish! On day two we went north to Mimpy Island on a
dive/barbecue excursion. Divemaster Romon explained about the tricky
currents and briefed us well on safety procedures. Mimpy is known for its
strong currents, but we were lucky; a mild current allowed us to go slow and
"stop and smell the crinoids," so to speak. Mimpy is as beautiful
a dive site as I've ever seen! Rocks are covered in colorful algae: red,
blue, green, orange. There are more feather stars than I've ever seen-and
more colorful! We saw a 5ft-long Maori wrasse!, an albino octopus!, morays,
lionfish, clown triggerfish, sharks, swarms of anthias-spectacular! Between
dives you motor to a remote beach for a Balinese barbecue of savory
Indonesian dishes.
Next, I caught the ferry to Lombok Island and headed north to the
"Gili Islands." I dove Gili Air and Gili Trawangan with Dream
Divers. Gili Trawangan has sugary white beaches and heavenly blue
water. It is known as a "party island" and is a great place to do
you Open Water course. The corals are mostly gone making the Gilis a good
place to see nudibranchs, cowries, cuttlefish and seastars.
Sometimes everything goes perfect and you really do get what you wish for.
Ever since I found a juvenile emperor angelfish, I have been looking for a
juvenile long-finned batfish-a slender black beauty with an orange outline
all the way around-truly one of nature's crowning achievements. I was only
five minutes into our first dive at Menjangan Island when I spotted two of
them only inches away! I observed them as long as possible, feeling like one
of the luckiest persons alive to be this close to two of the most strikingly
beautiful creatures on the planet! I had come to Menjangan Island on a
two-day Dive Bali Safari with Sanur
Dive College. We left Sanur early a.m. and toured the entire
perimeter of Bali, going first to Menjangan, in the west, then Candidasa all
the way east. We even stopped for a night dive up north at Pemuteran Bay.
Menjangan means "deer" in Balinese and sure enough, a
long-antlered stag, which looked like a cross between a deer and an elk,
walked right up to us as we waited for our boat. We motored to Menjangan
Island on the mirror-calm Bali Sea. Three Javanese volcanoes formed a
dramatic background to our left. Arak Wreck and Garden Eels are both wall
dives with a wonderful diversity of sponges and gorgonians. You can count on
finding lionfish and sporpionfish behind every sea fan! I also saw live
thorny scallops in a cave.
The Milky Way shines brilliant in the north of Bali. If you turn off your
light and wave your arms underwater to light up the plankton, you become
surrounded by a canopy of stars above and a sea of stars below! On the
Pemuteran Bay night dive I saw colorful crabs and shrimp, a conger eel,
scallops with an electric current in their mantle, and a giant purple sea
slug gliding over the bottom. On day two we dove Shark Point off Candidasa.
We motored out in colorful Balinese outrigger fishing boats called jukungs.
Two divers with equipment barely fit into each jukung. As you lay back to
soak up the sun and admire Agung Volcano, it occurs to you: "I'm in
Bali riding a jukung out to Shark Point to go down 90ft and observe sharks
at close range! This is big-time adventure! This is what dreams are made of!
Manado, North Sulawesi
Speaking of dreams, spending a week at Barracuda
Diving Resort in Manado, North Sulawesi, is any diver's
dream-come-true. Barracuda was so good, in fact, my intended couple-of-days
stay turned into a week! The luxury bungalows are built entirely from local
exotic woods. Owner Mr. Atek, Manager Michael Smith and all the staff make
you feel entirely welcome. And let's talk diving! Wow! Put Manado on your
list of musts! So many choices: beautiful coral gardens around Bunaken
Island; the superb Batu Mandi wall at Bangka Island; the fascinating
critters at Lembeh Strait.
In the shallow coral gardens around Bunaken Island you dive through soft
corals swaying in the current with a rainbow of tropical fish parading their
colors. Barracuda also arranged trips for us to the area's premier dive
sites: Bangka Island and Lembeh Strait. We motored out to Bangka Island,
soaking up the sun and admiring the endless hues of green in the Sulawesi
rainforest: mangroves, coconut trees, banyan trees, bamboo-with orchids and
hibiscus mixed in! As we geared up to dive, a blue marlin jumped several
times into the air close to the boat. Directly under the boat at Batu Mandi
we found two bizarre crocodile fish-a first for me! Divemaster Noldi guided
us to the most beautiful wall I've seen to date. I spent ninety of the most
delightful minutes of my life studying the Jacob's coat of soft corals,
nudibranchs, shrimp, sea snakes and morays. The beauty began at 45ft, and
there were just as many nudi's, cowries and sea snakes at 10ft! After our
dives we motored to tiny Liharga Island to spend the night in straw
bungalows. Mr. Atek was right when he told us "Don't take sugar for
your coffee, just pick up the white sand from Liharga's beach!"
Divemaster Noldi and Captain Yopi built a huge bonfire on the beach, tuned
the guitar, and proceeded to sing Indonesian ballads late into the evening.
The next morning we motored to a neighboring village in search of breakfast.
Villagers kept pointing up the hill so we took a nice long stroll through
the village, greeting everyone we saw with "Pagi!" (Good
morning!). Women were selling fish in the streets, skilled carpenters worked
timbers with hand tools, pigs and dogs walked side by side down the road.
When we passed the school, a hundred children emptied their classrooms and
stood waving and screaming "Hello!" and "Pagi!" as
though they had never seen a "Bule" (white-face) in their village
before!
Next, Barracuda took us on a dive expedition to world famous Lembeh Strait.
We drove overland to the port city of Bitung, where we boarded a traditional
Indonesian taxi-boat. "Reef Eyes" Noldi guided us to some of the
best "critter" dive sites anywhere. At Lembeh Strait, instead of
coral gardens you get black volcanic sand and trash, but when you begin
encountering the marvellous creatures that inhabit this unique area, you
realize you are witnessing one of nature's greatest marvels! At Batu Agus,
just a few meters from the boat, we dove a mini-reef swarming with
mandarinfish! Many people consider them the most beautiful fish in the
world! I saw more than two dozen of these blue-green beauties-up to four at
a time! At Kungkungan Bay we began with orange frogfish and Banggai
cardinalfish, then moved on to a huge yellow sea horse and several pygmy sea
horses on a red gorgonian! Here are other marvels I saw at Lembeh Strait:
ribbon eels, snake eels, banded pipefish, flying gurnard, razorfish,
juvenile barramundi, juvenile long-finned batfish, clown frogfish,
dragonets, sand-divers, shrimp gobies, Picasso fish, mimic octopus!, mantis
shrimp and dozens of colorful crustaceans! Photographer William Tan writes
of having seen a green and a yellow frogfish at Lembeh, as big as
basketballs, mating!
