Divers and Dental Professionals Combine Work and Passion for Scuba Diving Through Fiji Project

By Mark Fischer
Owner, HydroSports Dive and Travel

Most people think of Fiji as an island paradise. But four airports, three types of aircraft, 19 time zones and 30 travel-hours from HydroSports (Keizer, Oregon) is the village of Kadavu Koro. Remote by both distance and time villagers have almost no access to medical or dental care. Located on the Island of Kadavu, Kaduva Koro is home to about 300 people.

I have visited Fiji 12 times over the past 10 years. Last October I stayed at the Waidroka Bay Resort on the big island, Viti Levu. Waidroka Bay, a beautiful resort with all the amenities, is closely connected to a local village. During my stay I was able to visit the village and local primary and secondary schools and received an education about the availability of health care at the village level. What I learned was that while care is readily available in cities, at the village level, care is scarce.

Returning from that trip I decided to pioneer a Dental Mission. I partnered with Coach Ramey Stroud, a Mill City diver, and Stuart Gow, Director of the Matava Eco-Resort on the island of Kadavu. Together we identified dates for our trip, solicited the cooperation of Air Pacific, the national airline of Fiji, the Fiji Islands Hotel and Tourism Association and the Fiji Ministry of Health. Salem Hospital generously shared information about our trip with their staff.

I traveled with Dr. Mike and Mrs. Carrie Litchfield and Dr. Sean Hanson of Salem and Jim and Gina Jepsen from Ione, Oregon. Dave Beard from Tasmania met us at Matava and joined our team.

Air Pacific allowed us each to bring an extra 50 pounds of medical gear. Mike and Sean had received hundreds of toothbrushes, toothpaste samples and dental supplies from their suppliers. Mike brought a portable dental station as well.

Our arrival at Matava was met with excitement. Maggie, the Fijian concierge, let us know that he had shared the news of the American dentists arriving three weeks earlier with the village council. He had made arrangements for us to visit the village the next day to meet with the Chief, the Director of the School (whose classroom’s we planned to use for the clinic) and the village nurse (representative of the Ministry of Health). We took an open boat to the village, walked past sleeping dogs, feeding chickens, children playing, men unloading cinderblocks and women washing clothes.

We sat on the floor of the Chief’s home. Maggie and the chief chatted, laughed, gestured at me and Sean. The Chief spoke firmly. Maggie stood up and gestured to us. We stood as well. “We must now visit with the Director of the School” Maggie said.

Again we sat on the floor, laughter, gestures and quizzical looks. Maggie stood. We stood. “We need to speak with the nurse now” Maggie told us.

Walking uphill toward the rain forest we stopped outside the nurse’s home. We learned that the village nurse is the representative of the Ministry of Health and has significant power in the community. Speaking directly to us, she expressed concern that she had not been notified by the government of our mission. I assured her that all forms requested, dental licenses, diplomas and work history information had been sent to the Ministry offices in Suva, the capitol. A smile! She shook our hands and told us we were welcome to provide dental care for her community.

As we walked back to the boat, Maggie explained that even though the resort and village know that American Dentists were coming, culturally, it was necessary for us to personally visit and request permission to provide free dental care for the community.

Our plan was pretty simple; breakfast, a two tank dive then lunch. We opened the clinic at 1:30 and treated patients until dark. Power in the classroom was limited to a single neon lamp powered by a new generator. We had come equipped with flashlights for diving and lighting up teeth.

Each afternoon the number of patients grew as word of our clinic spread. The third day we planned to hold an instructional clinic for the village children to share toothbrushes and toothpaste. Carrie Litchfield, an elementary school librarian in Salem was our point person. Using humor, laughter and smiles, Carrie warmed up the kids, taught basic oral hygiene and brushing technique and passed out over 200 toothbrushes and tubes of toothpaste.

We knew that dental care in the village was extremely limited. We learned that a boat ride to Vunisea, location of the regional hospital an hour away, has a cost of nearly a week's wages each way.

During our stay we had the opportunity to serve nearly 200 villagers from Kadavu Koro. Carrie taught 75 children how to brush their teeth. Numerous rotted, damaged and decayed teeth were removed, mostly from adults, a few from children.

We met many wonderful people during our visit to Kadavu Koro and our stay at the Matava Eco-Resort. We dove the Great Astrolabe Reef most mornings and provided dental care in the afternoon. Our Mission provided an opportunity to provide care for those in need and an education about preserving one's teeth to the children of the village.

