Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020 |

# PADI course in Fiji so I don't miss all the awesome dives in the area Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea / Fiji
bakerboy11 08:06 UTC 05 Dec 2014 | Hey, heading to Fiji and also Vanuatu next April, haven't done my PADI yet so was wondering if anyone had done a PADI in Fiji? Which company did you go with/ were they good? Heard there are some amazing dive spots about so don't want to miss them just because I'm not qualified. Yet. Also any dive spot recommendations in Fiji and or Vanuatu would be awesome. Thanks :) |
atlasandboots 18:02 UTC 05 Dec 2014 | Hi, Vanuatu is one of the cheapest places in which to do your PADI, so consider going there first. I recommend Nautilus in Port Vila which costs 38k Vatu for everything (about £240 GBP). They also have a nice little studio you can rent if you don’t want to travel to the dive centre in the mornings. It was a little bit above our budget at £40 GBP per night but there were two of us so we thought it was worth it. In terms of diving, definitely do the SS Coolidge wreck. Twin Bommes was cool (but not a must-see) and there are lots of WW2 wrecks and paraphernalia around Santo. In Fiji, definitely do shark diving at Pacific Harbour. Unfortunately, we rocked up the day before and it was fully booked, so book ahead. We stayed at Tsulu Beach Bunkhouse which, despite mixed reviews on TripAdvisor, was absolutely fine. Club Oceanus down the road is more expensive but I think you get a discount on your diving if you stay there. Take some time to walk around Pacific Harbour. It’s apparently a ‘manufactured’ part of Fiji but parts of it are very beautiful, particularly the walk to Fiji Shark Dive (it’s a long walk but through very beautiful grounds). Good luck! Peter, Atlas and Boots | 1
hapalochlaena 09:55 UTC 19 Dec 2014 | Hiya. I did my rescue diver out in the Yasawa islands at octopus resort. The dive 'centre' (it was tiny) was fun, there was a pool as well as the perfect ocean one meter from the resort. Probably not the cheapest option though and I suspect the instruction is pretty variable depending on who is there. Once you have your PADI I would recommend a trip out to the Yasawa's though, the further out along the chain the better, the diving was great. | 2