North Sulawesi and Bali are far removed from the unrest associated with
Jakarta. They are very safe islands with exceedingly hospitable people.
There were guests at Barracuda with young children who made so many friends
while mom and dad were diving they didn't want to leave. Add me to the list,
I didn't want to leave either!
Pindito
After Manado I went on an 11-day dive cruise, from Bali to Komodo and Rinca
Islands, on Indonesia's finest live-aboard, Pindito.
Ten years ago, Swiss owner Edi Frommenwiler realized his dream by building a
130ft traditional-style Indonesian schooner, called a pinisi, in Borneo. Edi
and his brother Peter worked side by side with skilled Indonesian boat
builders for fourteen months, hewing and joining timbers by sweat and
muscle. Pindito is a marriage of traditional boat building genius, the
finest ironwood on the planet, and Swiss efficiency and precision. During
the day you sit on the wooden deck as Pindito glides into mirror-calm bays
on uninhabited volcanic islands. At night you fall asleep to gently creaking
timbers in a cocoon of exotic tropical woods. Cruising on Pindito is a
wooden boat lover's dream-come-true, a diver's dream-come-true and an
adventurer's dream-come-true.
You can dive four times a day on Pindito. Between dives you can water ski,
beach comb, or look for Komodo dragons ashore! Fast zodiacs speed divers to
the dive sites. Dive Professionals Pedro and Katrin will guide you to
pristine, seldom visited reefs guaranteed to amaze even the most demanding
of divers. At Cannibal Rocks you'll discover nudibranch heaven! You'll see
dozens of the most colorful nudi's on the planet, especially nembrothas,
just like the best photos you've ever seen! At Gili Lawalaut, north of
Komodo, we dove a rainbow pinnacle of soft corals in bright sunlight, with
100ft+ visibility, forests of green and orange tubastraea coral, curious
sharks that have possibly never seen divers, turtles, barramundi cod, leaf
scorpionfish, cowries and nudibranchs!
And for nature lovers: as we prepared to enter the water at Banta Island, we watched a Komodo dragon stealing seagull eggs on the steep volcanic cliff. That evening, anchored at Banta Island, we watched thousands of huge fruit bats, silhouetted against an orange sunset, fly over Pindito. At Komodo Island National Park I saw two 7ft-long Komodo dragons only 10ft away! I was alone and very aware of the fact they could have me for lunch if they so desired. During the cruise you'll see many of Indonesia's 132 active volcanoes. While diving at Sengeang Island you can warm your hands in black volcanic sand and feel hot water rising from black volcanic rocks! We saw dolphins jumping, ospreys fishing, countless traditional outrigger fishing boats, and unforgettable sunsets behind rocky volcanic peaks. You will come away from Pindito with the best photo album of anyone you know, and the best memories!
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Australia April 2001 |
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Australia has great diving around its entire coast, but it's a big world
and you can't go everywhere, so I will concentrate on the Great Barrier Reef
and Coral Sea while I'm here. And the GBR is enormous! It's like trying to
dive the Pacific Coast from San Fran to Seattle! So my strategy: start in
Cairns, the most popular jump-off point to the GBR, then spend a week
exploring north, up to Port Douglas, and a week south to, say, the
Whitsunday Islands.
I'll head north out of Cairns on a live-aboard, up to Lizard Island, the
Ribbon Reefs and the world famous Cod Hole, where you dive with dozens of
monster potato cod. Maybe we'll stop at the Snake Pit, where you dive past a
manta cleaning station on your quest to find the world's most venomous
snakes. Down south, near Townsville, I'll dive the historic Yongala wreck,
which Lonely Planet calls "arguably the best wreck dive in the
world." Am I excited to be diving the GBR? What do you think?
Cairns-The Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea
After my plunge into the Not-So-Deep, I felt ready for the real thing, so I
boarded Cairns Dive Center's M.V. Sunkist for a 30-mile transfer to the M.V.
Reeftel, a floating hotel anchored at the GBR! You can dive four times a day
if you want. The snorkeling is every bit as good as the diving, and the food
is fantastic. There is a very professional video concession run by Renaldo
and Jorina Van der Westhuizen nembrotha@hotmail.com.
They'll make a beautiful video of your open water class, or a custom video
of your GBR dive experience. My favorite CDC dive sites were Club 10 and
Three Sisters. I fell in love instantly with the GBR. My buddy Eddie and I
did some exploring we'll never forget! We were in the water at sunrise and
soon came upon two 6ft white-tip sharks still sleeping on the sandy bottom.
The sun came up and illuminated the fabulous coral gardens. There were huge
plate corals, staghorn, elkhorn, soft leather corals, all teaming with
wrasses, butterflyfish, potato cod and maoris! There were 5ft-wide giant
clams, and fish I'd never seen: coral rabbitfish; harlequin tuskfish;
black-and-white snapper. We also saw a giant moray and green turtles. I know
it's cliché, but diving the GBR is a natural high which will energize you
like nothing else! The beauty sticks in your memory and you can't help but
feel happy. Maybe that's why the Australians are always saying, "No
worries, mate!"
My next dive trip would be a live-aboard north out of Cairns. I had a few
days to wait so I decided to explore some of Queensland's other natural
wonders. I boarded the Terri-Too, in Cairns, for an Everglades Cruise and
Crocodile Farm tour. We sailed deep into the mangrove "Forests of the
Sea." The skipper stopped next to a salt-water crocodile and everyone
crowded onto the bow, camera in hand. We saw kingfishers, herons, ospreys,
egrets. At the Cairns Crocodile Farm 11,000 "salties" will keep
your shutters clicking! You'll come face-to-face with 12ft-long crocs, and
there's a taste of croc meat for the daring.
To me, the most striking feature of the city of Cairns is the variety of
birds. Thousands of rainbow parrots gather at sunset in huge fichus trees
right downtown to chatter loudly about their adventures of the day. Cairns
offers endless excursions for tourists. I spent a relaxing afternoon fishing
the mangrove estuary with Fish Tales
Expert fisherman Dave is a storehouse of local knowledge and will entertain
you with many a "fish tale." I actually caught a big trevally and
managed to cook it to perfection back at the hotel!
And now a very exciting moment, time for my first live-aboard, the M.V.
Nimrod Explorer Eighteen divers boarded Nimrod on Tuesday evening. We
would live together and dive together until we flew back to Cairns from
Lizard Island on Saturday. During the next three days we made fourteen
unforgettable dives! The weather was calm enough that no one got sea sick.
The Nimrod's interior is beautiful mahogany. Living quarters are very
comfortable; the crew is the best imaginable; Craig is a fabulous chef-I can
honestly say after three days we felt right at home and no one wanted to
leave.