I'm not fully back from Fiji; I keep asking myself what I would be doing 19 hours from now if I was in Kadavu Koro.

I plan to return to Fiji next year with dentists, optometrists, doctors and nurses to continue the tradition of combining compassion and passion. Care to join me?

Comments from Mike, Carrie, Sean, Gina and Jim can be found at: www.hydrosports.com/MatavaMemories.html

Matava is fully operational after Cyclone TOMAS

Matava - Fiji's Premier Eco Adventure Resort is 100% fully open after the cyclone passed Fiji on Tuesday 16th March 2010

 

KADAVU, FIJI ISLANDS - 17 December 2009 - On Monday 15th March 2010 Fiji was hit by a Category 4 Tropical Cyclone, TC TOMAS. The cyclone passed over the northern islands and well to the East of Kadavu Island.

Although the resort experienced high winds and heavy rain, no damage was done to the resort at all, apart from the loss of some thatch from the corner of the roof of the dive centre.

The guests and staff spent the whole day playing cards, board games and reading books safely in the Main Bure while Maggie served breakfast, lunch and dinner as normal. We even had some divers toughen up and go shore diving in the 'teeth' of the bad weather on Monday and Tuesday and get some great pics of critters on The Critter Junction dive site!

By Tuesday 16th March we were once again fishing, diving and trekking as normal, in glorious sunshine with not even a slight breeze!

The cyclone passed well east of Kadavu and was over in a couple of days of strong winds and grey weather.

Due to flight safety reasons, Pacific Sun did postpone its flights for a couple of days, but have now fully resumed services to Kadavu from Nadi.  All flights to and from Kadavu from Nadi International Airport are currently fully resumed and we have have had clients fly in and out of Kadavu today (Wednesday 18th March 2010).

We appreciate your patience in these matters, and rest assured that we are all fine and 100% fully operational at Matava - Fiji's premier Eco Adventure Resort.

Here is a pic taken by Adrian this morning from the deck of Mango, one of our Honeymoon Bures:


Richard, Adrian, Jeanie, Stuart & The Team @ Matava

Mad Fish Dive Centre @ Matava Unveils New Dive Boat

New boat MV "DIVE ME" provides even more versatility for divers visiting Kadavu, Fiji

On December 27th 2009 Mad Fish Dive Centre's new boat, "DIVE ME", arrived at Matava's dock!

Both guests and staff were very excited tosee the first glimpse of the custom designed alloy dive boat on the horizon along The Great Astrolabe Reef next to Waya Island.

The new boat is completely innovative and new to the scuba diving industry in Kadavu, and indeed the Fiji Islands. This dive boat hasroom for 12 divers on a 2-tank dive,as well as 2 PADI Divemasters and a captain. It has everything on board that a diver needs like rinse buckets, a camera table, a shaded area, and easy entry twin platforms for both going in and out of the water.

With this new boat Mad Fish Dive Centre @ Matava will be the first and only resort on Kadavu that is able to dive the entire length of the Great Astrolabe Reef. This opens up never before dived areas and divesites. We are excited about diving never before seen reefs and offshore pinnacles in the coming year!

In addition we are going to offer a 3-tank boat dive trip to the Northern Astrolabe Reefs north of Ono and as far as Solo Atoll. This will be combined with a BBQ lunch on the beach cooked by our very own chef, Kuki, before your 3rd dive!

DIVE ME was custom designed for the specific diving done in Kadavu, Fiji Islands. Based on a proven hull design by NAIAD Designs from New Zealand, the boat was further developed by Bluewatercraft in Navua, Fiji Islands to allow a dry, safe ride, while allowing easy access to the water from the back twin dive platforms.

In keeping with Matava's policy of 'buying Fiji' and supporting local community capacity building, Mad Fish Dive Centre made the decision to build the vessel in country. This has allowed many of the tradesmen in the boat building industry once more gain advanced technological skills required to build a high end alloy vessel.

DIVE ME is fitted with the newest state-of-the-art twin 4 stroke SUZUKI 140hp Outboard Engines. 4-strokes are the cleanest outboard engines currently available. Suzuki 4-stroke outboards are noted for the low fuel consumption, low exhaust emission, low noise and outstanding reliability. When compared to conventional 2-stroke engines, 4 strokes:

• Improve fuel efficiency (25-45 percent).
• Reduce hydrocarbon emissions by 75-90 percent.
• Reduce smoke smell.
• Are quieter.

