Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020 |

# Best House Reef for Snorkeling Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea / Fiji
spiritualdance 23:58 UTC 02 Jan 2016 | What is the best place with an extensive house reef, great snorkeling and big fish like bumphead parrotfish, sharks and turtles? Fiji or somewhere else in the Pacific Islands? Has anyone found a great place in Kadavu, Taveuni, the Bligh waters? We would like to snorkel all day every day and see great stuff. Thanks! |
smandkjc 01:09 UTC 11 Jan 2016 | We like to do the same but have not found large quantities of big fish at any of the places in the Pacific we have been to. Have been to Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Niue, Tahiti, New Caledonia, Cook islands, Hawaii, as well as Norfolk and Lady Elliot on the Great Barrier Reef. Some places many times and to various islands in various island chains. We find the best house reef snorkeling is around some of the smaller islands in the Mamanuca group of Fiji like Matamanoa, Castaway or Navini. Some islands have "Reserves" but are usually still fished by the locals. We last went to Viwa in the Yasawa's and were disappointed as all the big fish had been caught and eaten by the local village but in the last boat snorkel we were past by a large tiger shark which was a real thrill as they do not do shark tours and the local with us has never seen a large tiger there before. Shark tours are fine but a bit artificial compared to a chance encounter and it was the highlight of that island for us. Have only ever seen Bumphead at Castaway and only once. Have seen plenty of reef sharks at Matamanoa. Taveuni was nothing great, it rained everyday when we were there and no big fish. | 1
spiritualdance 15:13 UTC 11 Jan 2016 | Thank you for your insights. Of course, we have extensively snorkeled all around Papua New Guinea and eastern Indonesia and it is hard to find something to match that. The only problem is the super-long air flights to get to those places. We only have 3 weeks this time so are hoping for somewhere closer to the U.S. So has Fiji been your best house reef snorkeling in the Pacific up until now? Thanks! | 2
smandkjc 20:54 UTC 11 Jan 2016 | So has Fiji been your best house reef snorkeling in the Pacific up until now? Thanks! Niue had clearer water and loads of sea snakes but it was usually hard to get in the open ocean due to sea conditions. Being from New Zealand Fiji is the easier flight for us so we tend to go there every few months and then winter over at our apartment in Waikiki. Depending on schedules we still sometimes have to waste up to 4 days with stopovers in Auckland and Nadi before we get to or home from an actual island. The Mananuca's are a short helicopter flight if we arrive in Nadi in daylight, we like Matamanoa because you can snorkel right around the island so if the wind makes conditions bad on one side you can usually snorkel on the other side. Castaway and Navini are similar but larger and smaller respectively. We tend to snorkel where most of the tourists don't and at Castaway we may come ashore on the other side of the island and walk back to the resort. Have a look at the islands on Google earth, any island that has a definite reef and drop off is usually OK. Any day with your head under the ocean is a good day. Back to Treasure Island next month, we were evacuated from there just as a cyclone hit last time so would like to see how it has been rebuilt. Cyclones also affect the coral, we once spent 6 weeks on Samoa snorkeling at Palolo Deep every day which was great but the next time the coral had been devastated by a cyclone. | 3
spiritualdance 20:05 UTC 17 Jan 2016 | Thanks for your information. I was wondering if the Mamanucas seem crowded and touristic since they are so close to Nadi? We would love to see sharks and turtles. Have you spent much time snorkeling in the Yasawas? Do you recommend any particular places there? Also, have you been to Kadavu? Thanks for all your help. | 4
smandkjc 20:24 UTC 17 Jan 2016 | Most of the Fiji Resorts are well patronized throughout the year. Have only stayed at Viwa Resort in the Yasawas but have visited a few others on round trip boat transfers or flown over them all in the helicopter and none appealed to us. There are no islands in the Yasawas that you can snorkel right around like the Mamanuca ones I mentioned. Have not been to Kadavu just Taveuni where it rained constantly throughout our stay that is why we mainly go to the Mamanucas which tend to be drier. The snorkeling on the Coral Coast was nothing wonderful and Denerau is just reclaimed swamp so not even swimming in the ocean there really. I would think that currents could be a problem in the Yasawas if you wanted to go further than just off the resort beach. It took the float plane several attempts to get turned around to takeoff from Viwa as the current and wind were fighting each other. We had wanted to snorkel out to the wreck but were warned not to as even a local was lost shortly before our visit. | 5
cardamom 02:46 UTC 18 Jan 2016 | I've snorkeled Kadavu and saw all kinds of fish but saw the most fish when conditions were windy & visibility marginal. Sadly the place I stayed @ is closed now. | 6
jvainio 23:52 UTC 10 Mar 2016 | Hey, I was there a few years back (a FEW YEARS in my books, hahahaha). I did not go to Mamanucas or Yasawas due the majority of the tourist flow going there, I was afraid the reef would not be so good. However as you can see from these replies on this thread, some have had positive experiences, some mixed. My g/f has some photos on her travel blog she made, maybe they can help you decide? On the eastside of Taveuni; http://www.offexploring.com/sonjaevita/albums/waitabu-marine-park (I was not impressed. But there was one spot I did not go to, to snorkel from the SW tip of the island, which is supposed to be a very good spot for snorkeling) Between Vanua Levu and Taveuni: http://www.offexploring.com/sonjaevita/albums/rainbow-reef (Nice slow drift snorkel) Maybe my pick for best house reef http://www.offexploring.com/sonjaevita/albums/snorkeling-caqalai This is a full snorkel around the whole island, took about 2-3 hours to complete http://www.offexploring.com/sonjaevita/albums/snorkeling-around-caqalai | 7
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