The Nimrod moors at one of the GBR's thousands of reefs or bommies; buddies
giant stride in off the stern to explore by themselves, or with a guide if
they prefer. When diving with Nimrod you are never rushed out of the water
(as happens with many Cairns dive operations). Usually, when diving the GBR,
you can only swim to the right or left, so it's highly unlikely you'll lose
your way. This was the first time I've been allowed to wander off exploring
with my buddy; it's a wonderfully free way to dive! Here are some of my
Nimrod diving highlights:
Escape Reef: Beautiful leather corals, staghorn and mushroom
corals--acres of pristine coral gardens! We particularly enjoyed swimming to
the outer reef and just drifting back across the top, taking time to see the
tiny colorful blennies and endless tropical fish! Other lucky divers saw a
school of 20 eagle rays swim by at close range!
Ruby Reef: Saw my first brightly colored nudibranch, a neon-yellow giant!
Ruby Reef is covered in beautiful plate corals, some 10ft across! There are
huge mushroom and brain corals where you'll find sky-blue, green and purple
nudibranchs!
Century Bay: The highlight here was the night dive. Instructor Steve
reminded us, "Red eyes mean crustacean, green eyes shark!" We saw
cuttlefish, blue-spotted rays, five sharks (one big white-tip was only a
foot in front of my nose when my flashlight beam found him!). There was a
feather star walking along searching for a better coral perch, and
free-swimming morays! Special treat: a huge, slow-moving green turtle who
let us have a leisurely look at her.
Steve's Bommie: Huge schools of fusiliers, big-eyed trevallies (which I
managed to call over close, a trick I picked up in Fiji), fairy basslets,
purple anthias, more nudibranchs, a mantis shrimp, and a very large lion
fish.
Clam Gardens: You guessed it, giant clams, many 5ft across! Some green, some
blue, all beautiful--it's worth a trip to Australia just to see these
amazing giants!
Challenger Bay: Another glorious night dive! Friendly batfish, turtles,
sharks, incredible coral gardens. Special treat: two large barramundi cod
sleeping in a hole only a foot away! I don't ever want this trip to end!
Cod Hole: You might see a dozen giant potato cod show up for the fish
feed. We had two, both heavier than I, and they were enough to give us an
unforgettable performance! We kneeled in a semi-circle and Nimrod skipper
Ian held sardines an inch in front of our noses; we looked directly into the
cod's gullet as it scarfed its meal and veered off toward the next diver.
After the cod-feeding dive, we dove Cod Hole a second time to explore Shark
Alley and the surrounding reefs. We managed to find six large reef sharks!
Then we found a reef as beautiful as any I've ever seen: a mountain of plate
corals hundreds of feet high! The sun brought out pastel blues, greens,
reds, yellows. We were speechless! (Of course we were 50ft deep with
regulators in our mouths).
April 19, 2001
Australia's GBR is amazing! There is no better way to see the GBR than
spending a few days on the M.V. Nimrod Explorer. You'll cherish the
experience forever!
If you come all the way to Australia you must have a look around the
countryside when you're not diving. I spent a wonderful day exploring
Queensland's World Heritage Rainforests and the famous Tablelands with
Northern Experience Eco Tours Owner
Steve is a naturalist with encyclopedic knowledge of rainforest flora and
fauna. I learned: Australia is so old geologically that its once towering
mountains have all been eroded down, the highest today stands just over
6,000ft; our rainforests supply ¾ of the world's rain, if we destroy them
by deforestation the earth could become as dry as Mars; there are
2,000-year-old trees in Australia only 6ft tall due to lack of moisture and
topsoil; measuring from ground to treetop, there are 20,000 living organisms
in each square meter of rainforest. Northern Exposure also took us to Paronella
Park where a Don Quixote-like Spaniard built a castle and pleasure
gardens in the rainforest in the 1930's.
An educational must during your stay in Cairns is Irishman Paddy
Colwell's Reef Teach
presentation. You'll immediately understand why no one has ever nodded off
during one of Paddy's presentations. The more you know about the creatures
and habitat at your dive site, the more you can enjoy them. I used Paddy's
fish identification method while diving the very next day!
You board a 345 passenger high speed catamaran and zoom out to Green Island.
You stroll through the rainforest at Green Island National Park and lounge
on a picture perfect beach to perfect your suntan. Then back on the
catamaran for a transfer to the giant pontoon at Norman Reef. You do a
leisurely guided dive with divemaster John, who points out beautiful fish
all along the way and introduces you to Wally, the playful resident giant
maori wrasse. Break for lunch. Back in the water with John to see a shark
and giant clam! Finally, a smooth trip back to Cairns with the sun
descending over green rainforest mountains. Sound like a perfect day? It is!
You can do it with Great
Adventures Have a look at their website and book a trip on their
luxury catamaran.
The GBR is just as beautiful today as it was 300 years ago when the
Endeavour went aground here. One starry night on the bridge of a dive boat,
the captain confided to me, “There are skippers here who have gone aground
and skippers who have not, only difference is those who haven’t have not
been here long enough.” His words echoed those of Cook, who described the
GBR as “the most dangerous navigation that perhaps ever ship was in...
what ever direction we turn’d our eys (sic) shoals innumerable were to be
seen.” Endeavour underwent seven weeks of repairs and her crewmembers were
the first Europeans to see kangaroos. Captain Cook said they looked like
dogs with long tails that jump around a lot.
My last day-trip out of Cairns was with a first class dive operation, Tusa
Dive. We zoomed out to Thetford Reef at 20 knots in
air-conditioned comfort. Tusa Dive offers a full range of PADI instruction
and certification and snorkelers have just as much fun as divers. The
bommies and corals at Thetford Reef are alive with colors and tropical fish:
many kinds of parrotfish, moorish idols, rainbow wrasses, blue sea stars,
bannerfish, butterflyfish—bring your camera! We also saw “Wally” the
giant maori wrasse, a shark, nudibranchs, and a first for me: a juvenile
sweetlips, orange with white polka dots! one of the cutest juveniles on the
GBR! It doesn’t get any better than this: a safe, professional crew, a
gorgeous dive boat, sunshine, food and drinks, passengers from around the
world—this is living!
