7 days in Fiji on my way to Australia

Hi everyone,

I'm going to Australia at the end of january and since I have to stop in Fiji I decided to stay a few days.

While being in Fiji, I want to do my open water certification (never did diving before). Found a 5 day /4 night package call Dive Dive Dive by Adventure Travel and include the course, the certification and accodomation.

I have a few choices of places and all of them are in the Yasawas :

South Sea Island
Manta Ray Island Resort
Wanna Taki (on board)
Korovou
Coral View / Sunrise

So which one should I choose ? and also, is january a good time to dive in Fiji ?

I got my certification in Fiji last January, and it was amazing.

I actually did 2 intro dives at Manta Ray and loved it SO much that I went on and got my certification with the same company that opperates the dive shop there. It was amazing, and all of the diving was extremely great.

As far as the accomodation options... I stayed at Manta Ray (awesome!) and did one night on the Wanna Taki (horrible!). I met tons of people who stayed at the other resorts on your list, and most of them did NOT speak highly of any of them.

(Wanna Taki I would check off the list no question. I did one day on it because it was included in my Awesome Adventures island hopping pass and all I wanted was OFF. It was horrible!).

Of that list, Manta Ray is the clear choice. It is beautiful, the food is great, the accomodation high quality. It also has a reputation for offering the best diving in the Yasawas. Reef Safari (the Dive Company that operates on Manta Ray) is awesome -- they have great people, the diving is fantastic, they teach very well, they have great equipment, and I always felt safe. Hands down I'd choose there.

I would check out the rate you found against what Reef Safari offers. I know they offer combo packages as well (I did one), and you may actually end up with a much better deal as you wouldn't be going through the middle man so they wouldn't have to share their profits. I'm sure you'd be diving with the same company either way, but you may get a better price. Reef Safari's website (I'm sending you to the Yasawas part) is: http://www.reefsafari.com.fj/yasawas.html

Feel free to email me with any questions or if you'd like to see pictures of Manta Ray. NDL51583@aol.com

~Nicole

We've stayed at Manta Ray and LOVED it! Beach is average by Fiji standards, but good fun, nice snorkeling, enviromentally friendly set up, super nice (and lots of) fresh beautiful food, free sea kayaks. Don't know the other places.