kevan Posted December 9, 2005 Report Share Posted December 9, 2005 I know there are some keen divers out there what good dve and snokel sites are in the south Pacific and what corals are found at these sites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie extreme Posted December 9, 2005 Report Share Posted December 9, 2005 vava'u group in tonga is great for diving but not so good for snorkling. lot's of stonies, leathers and gorgonian's depends where you intend to go. has also the clan mcwilliam as a great wreck dive. vanuatu is very good for everything but very expensive. and i mean very! don't bother with the cooks, raro may be a good beginners place but it is rather boring. same goes for aitutaki. great above but pretty poor when it come to variety. doesn't mean its dead. lots of corals, clams and other stuff around just not very interresting. fiji i can only quote the coral coast. which is not really worth it, but the outer islands and taveuni are supposed to be awesome. i would say the further east (towards south america you go the less variety there is. bali for example was great for diving and snorkling. as would be other islands around that area Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghostface Posted December 10, 2005 Report Share Posted December 10, 2005 whats snokeling? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted December 11, 2005 Report Share Posted December 11, 2005 Kevan. I agree with everything Cookie said, some great advice. Vanuatu - Its more expensive than Fiji, but i've been there 3 times and can't wait to go back. It has the advantage of some very cool ww2 history, some of the best snorkeling i've done in the south pacific, The President Coolidge is perhapps the 'best' single wreck dive on the planet and is the crowning jewl in my own dive adventures. Fiji - The Great Astralab Reef of Kadavu is stunning. Fiji coral coast is OK if you've not been in the wild reefs before, but if you have you will be dissapointed. We are going to do Tonga Q2 next year. We hope to dive with migratory humpback whales as well as the usual reef diving. I will get to Palau next year to dive Truck Lagoon and some of the other wrecks. I hope to do my re-breather course at some stage and buy my own re-breather before we go, but that will depend on how our spending goes. Good luck. Pie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevan Posted December 11, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2005 Pies were did you stay when you went u to Santos did you stay on Santos itself or did you stay at on of the small island resort Bokisser or Aore. The thing I’m looking for is a family destination that has good beaches for kids and places were they can snorkel. (15, 13, 8 years old) but would like to do some diving as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Posted December 12, 2005 Report Share Posted December 12, 2005 We went to Vanuatu last year with kids, 10 through to 16, Santo would probabaly get a bit boring for the non divers, there is plenty of good dive locations on the mainland, with reasonable places for the kids to enjoy snorkling as well. We did all our dives with Tranquility Island resort, good variety of dives Stayed at Le Lagon, they have kayaks, bar, sailboats,bar, Kids Club, bar,Golf Course, Pool, Bar, Restaurant, Bar Local Beer is very addictive Best Regards Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted December 12, 2005 Report Share Posted December 12, 2005 Kevan - In Santos we stayed in Bogunville. There are a few day trips (Millinum Cave, WW2 tours with Tim!, beach tours etc). We loved Satos, but Bruce is perhapps correct that maybee its not the best for the non-divers? We stayed at Hideaway island on 2 ocasions. Great spot, perhapps some of the best snorkeling that closed (1m) to the resort! Great for kids, great for adults, easy place to be, lots of diving around the resort, fairly cheap diving. AWESOME fun. 10/10. Also Tranquility that Bruce mentioned can be good, they have good dive sites - Hammer Head Sharks, Dugongs, Schooling Lionfish, Manta, whales, Lava Tubes etc. But the last time we went the instructors were a bit off. Also some of the good dives are for advanced and very experanced 200+ dives so you may not get to dive the sites you want depending on the crowd. Saliaway cruise diving is also a good day. 2 awesome dives + a whole day on a sail boat. Great stuff. Go Vanuatu, I loved it and can't wait to return. Pie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevan Posted December 18, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2005 Thanks Pies . Anyone been to north fiji Vanu Levu for diveing and snokeling ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Gunner Posted December 18, 2005 Report Share Posted December 18, 2005 There are some Rarotonga dive shots in this gallery from a recent trip: http://www.pbase.com/chris_and_jen/rarotonga Not the best Coral diversity - my favorite site has been Sebastian Island off Byron Bay in Oz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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