Coral Sea
Next, I boarded the famous Rum
Runner for a trip out past the GBR to Holmes Reef in the Coral
Sea. If it’s adventure you want: dropping down to 50 meters to see
hammerheads; a wall dive through liquid blue with a thousand meters below
you and pelagics swimming by; a shark feed with dozens of sharks in a frenzy
just a few meters in front of you; then you want Rum Runner! Rum Runner
doesn’t take you on a dive trip—it’s a dive expedition. You can dive
five times a day if you’re up to it. Instructor Paul and Divemaster Beth
are there to guide you, if you want, and make sure your diving is safe in
every way. If you don’t tilt out your computer, you won’t be restricted
in any way. Diving with Rum Runner is the first time I’ve experienced 40
meter + visibility and the intense blue you see in Alaskan glaciers or
sailing the Greek Isles. Here are some Rum Runner dive site favorites:
The Abyss—An intense wall drift dive. There’s beauty in every
direction. Above, you see schools of fusiliers and maori wrasse silhouetted
against the sky; beside you are huge gorgonians, file fish, maoris, a
rainbow of tropicals; below, a thousand meters of blue with sharks and
pelagics cruising by. The coral gardens at the top of the wall are as
colorful and alive with fish as any I’ve ever seen.
Nonki—A large bommie so beautiful you wish you had tandem tanks. There
were many firsts for me at Nonki: a blue-ringed octopus; 8-inch purple sea
slugs; emperor shrimp and exotic cleaner shrimp; fabulous urchins and live
cowries; a red sea star 2ft across!
Shark Feed—Shark feeds are not allowed in the GBRMP, so you’ll have to
head out into the Coral Sea if you want to see one. We watched dozens of
white-tips, black-tips and grey whalers go crazy over the fish lowered down
on a steel rod by Skipper Mick.
A trip on Rum Runner is guaranteed to supply you with great dive stories and
photos for many years to come!
Port Douglas
Only an hour north of Cairns, Port Douglas is a picturesque port nestled
in tropical rainforest. I saw more tropical birds and plants here than
anywhere in Queensland. Every other word out of my mouth was “Wow!”
There are beaches and seashore parks everywhere. And I was fortunate to
spend a day diving the GBR on the fabulous Poseidon.
Owner Peter Wright stood proudly at the helm, and justifiably so: his brand
new Poseidon, launched only two weeks previously and built to his own
specifications, is one of the finest dive boats on the entire GBR! I felt
like a guest on the Sultan of Brunei’s private yacht. And even better, the
diving and snorkelling was fabulous. We raced out to Opal Reef at 24 knots.
Poseidon takes less than an hour to arrive at the reef, so you get up to
three dives if you want. My favorite Poseidon dive site was Turtle Bay with
its truly amazing corals. Divemaster Marie-Ange has a gift for finding
critters: my dive buddy Emmanuel and I saw a big-fat grey whaler resting on
the bottom; a large yellow nudibranch, also called a banana slug; a 6ft
moray; and five turtles! You definitely do not want to miss an unforgettable
day diving on the mighty Poseidon!
In Townsville, North Queensland’s capital city, you’ll find beautiful
beaches, marinas and seaside promenades. You’ll also find Adrenalin
Dive, the best dive operation for a day trip to the historic
Yongala wreck. The Yongala rests about 60 miles out and the weather can be
rough; Adrenalin Dive guarantees a full refund or reschedule if they decide
to cancel a dive due to unsafe conditions. Lonely Planet says, “The
Yongala is undoubtedly Queensland’s best wreck dive site.” Historic
wreck expert Max Gleeson writes, “…no wreck matches the diversity of
marine life that can be seen on any single dive.”
The 110m-long steamship Yongala and her 121 passengers were scheduled
into Cairns early in the morning on March 24, 1911. Yongala carried no radio
and was unaware of the approaching cyclone until it was too late. She
foundered in huge seas and all aboard were lost. I read the passenger list;
most were young, in the prime of life; many, from Great Britain, Ireland and
Scotland, were coming to meet loved ones or begin a new life in a young
country offering limitless opportunities. Anxious families in Cairns stood
on the beach for days, watching the horizon, hoping, praying—in vain.
Adrenalin Dive moored to the descent line on Yongala’s bow; we descended the line and were soon surrounded by more fish than I have ever seen in one place! I saw the biggest maori wrasse I’ve ever seen, the biggest groupers, biggest rays, most sea snakes! I saw a school of sharks circling below, lion fish, turtle, schools of turrum, trevally, barracuda. The Yongala is covered in purple soft corals, sea whips, sea fans—the diversity of marine life is truly overwhelming! I buddied up with Adrenalin owner Paul Crocombe who pointed out highlights in every direction: monster groupers on the left, sea snakes below, historical artifacts on the right. Paul pointed out human bones, old bottles, the “captain’s chair,” brass portholes, “YONGALA” ! in eerie white letters on the bow. You come away from Yongala amazed by the extraordinary beauty and you feel an emotional connection to the scores of passengers who met their fate here 90 years ago.
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Fiji February 2001 |
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Fiji is famous for its great visibility--often over 90 ft. The islands are home to over 1,000 species of fish! During my stay in Fiji I will attempt to dive, describe, and photograph as many sites as possible. As well as diving the best sites on Viti Levu, the big island, I'll try to get to some of the northern islands: The Yasawa Group; Vanua Levu; Taveuni; and southern islands: Beqa and Kadavu. Southern Viti Levu
2/7/01-Lots of Fijian place-names take on an "n" when
pronounced: Beqa Lagoon becomes "Benga;" similarly, Nadi becomes
"Nandi" and Kadavu becomes "Kandavu." My stop at Pacific
Harbor/Beqa Lagoon is my first look at a Fijian "world-class" dive
site. Famous Beqa Lagoon is bordered by a 40-mile-long barrier reef. You
dive around and on top of underwater pinnacles (which here are called "bommies")
covered in multi-colored soft corals and thousands of stunning tropical
fish. There are also walls, tunnels, undercuts and many pelagic (open water)
fish.
Later went for a night dive at E.T. (Extra Terrestrial because it's so
otherworldly). As we traversed the tunnel at 90 ft, we swam by a sleeping
giant--an 8 ft nurse shark only five feet away! She decided to go find a
quieter spot and slowly got up and turned back toward the entrance, passing
us within inches! E.T. is a bommie so huge you can hardly see it all on one
tank. As we slowly circled and rose higher, our lights brought out a
firework of colors. There were lionfish, turkeyfish, red rock crabs, cute
morays, and all kinds of bright red shrimp. The soft-coral colors become
even brighter illuminated by artificial light.
Years ago, Manasa became locally famous as the dive master who made fish
dance. He befriended a school of bright-yellow rabbit fish which always
pointed together into the current. One day he took a yellow slate with him
and held it up in front of the hovering school. He hummed a tune through his
regulator and turned the slate back and forth. To his own amazement the
entire school followed suit, thus becoming the famous dancing fish of Beqa
Lagoon. Manasa says his salary increased dramatically because when he told
tourists he could make fish dance, they invariably replied, "I'll bet
anything you can't do that!" Very clever, these Fijians.