"With the addition of this new state-of-the-art dive boat we have placed Matava as the premier dive resort in Kadavu." said Matava Director, Mr Richard Akhtar. "Adding a vessel of this advanced calibre to our other dive boats in our fleet solidifies Mad Fish Dive Centre as the only PADI 5 Star Dive Centre on Kadavu".

Mr Akhtar finished by saying "We would like to thank all friends and clients of Matava and Mad Fish Dive Centre past and present who have contributed to the success of our dive resort and we look forward to exciting times ahead diving the Great Astrolabe Reef from DIVE ME."

Another Whale at Matava

According to Ngati Porou Legend, the legend of my tribe, 'Paikea' came to New Zealand from the Pacific Islands on the back of a whale many centuries ago. The whales name was Tohora and he took Paikea to the east Coast of the North Island of New Zealand near to a place now called Gisborne. This is near to where I am from.

When diving this south side of Fiji's southern most Island, Kadavu, which is known as NewZealandi lailai (the small New Zealand), I look South and think about New Zealand and my home. Today being no exception.

Mona and Steve from California were our only diving guests today, so after our first dive we decided to cruise along the water and have our tea and coffee surface interval on the boat. We sat and relaxed in the sun.

All of a sudden a splash from behind the boat. At first we thought it might be a manta ray. It was moving so fast. Our driver Mas slowed down the boat and as soon as he did we saw it surface. A Whale! Not a Pilot whale like last time, this whale was long and sleek, but it never raised its head above the water, we could only see its crescent shaped dorsal fin. Mas stopped the boat. By this point my mask and fins were on and I explained to Mona and Steve that I was getting in the water and they could join me if they wanted to. I was in.

What a strange looking animal, its nose was pointed and sharp, so different from the pilot whales. He had four huge white spots running parallel with his body from his nose to his dorsal fin. Mona and Steve soon joined me in the water and we snorkeled on the surface as the whale eyed us from below. He swam back and fourth beneath us occasionally surfacing but never taking his dark eyes of us. I was not as frozen or petrified as I was when I saw the pilot whales, we swam on the surface for a long time. At one point I saw him slowly moving towards the surface from the deep, I duck dived down to about 8m to get a better look. He swam right up to me, his head touch my feet and then my belly, I reached out my hands to touch his head as he swam under me. Three long ridges ran from his nose all the way to a twin blow hole which looked to be protected by a splash guard just like on a snorkel. Leathery skin so smooth with huge scars and scratches. He swam slowly under me and before I knew it I was holding his dorsal fin. I could see the huge white spots so closely now, they looked like scars. He continued swimming slowly as I held onto the biggest animal I have ever touched, I counted to ten. I could have held on forever but then I remembered I was holding my breath and it was somewhat important for me to surface.He wiggled his body in the water and I took that as a sign that the ride was over, so I let go. He turned around and swam beneath us again, coming and going. I was absolutely in awe of this animal and could not (can not) believe what just happened. After some time we decided to get back on the boat, but he came back, surfacing and gliding silently beneath us, so we got back in just for one last look at this amazing creature. After seeing the pilot whales I never thought I would get an opportunity like that again but here I am less than four days later with a similar story.

I later found out that the Whale that we saw was a Bryde's Whale (Pronounced Brutus), this Whale is known as Pakake in New Zealand and this type of whale can be traced back to some of the oldest legends in Maori culture.

According to Ngati Porou legend, the legend of my tribe 'Paikea' came to New Zealand from the Pacific Islands on the back of a whale many centuries ago. I bet he had an awesome trip.

Drex and Me!

Drex is one of the drivers here at Matava.

Mostly he drives the dive boats. Drex doesn’t say too much but he is very good at making the teas and coffees at surface interval time (Much better then I am).

Like all our drivers Drex knows these reefs very well and is on the money at getting us to and from dive sites. I qualified Drex as an open water diver at the start of the year, boy was that fun – for both of us.

Sometimes when it rains Drex will wear his big yellow raincoat and pants, sometimes even a mask, I laugh but it is actually quite a practical outfit.

I always wonder what the driver does whilst waiting for the divers, Drex tells me he just spends his time looking for the bubbles. Good enough answer for me.

Naiqoro Passage dive

We drop onto this coral wonderland at the Naiqoro Marine Reserve. No current, no swell, vis is perfect. We rummage through the reef like children looking for lost coins down the back of our dads lazy boy.