It's hard to leave a paradise like Beqa Lagoon. The dive masters tell me
construction will begin soon on a multi-million dollar time-share. As I look
across the river at the coconut trees alive with crimson parrots, at yellow
and pink hibiscus and bright red ginger flowers, and imagine the future
construction, I feel anger and sorrow.
Four of us had spear-poles and flashlights. Two other divers carried large
gunnysacks. The fishing was good and we stuffed both sacks full of rock cod
and other edible fish. We dove along the exterior wall of the barrier reef
among bright crimson sea fans, hunting in crevices and behind rocks as we
went. The blood was attracting many reef sharks. I could see white-tips and
black-tips passing at close range when I directed my flashlight beam into
the depths.
With the bags full of fish and our air running low, we made for the surface.
The Fijians were whooping it up as we swam toward the boat--it was a
splendid catch indeed! I made it to the side of the boat first and handed up
my tank and BC. I held onto the starboard gunnel as the others neared so I
could assist them taking off their gear. Up to this point I had not
understood a word as the divers were all speaking Fijian. Then someone
shouted "Hurry into the boat-there is too much blood in the
water!"
As soon as he shouted this a shark bit into one of the gunnysacks and ripped
it out of the diver's hands. Dozens of fish floated around us and the sharks
went into a feeding frenzy. Shouts of glee now became shouts of panic.
Before I could move, a panicked crewman started the outboard motor with the
propeller engaged and the throttle at full-speed. The boat moved with such
force I could not hold on. My hands slipped and I was sucked under the boat
directly toward the speeding propeller blades. I tried as best I could to
push myself downward, and I closed my eyes tight, resigned to the
inevitable. I felt the swish of the propeller inches from my face. I stayed
down as long as I could, disoriented from the wake and bubbles and scared I
would surface under the propeller or in front of the out-of-control boat.
After running over me, the boat ran over the dive master just behind me. It
sucked him under and toward the propeller as well. He pushed away hard, just
as I had, and the propeller chopped one of his fins in half as it sped by.
I'm sure he counted his toes one by one afterward!
Many villagers gathered on shore to see our catch. The women prepared us a
feast of fried fish with cassava and taro root. The elders, wearing
traditional sulus (a wrap-around skirt), sat off to the side in a yaqona
ceremony. They took turns drinking bowls of kava (a local relaxing beverage
prepared with ground-up roots), clapping their hands three times after each
bowl.
Like Pavlov's dog, I'll probably shudder a bit from now on when I hear an
outboard motor rev-up. But I have shared a great adventure with skilled
Fijian divers and when I return some day, they will welcome me as their
friend.
Northern Viti Levu
2/16--Getting here is half the fun. The 115-mile bus ride from Suva winds
along the Kings Road, passing through mountain villages and lush tropical
forests. You pass dark mountain rivers and you slow occasionally as the bus
snails through a herd of cows or goats not at all keen to relinquish their
shady patch of road.
Diving in Northern Viti Levu is centered around Rakiraki and nearby Nananu-i-Ra
Island. A small boat picks you up at Ellington Warf and speeds you across to
your accommodation. By far the best place to stay is the fabulous Mokusigas
Resort made me realize that you really don't need to die to get to
heaven, you just need to come here! Mokusigas means "lazybones;"
Nananu-i-Ra, "daydream." At Mokusigas you stay in a
"bure" (an individual suite) which sits atop a ridge surrounded by
every imaginable hue of green. You have stunning views on both sides of the
turquoise bays below. You awake to an ocean sunrise and simply turn your
chair around for an ocean sunset! You can take a late-night stroll down to
the jetty for an unforgettable view of the Milky Way and Southern Cross! In
the first-rate restaurant you listen to Seci and Baibuli play guitars and
sing Fijian songs. Lolo, the resident white Labrador, joins in on the
highest notes.
Between songs Seci surprised my by asking, "So, Joseph, have you been
to Alaska?" I said "Why, yes, but how in the devil did you
know?" It turns out he didn't have a clue--an "employment
recruiter from Alaska" had come to his remote village offering U.S.
visas and high-paying jobs in exchange for a $250 admin fee. I explained to
Seci this was most surely a scam and the villagers who paid would never see
their money again. Seci assured me he would "wait and see." Can
anyone explain to me what kind of low-life blankity-blank would scam
impoverished villagers out of money needed to buy food and clothing for
their children?
On Nananu-i-Ra Island I dove with Ra
Divers On day one our dive boat headed off across Bligh Water to
Charybdis Reef. To the right you see Vanua Levu Island; to the left, Mts.
Tomanivi and Koroyanitu and the bold green ridge that connects them. Bligh
Water is named after the infamous Captain Bligh who passed by here in an
open boat and was chased by Fijian warriors when he and 18 others were set
adrift after the mutiny on the Bounty.
Ra Divers' Australian instructor, Steve, and Alfred, the dive master, took
me to Heartbreak Ridge and Dreammaker. Heartbreak Ridge is a prime spot for
pelagic encounters. There were several giant humpheaded wrasses, many titan
triggerfish and a monster grouper. Dreammaker is an unforgettable dive!
Imagine a labyrinth of canyons and overhangs lined with bright red and
purple gorgonian fans, and countless colorful soft corals and tree corals-as
though a master bonsai tree artist had carefully placed each one to create a
perfect artistic composition! Steve deftly guided me through the channels
and I was content to tag along close, like a clownfish, and marvel at the
splendor of it all.
On day two, Ra Divers took us to Pinnacles and The Maze. Pinnacles is a
wonderfully wild dive! A strong current swept around the bommies energizing
the great schools of fish into a swirling symphony. One could imagine the
Ride of the Valkyries at high volume as hundreds of tuna, barracuda, walu,
bluefin trevallies and sardines circled and swooped around us. After the
Wagnerian drama of Pinnacles, we boated over to the serene coral gardens at
The Maze. With virtually no current we followed "Mr.
Perfect-Buoyancy-Control," Steve, through channels, tunnels,
switchbacks, and by the endless variety of soft corals which has given Fiji
its reputation as "soft coral capitol of the world." The bommie is
like an enormous piece of Swiss cheese and Steve knew every nook and cranny.
We saw angelfish and butterflyfish, filefish and porcupinefish, golden
damsels, lizardfish and dragon wrasses!
More brilliant dives on days three and four: Las Vegas, The Arch, Cannibals.
At Las Vegas you'll see schools of moorish idols and bird wrasses--there are
several small bommies swimming in color. The Arch and Cannibals are colorful
coral gardens. Each coral formation is so impressive you want to stay and
study its unique structure and beauty, but you move on, overwhelmed--blown
away--by the rhapsody of brilliant tropical fish and endless variety of
corals. At The Arch, the climax of your dive comes just before you level off
for your safety stop-all the beauty has been crescendoing up to the immense
Arch filled with gorgonians and soft corals. Once you experience it, it will
be part of you forever--you can't lose a beautiful experience, even if the
stock market crashes.