The striped dascylus like silver coins shimmering and darting in and out of the coral, anemone fish the golden coins just waiting to be spent, the colourful nudibranchs like a lost bag of jellybeans, your favourite kind, and out of nowhere Glass cleaner shrimps with tiny purple claws, like finding a clean twenty tucked far beneath the cushions.

Enough time spent here, we count our riches and head out further into the passage, wham! We hit the wall that is Naiqora Passage and with our belts fastened and our inflight entertainment rolling our journey begins.

Fan coral bending and shaking, fish swimming towards you but not moving at all as you fly past their anemone homes. We stop for a moment, cling onto a rock outcrop and watch a nudibranch, its tiny purple body with intricate orange trim, holding on for dear life as its antennae struggles with the ever increasing current.

We can’t stop, so much to take in. Soon its time to surface, we emerge with nothing, no one says a word, we feel like the richest people in the world and for that moment we probably are.

What lies beneath?

Like a blue cover hiding Christmas presents, the ocean recedes and I wait in anticipation to see what it was hiding.

The dogs wait too. Rocks and coral soon start to jut awkwardly out of the blue blanket that is still being pulled ever so slowly away. We walk the clear sand path that winds from the resorts doorstep to the small Waya Island, which sits directly South of  Matava.

Sea grass appears first and our search begins, small crabs, banded sea snakes, snake eels and all kinds of interesting creatures have their 15 minutes of fame as we watch them go about their daily lives. Seconds turn into minutes and we loose our selves in a small crab constructing his home.

Minutes turn into hours and soon the ocean decides we’ve seen enough and starts to slowly take its creatures back until once again we are left with a glassy blue blanket at our doorstep.

Kate the Kiwi Instructor

Sponsors & Supporters » Byron Underwater Festival - Byron Bay

Major prize for photographic shootout.

Matava is the genuine eco-adventure lodge, beautifully set off the beaten track, on Kadavu Island, Fiji.

We have beautiful, comfortable bures, outstanding cuisine and a full range of adventure and cultural activities.

No roads, solar power, low carbon footprint make Matava the ideal, environmentally responsible location to relax and unwind.

Sponsors & Supporters » Byron Underwater Festival - Byron Bay

underwater.com.au | Listing | Matava - Fiji's Premier Eco Adventure Resort

Matava is the genuine eco-adventure lodge, beautifully set off the beaten track, minutes from the Great Astrolabe Reef on Kadavu Island. Our intimate resort has beautiful, comfortable bures, outstanding cuisine and offers a full range of adventure and cultural activities. Dive or take a course with our PADI dive professionals.

Experience fantastic fish, pristine corals, Mantas and sharks. Try big game fishing, snorkeling, sailing, sea kayaking, trekking, and join in authentic cultural and village events!

No roads, solar power, low carbon footprint make Matava the ideal and environmentally responsible location to relax and unwind.

Affiliation:

PADI Resort

Training Level:

Up to Divemaster

Boat Description:

Our 3 Islander Dive Boats can take 6 divers and a divemaster each, keeping in-water groups small at all times.
A full range of safety equipment (inc. oxygen) is carried. All boats in full Fiji survey.

Sites Visited:

We have over 20 named sites and countless un-named and unexplored sites. Diving is either in or around the 5 passages in the Astrolabe Reef or on the outer reef slope. The passages have large fish (barracuda, jacks, groupers etc), sharks and soft corals. The outer reef is unsurpassed hard quality and reef fish diversity. On Manta Reef we see Mantas on over 80% of our dives all year round !

underwater.com.au | Listing | Matava - Fiji's Premier Eco Adventure Resort

Take A Dive on Kadavu Island

Very few places on the Fiji islands offer you the opportunity to experience the real culture and feel of this great country the way the Kadavu Island does. So it's of know surprise that this remote island still as a lot of its natural beauty, valleys, hillsides and beautiful bays and reefs. Which in return as stopped a lot of the general tourists from coming to the island.

The Kadavu Island is a great destination for anyone looking for great diving locations that have not been overtaken with international resorts, but as still got all it's natural charm which is why you need to go and give this place a go.

With it being home to the amazing Astrolabe Reef on the southern end of the island and is estimated to being the 4th largest reef in the world with its colourful corals, reef sharks and schooling fish it makes it a great region to explore if you like the easy way of living, remote hideaways, undiscovered gems and hard corals.