If you haven't been to Fiji yet, come! If you don't dive yet, grab the phone
book--"make that call today!" Sell your car, no--better!--sell
your TV and buy some dive gear! The greatest beauty on our blue planet is
under the sea, and some of the world's most colorful reefs are here in Fiji,
just a few hours' plane ride from where you're now sitting! If you're
worried about political unrest in Fiji, it is totally unfounded. Fijians are
among the world's most hospitable people and Fiji, for tourists, is as safe
as teddy bears!
Matangi Island, Taveuni, Vanua Levu
Five miles east of Taveuni I stayed on beautiful Matangi Island at the
popular Matangi Island Resort. The white-sand beaches, lush tropical
rainforest and sapphire-blue water make Matangi Island Resort one of the
world’s best spots for weddings or honeymoons--or, what the heck, just
grab the family and come for the great diving! In between dives you can
visit Fijian villages, go sport fishing or hike to tropical waterfalls. The
resort dive concession is Tropical
Dive/Fiji Scuba both PADI and SSI certified. Rental equipment is like
new and the dive boat is a 14-passenger fast aluminum boat. Owners Nigel
& Carol Douglas are two of the world's most hospitable hosts and will
ensure your stay is perfect in every way.
Tiko, the dive master with 15 yrs. experience, took us first to Noel’s
Wall, at Motualevu Atoll. We were quickly down to 90ft, but the vertical
wall seems to descend forever. Bring a light to better see the reds,
yellows, oranges and purples of the soft corals and sponges. You’ll see
large queen angelfish, huge parrotfish, schools of butterflyfish and if
you’re lucky, mantas! For our shallow dive we went to Coral Gardens. I saw
six reef sharks, a large school of barracuda, a very large spotted eagle
ray, and a green turtle! A very minimal current allowed us to hover close to
the corals and look down at the critters who live there! Little elkhorn
coral crabs snapped their tiny claws menacingly and pretty blackspot pygmy
wrasses shone iridescent-red in the bright sunlight. The staghorn and other
hard corals, with black, white, red, green and gold feather stars attached,
are amazing! We crossed a large patch of sand with dozens of nesting titan
triggerfish. You want to swim close to see their blue-green checkered
pattern, but be careful—those teeth are razor sharp and can gouge out a
silver-dollar-sized hole.
On day two, Tropical Dive took us on a three-tank, full-day dive trip to
some of Fiji’s best dive sites: Great White Wall; Pot Luck; Rainbow’s
End. World-famous Great White Wall, in the Somosomo Strait, is carpeted in
white soft corals with schools of squarespot and lavender anthias,
parrotfish, and butterflyfish hugging the wall. The sunlight reflecting
through the white coral trees gives Great White Wall a cheerful mood, which
will keep you smiling long after your dive. Pot Luck kept all the divers
ooing and ahhing late into the evening. Fabulous soft and hard corals—deep
purple, cochineal, indigo, gold—set a backdrop to millions of sch! ooling
fairy basslets, purple anthias, wrasses—and big fish: jacks, tuna,
snapper, rockfish, sharks. We closely followed a 6ft banded sea snake—not
at all aggressive but apparently more venomous than any land snake! As we
moved on, we were entertained by an octopus, morays, and thousands of garden
eels on a sandy bottom. More than one world-traveled diver in the group
remarked it was his “best dive ever.” Rainbow’s End is a shallow
bommie with countless colorful tropicals. There are dozens of turquoise-colored
pallet surgeonfish and bright-yellow goatfish. Go slow and marvel at the
fire dartfish and the huge variety of wrasses, blennies and gobies. You’ll
also see shiny tiger cowries as large as your palm and very much alive!
Day three with Tropical Dive took us to Yellow Wall and Cross Channel, at
Motualevu Atoll. Along the wall you’ll see gardens of yellow soft
corals—great spots to stop and pose for photographs. There was hardly any
current so we were able to stop along the way and carefully study the soft
coral trees and look in crevices for hidden surprises. There is a great
variety of hard coral and marine life up on top, so take an extra-long
safety stop and enjoy the bright sunlit water. At Cross Channel I saw a
greater variety of butterflyfish than at any other reef I’ve visited in
Fiji. Our group stopped to watch a school of juvenile reef sharks! Tiko
never fails to point out the hard-to-find critters along the way:
nudibranchs; elkhorn crabs hiding in corals; truly bizarre sea cucumbers.
If you want to be totally pampered in paradise by an incredibly friendly
staff, and have access to some of Fiji’s best diving, you will find no
better place than Matangi Island Resort. Whether you’re out diving
Motualevu Atoll, or back-at-the-ranch listening to Tuvili sing Fijian
ballads on his guitar with Leatu accompanying on the yukalele, you’ll have
the experience of a lifetime!
On Taveuni Island I stayed at the Garden Island Resort, in Waiyevo, and I
dove with Aqua-Trek Because of its
superb rainforests, nature trails, waterfalls, and tropical birds and
flowers, Taveuni is called the "Garden Island." In Bouma National
Heritage Park you can hike through old-growth rainforest protected from the
many interests who would love to cut down the centuries-old mahogany trees.
Garden Island Resort is as close as you can get to the Rainbow Reef and
Somosomo Strait. The guest rooms and restaurant are next to the water--it's
a diver's dream-come-true watching the sun set over the Somosomo Strait, red
parrots ! flittering overhead, savoring a cold Fiji Bitter.
Two Aqua-Trek dives stand out as Somosomo favorites: Blue Ribbon Eel and
Annie's Bommies. Blue Ribbon Eel is a shallow dive along a reef with such a
profusion of soft corals every colour in the rainbow, that none of us would
ever again question Fiji's claim as the "soft coral capital of the
world." We spotted twelve reef sharks, two blue-ribbon eels sharing the
same hole! a bizarre mantis shrimp, a leaf scorpion fish, morays, octopi,
and endless butterflyfish, wrasses, pallet surgeonfish and other colourful
tropicals!
Annie's Bommies is another shallow dive with three soft-coral-covered
bommies and a surprise in every crevasse. We spotted a huge green moray,
mostly out of its hole, a fully inflated pufferfish, a giant humpheaded
wrasse, lobsters and groupers. Countless basslets and anthias swirl in the
strong current and surround you with energy! Find a solid handhold, or use
your reef-hook, and watch schools of blue/gold fusiliers, parrotfish, and
surgeonfish parade by. We stopped to watch a huge titan triggerfish try to
crack a mollusk with its prodigious protruding incisors. He eventually
turned camera-shy and hid behind a coral. I couldn't resist picking up the
snail to have a look, thinkin! g it might be OK since the titan trigger was
out of sight. No way! He came at me like a bullet and I was lucky to come
away with five fingers! The divers watching choked down a couple of hundred
PSI of air laughing through their regulators. After he charged me a second
time to let me know he wasn't fooling a bit, he picked up the snail daintily
between his teeth, exactly like a dog with its bone, and swam off to find
some privacy.