Some of best diving sites around island are:

1. Yellow Wall

This is an all year round diving site and suits people of all levels. Here you will experience thick soft yellow coral, sweet lips, sergeant major fish and garden eels.

2. Eagle Rock

Being part of the Astrolabe Reef it as a lot to offer, but is recommended for divers of advanced level. It is also an all year round diving site.

Diving Season

This is an all year round water sport on the Kadavu Island. However the months of November to April will see the most rainfall, but is also the most tropical months when temperatures can reach as high as 32C. It is the most coolest months between July to October when the waters will be generally a bit more cooler.

Take A Dive on Kadavu Island

Scuba Diving Eagle Rock In Kadavu

Eagle Rock is one of the very best dive sites that the Great Astrolabe Reef as to offer any keen diver. With its amazing rock formations, hard corals and great selection of fish life.

Getting to the site can be a task on its own with surface swells telling you weather or not it is to strong to take on, so timing is the key, but once you get to the eagle rock site you will initially experience eagle rays past by and see very few hard corals that give in to the currents here.

Then once fully into the channel you will find yourself been given access to an underwater paradise, with so much in site you first won’t know where to look. As you will be passing over the rough rock bed with grey reef shark flying past you will start looking in amazement.

With the truly amazing colours of hard corals and great selection of life that it as on offer here, there is something for every diver. Whether it be the green lettuce corals, pale grey corals, lime corals or violet finger corals, this great diving site as something new for everything individual to discover.

This is a site that will keep the attention of any diver that can get bored quick because of its truly amazing variety on offer.

Diving Season

This is an all year round water sport on the Kadavu Island. However the months of November to April will see the most rainfall, but is also the most tropical months when temperatures can reach as high as 32C. It is the most coolest months between July to October when the waters will be generally a bit more cooler.

Scuba Diving Eagle Rock In Kadavu

Diamond in The Rough

 Today whilst diving in Fiji with Eddie and Philipa from NZ (Yah some fellow Kiwis to keep me company). We dropped down to twenty and started our dive on the purple wall. Eddie and Philipa had never dived on a coral reef before so I just couldn't wait to get them down where the visibilty let you see further then a few meters (unlike the typical NZ diving they were used to (and I had forgotten).

It was on the second dive we saw the sea turtle which was a first for them and I never get bored of seeing this beautiful creature float past. But that wasn't what I was looking for, huge gropers, baracuda, angelfish, butterflyfish, unicorn fish,  but I still hadn't found what I wanted to show them.

It wasn't untill I'd almost given up hope of finding it and there he appeared - a diamond in the rough - I called him Henry, and he was beautiful. From the family Chromodorididae this little nudibranch as small as he was sure could give the rest of his underwater companions a run for their money!

Kate the Kiwi Diving Instructor at Mad Fish Dive Centre

Around the Kava Bowl

So here we sit on the deck at the front of the resort. Smiling, laughing and telling stories to people we met just hours ago. Jone or Robbie will be mixing the Kava and the conversation will flow from the colour of the sky to a story about one of the guests hometowns and back again.

Mas, one of the Divemasters will grace us with his voice and guitar playing skills and believe it or not I have even seen our barman Joji get up and dance. The kava is pounded fresh and the boys continue to beat the roots of the plant into dust to continue mixing this muddy looking drink. Some guests try just one or two bowls and then decide to stick to the Fiji Bitter, while others rather enjoy the taste.

Although I'm told that Kadavu grows quality Kava, suprisingly thats not the reason I indulge in this drinking ceremony. The mere fact that we need nothing to entertain ourselves but each other is a wonderfully fading concept that indeed still exists around the kava bowl.

Kate, The Kiwi Dive Instructor

Kadavu recommendations for Honeymoon - ScubaBoard

DIVE SITES – Located on the Great Astrolabe Reef, they’re a 10- to 20-minute boat ride from lots of fascinating dive sites. If the sea is rough, as it was for the first 3 days of our visit, there’s plenty of great diving inside the reef with walls, slopes and plateaus extending well below 100 feet.

My only tropical diving so far has been Cozumel, Costa Rica and French Polynesia, but the coral here tops them all. I was blown away by the profusion of different colors and shapes. And it’s all vibrantly healthy.

There were lots of fish, though we saw only a few really big ones, like a giant grouper and a Napoleon wrasse. There were small white tip reef sharks and some sea turtles. Visibility was 60 feet inside the lagoon and 100+ outside.