Savusavu, on Vanua Levu, is an idyllic port nestled safely in a
picture-perfect bay. You are surrounded by rugged green mountains,
rainforest and coconut trees. It’s a favorite stop for yachties on the
South Pacific route; many of the foreigners who own property here arrived on
sailboats and were seduced by the serenity and beauty into staying. You
might share a Fiji Bitter with 69-yr-old John at the Copra Shed Yacht Club
and listen to his cruising adventures. John sailed away from the U.S. alone
in a 30ft Ranger, 23 years ago. He! once fell overboard at night in Panama.
He pleaded with his boat, “Please don’t sail away and leave me!” but
the boat sailed on. John dog-paddled for 3-½ hrs. wearing only a T-shirt.
As he neared exhaustion, a 300ft cruise ship passed close by and someone on
board heard his shouts. They pulled him out of the water and he felt a bit
underdressed as dozens of passengers lit the deck with flash bulbs to record
the incident. After they found him some shorts and had the ship’s
physician check him over, John sheepishly asked the captain, "Do you
suppose you could chase down my sailboat?” The good Swede replied, “Why,
sure, Skipper, we passed your boat close abeam an hour ago.” These days
John is known as “Captain Lucky.”
In Savusavu, you might take a sunset cruise on the 54ft sailing vessel Sea
Hawk. Jonathan and Rogers Ford left the corporate rat race 15 years ago and
sailed into the sunset with three young children. They settled in Savusavu
and the salty, sturdy Sea Hawk, under the skilled command of Captain Manoa,
now gives tourists a taste of a yachty’s life.
Around-the-world cruisers Rob Mills & Sue Danielson, of the sailing
vessel Maya, say there is no teacher like experience on the open ocean. For
instance, never, they advise, store polyurethane resin in a plastic motor
oil container. It might just somehow get poured into the crankcase of your
ship's motor when you're midway into your Galapagos--Marquesas Islands
crossing. And you could very possibly spend an entire week of your life
drifting on the high seas while you completely disassemble your diesel motor
to scrub and rescrub every millimeter of its inside and attempt to unclog
dozens of tiny holes.
Do you believe in fate? Tough question, I know--but listen to Paul &
Cheryl Negro's story: Paul was doing well in commercial real estate, but
dreamed of sailing away from it all. He was an avid diver and, having
observed the world's reefs quickly disappearing, he "wanted to go see
some of it before it was all gone." Cheryl, too, was game to sail
around the world. Paul found his dream catamaran in Marseille and jumped on
a plane intent to purchase her. He arrived to find an Australian had beat
him to it. The Aussie just laughed--thought it was hilarious. Three years
later, a boat builder designed another catamaran for them. Before building
it, they went to Belize on a dive vacation. A waitress at their resort, on
hearing their plans, told them of a catamaran for sale in the south of
Belize. She happened to have the cell-phone number and offered to call for
them. They felt they were wasting their time, but said OK. Perhaps you've
guessed--it was the Aussie from Marseille! He'd recently purchased a resort
in Belize and had put Paul's dream catamaran up for sale. Coincidence, or
fate? They sailed her for eight years until lured in by the Siren call of
Savusavu. Now they run "gourmet" charters around Fiji. If you're
in need of big-time stress relief, look them up at www.nabuk.com
Curly Carswell, from New Zealand, is another expat who settled down in
Savusavu—27 years ago. Curly and Liz run Eco
Divers and live on a pretty houseboat with lots of plants and a couple
of dogs. Curly is national coordinator of Fiji's Recompression Center in
Suva. In the past, unscrupulous traders have delivered old dive equipment to
remote Fijian villages promising big money for sea cucumbers found in deep
waters. Many ill-trained divers have ended up bent, in wheelchairs, or dead.
Now, over 200 local divers have become professionally certified and the
recompression chamber is used less frequently.
South of Savusavu I did a spectacular shallow dive in the bay with L’Aventure
Jean Michel Cousteau We motored out to a foot-ball-field-sized bommie
called Mystery Reef. The bommie should be called “Alice in Wonderland”
because it is covered in huge mushroom corals teaming with fish, which look
just like toadstools! The shallow water and bright sunshine make Mystery
Reef a photographer’s dream. You’ll see purple, strawberry, red and
orange soft corals, Magnificent corals with their always-amusing anemonefish,
huge humpheaded wrasses, colorful jeweled and moon wrasses, parrotfish,
sailfinned tangs, and bird wrasses
Naigani, Kadavu, Mamanucas - March 20, 2001
After Savusavu I wanted to dive the Lomativi Island Group, east of Viti
Levu, so I boarded the overnight ferry back to Suva along with some goats
and pigs. The Southern Cross was shining bright, a pleasant breeze cooled
the deck, so I found a piece of cardboard and bedded down between Fijians
sitting in circles around plastic buckets filled with kava. An older man
strummed a guitar and eight others in his “yaqona circle” sang Fijian
ballads as soulfully as I’ve ever heard music performed. They were as big
as football players. Eyes closed, they harmonized for hours, some in
high-pitched falsetto, some basso, to simple chord patterns on an old
6-string guitar. I wouldn’t ha! ve traded that piece of cardboard on the
ship’s rusty deck for the best hotel in Fiji.
A taxi from Suva took us through friendly villages toward Natovi Landing.
All the villagers smiled, waved, and greeted us with “Bula!” A waiting
speedboat jetted us over to Naigani Island Resort. Naigani Island has
beautiful lagoons: the white sand continues off-shore a couple hundred yards
coloring the water bright turquoise before it darkens to sapphire blue. The
resort bures are as big as houses and you get your own private tropical
garden. After morning dives, I spent afternoons tromping the Barefoot
Neptune Golf Course, bouncing my ball off coconut trees. The resort dive
concession is Tropical
Dive!, both PADI and SSI certified. Tooman is a very friendly and
experienced instructor (darn good golfer, too!). Remoli and Frank will guide
you to Naigani’s best dive sites in their fast, shaded, big aluminum boat.
Most Naigani Island diving centers around the wonderful bommies there.
Remember that most of the beauty is up on top, and that’s where you’ll
want to spend most of your time. First, we went to Moray Eel. As with most
pinnacles, you circle slowly around and higher until you get to the
beautiful coral gardens at the top. The bommies at Naigani host an
incredible variety of anemones with orange and yellow clownfish. White
anemones, orange, pink, green: a photographer’s dream! Colorful basslets,
wrasses, and butterflyfish add to the rainbow of colors.