Kadavu recommendations for Honeymoon - ScubaBoard

1st trip to Fiji and Australia - a few questions.... - ScubaBoard

BTW...I'm trying an eco-resort called Matava on my trip next year. It's very remote-on the island of Kadavu. No electricity, I've heard it described as "a step above camping", but all have said they loved it.

The site is matava.com. Just thought you might like to check it out. :-)

1st trip to Fiji and Australia - a few questions.... - ScubaBoard

Kadavu Island forum: Matava Resort - TripAdvisor

"Went in November 2007 for a week and absolutely loved it.

Once you land it is an hour boat ride to the resort and the boat is very small but the view is spectacular - reminds you of what the first explorers would have seen - so untouched. Maggi welcomes you and takes you to your bure. Most of them do not have electricity but ours had a light in the main area and the bathroom but we never used them.

Anything that needs to plugged in can be done in the office. We dove every day and it was spectacular - my first experience with Manta Rays and there were seven swimming around us - awesome!

We took the meal package and enjoyed eating with everyone and the conversations that took place. Of course had the Kava experience and the Lovo - cooking on rocks.

You are welcome to bring your own alcohol and we brought a box of red wine which they kept for us and served it at dinner. As long as you can handle being without your blackberry and laptop this is the place for you.

We recommended to other friends who went this year in June and also thoroughly enjoyed the experience and the diving."

Kadavu Island forum: Matava Resort - TripAdvisor

Anyone been to Kadavu? - TripAdvisor

LindaJohn99 TripAdvisor

Bellbrook, OH

"Hi Jules,

We choose to go to Matava Resort instead. We were there for 5 nights (10 dives) starting the 25th of November. My husband and I stayed in a beautiful bure and totally enjoyed the experience of this Eco Resort. We have dived around the world and we rate this as one of our most enjoyable dive trips. The diving was some of the best we've done (manta rays, healthy vibrant reefs, lots of fish diversity, etc.).

We completed our Advanced Open Water Certification while there and found the PADI Dive Instructor , Simon, to be excellent.

Several of the guests that were staying there at the same time as us were Fiji locals (marine biologist, ex-Dive Shop Owner from Taveuni, Fiji resort planner) as well as a well known underwater photographer from the UK and we enjoyed learning alot from them during our stay. They obviously knew about this nearly hidden treasure!

It's a small place without the frills of a big resort and if this is what you like, his may not be the place for you. But if you enjoy being close to nature and are going for the diving, this eco resort more than makes up for the lack of a fancy pool or beach. (check out the exising reviews on Trip Advisor) or Matava (http://www.matava.com/) for more information."

Kadavu Island forum - TripAdvisor

Fiji Is The Soft Coral Capital of the World

Fiji Is The Soft Coral Capital of the World

"Another popular diving site in Fiji is Astrolabe Reef which is situated in the southern area. There you can find a beautiful variety of coral and reef but the dive sites are small and are accessible by boat. The weather is sometimes humid there, but you will not have big problems with scuba diving because of that."

Fiji Is The Soft Coral Capital of the World

Kadavu Island forum: Matava Resort - TripAdvisor

"Went in November 2007 for a week and absolutely loved it.

Once you land it is an hour boat ride to the resort and the boat is very small but the view is spectacular - reminds you of what the first explorers would have seen - so untouched. Maggi welcomes you and takes you to your bure. Most of them do not have electricity but ours had a light in the main area and the bathroom but we never used them.

Anything that needs to plugged in can be done in the office. We dove every day and it was spectacular - my first experience with Manta Rays and there were seven swimming around us - awesome!

We took the meal package and enjoyed eating with everyone and the conversations that took place. Of course had the Kava experience and the Lovo - cooking on rocks.

You are welcome to bring your own alcohol and we brought a box of red wine which they kept for us and served it at dinner. As long as you can handle being without your blackberry and laptop this is the place for you.

We recommended to other friends who went this year in June and also thoroughly enjoyed the experience and the diving."

Kadavu Island forum: Matava Resort - TripAdvisor

Scuba Diving Locations In Fiji

Scuba Diving Locations In Fiji

"If you are in Fiji for a scuba diving vacation, you must dive in the world famous Astrolabe Reef on Kadavu in the Southern Islands. This dive spot has excellent hard and soft corals and abundance marine life. There are more soft corals along the north and south coast with some interesting caves to explore. Majestic drop-off can be found on the western tip of Kadavu."

Scuba Diving Locations In Fiji