Later, we did a night dive at Peaks—one of my favorite dives in all of
Fiji! Down below we found a 6ft green turtle sleeping in a cave. We did our
best not to disturb her and were able to observe her only inches away! As we
circled back up the pinnacle, a slight current opened wide the colorful soft
coral trees. There were sea whips, sea fans, feather stars, pipe organ
corals—all swaying in the current catching the passing nutrients. We swam
through a colorful tunnel lined in orange sponges and yellow and purple soft
corals. There were several lionfish above us and live cowries coming out of
holes on the side!
The highlight on day two was a dive to Swimthrough—an incredibly beautiful
bommie. A 200lb+ potato cod awaited our arrival at the bottom, and he
wasn’t a bit shy. A couple of huge morays and large schools of blue/yellow
fusiliers and yellow damsels entertained us as we circled higher toward the
lush coral garden on top. As I studied the dozens of anemones, I observed
that large anemones housed large clownfish and tiny anemones housed
miniature adult clownfish. Every anemone had a clownfish perfectly
proportional to its size. So my question: Does the anemone’s size limit
the growth of the anemonefish, or are anemonefish like hermit crabs, moving
into a larger home as they grow bigger? Could someone kindly send me an
answer?
After dinner the entire resort staff meets in the lounge for singing and
kava drinking, which can go on for hours. It’s a sad moment when you have
to say good-bye to all your new friends on Naigani Island. The island gets
smaller and smaller in the wake of the fast boat as you speed away toward
new adventures.
Kadavu Island - April 2, 2001
It's a mouth-watering flight from Suva to Kandavu Island, looking down at
the turquoise reefs you'll soon be diving! I stayed at the Dive
Kadavu Beach Resort situated on one of Fiji's most beautiful
beaches. Owners Robert and Rena Forster are delightful hosts who share the
table with guests at each meal. From your bure you hear gently-lapping
waves, village children playing on the beach, birds chirping--you are
surrounded by banana, papaya and coconut trees--it's a perfect tropical
hideaway. Resort instructor Terry gets many compliments from his students;
dive master Joeli and apprentice Dave get rave reviews from divers. Dive
Kadavu is very safety-conscious and supplies computers to divers who do not
have one. Be sure to pre-arrange dive trips to the Astrolabe Reef for
Kadavu's best diving. Here are a few of the best sites: Soso Pass; Cuba
Savusavu; Mata Reef (which boasts year-round mantas); Coral Garden; Muni
Reef; Pear Reef; Wai Passage; Korolevu Passage.
On Kadavu Island I met an American with an interesting story: Francis, a
Wall Street broker, managed a billion dollar mutual fund with four partners.
Over the past year, "more than eight hundred million have disappeared
into NASDAQ Never-Never Land." Everyone loved Francis--until the stock
market turned. His best friends called "crying, suicidal." Francis
passed out at his desk--diagnosis: mild heart attack. His fiancé was
"no longer sure." He bailed, left everything, tried to find refuge
in a "bure" on the beach in Kadavu. He traded his Armani suits for
T-shirts and flip-flops. Francis says he's never going back. He's there now,
struggling with doubts and devils, trying to make the right decisions; and
he's finding it's very hard to disappear in a world where everyone knows his
e-mail address.
Next dive stop: the Mamanuca Islands, west of Viti Levu. I stayed at famous Beachcomber
Island which is the island of choice for "the young and young at
heart." You can stay in the 100-bed dorm with young people from all
over the world, or have your own private bure and listen to waves lapping at
your doorstep. You'll love the island's mini rainforest with "bici"
birds running everywhere and geckos to sing you to sleep.
The dive shop on Beachcomber is operated by Subsurface
Fiji a PADI 5 Star facility with two fast aluminum jet boats. Subsurface
took us to world-famous Supermarket. You want sharks? You get sharks!
Several divers back-rolled together into the water, which brought six sharks
converging on us only a few feet away to see if we had a handout for them.
Supermarket was made famous by the legendary "Fijian Sharkman,"
Apisai Bati, who befriended many reef sharks there and was able to hand-feed
them just like pet dogs. He knew each shark by name. He would hug
"Sally" and give her a kiss on the nose, then hold onto
"Betty's" dorsal fin and go for a ride. And not only sharks! As we
drifted along the reef, we spotted a 6ft moray swimming along beside us.
Dive master Ilisoni swam over and handled the giant without fear. It was one
of Api's pets. Each diver in the group rubbed the moray's head, just like a
pooch, and the tame giant appeared to smile and enjoy it! Definitely not
something you see every day. As we drifted along, remoras of all sizes, with
their flat landing-strip heads, would swim up and attach themselves to us.
We swam through schools of barracuda and jacks. I stopped counting sharks
when I got to fifteen. Sharkman Api is no longer here to amaze, educate and
entertain divers from around the world; sadly, he passed on a couple of
months ago. Every dive magazine I've picked up recently has a eulogy
remembering this amazing Fijian. Api's story reminds me you can make your
mark in the world no matter where you are or what you do: if you do it to
the best of your ability, others will notice.
"Mode" Fiji (Good-bye, Fiji)
So, it's time to leave Fiji and go find new reefs in new places. After you
leave, you'll remember Fiji's colors forever: green rainforests with
hibiscus flowers and orchids; parrotfish, butterflyfish, wrasses and
swirling fairy basslets; rainbows over the ocean after afternoon rain
showers; bananas, papayas and taro root at the market; sulus and bula shirts
on Fijians and tourists. And you'll remember the smiles and "bulas,"
too.
My last day diving in Fiji, I met Peter Raines, founder of Coral
Cay Conservation He is surveying the Mamanuca Islands in order to
establish a National Marine Park to protect the reefs there. CCC works to
protect and restore coral reefs and tropical forests around the world. Coral
bleaching from ozone depletion and pollution is a worldwide problem. I've
seen entire reefs in Fiji--dead; dive masters tell me they were thriving
only two years ago. Peter Raines says, "Seventy percent of the
Maldives's reefs are damaged." An Australian dive instructor shook his
head and told me "Yeah, mate, you'll be shocked to see the coral
bleaching there." You can join one of CCC's expeditions in the
Caribbean, SE Asia or the South Pacific, and work with scientists there to
help save the reefs.
Just this week the White House abandoned the 1997 Kyoto treaty, which was established to fight global warming. Apparently, the treaty "is not in the United States' economic best interest." Surely it is not in humanity's best interest to destroy the planet's fragile eco-systems on which we all depend for survival. Let's tell the President Americans want to "Protect the reefs! and Protect the planet!" |
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If
you’d rather take a leisurely three day trip to the GBR, the
perfect choice is the 
