shore snorkeling Fiji

My wife and I will be spending 7 months in Fiji, Tonga, and New Zealand. My wife does not dive, but we both snorkel. Where is there great shore snorkeling fairly near budget accomodation? Any help is appreciated. This is a subject that is not handled much in guide books, and dive operators do not have time to answer this question, as there is no money in it for them.

Leleuvia Island has very good snorkeling and is very reasonable F$ 50 p.p/pd including 3 meals in bure. new managment, only fantastic reports. google for it.

the cheapest is to do a dive master certificate: it last 3/4 months. then you can really go to the nice places.
otherwise, if you meet the locals, you can stay at their villages and island and snorkel there.

unitedtravel - what silly advise is that?

To become a divemaster you have to do several other divecourses before and have at least 60 logged dives to be certified as a divemaster, you are looking at a minimum of F$ 2000 for all the courses not counting additional dives (scuba that is - not snorkelling) to get divemaster-certified and we are not talking about accommodation and food.
And once you are a divemaster you will be it for a lifetime, but if you want to work, then you have to re-new annually.
This are PADI standards, and most of the other dive associations have similar standards.

To the 2nd part of your post:

You cannot simply go in a village and snorkel there ( at least not in Fiji and not in most parts of Tonga) - this would be very rude. You will have to be invited to the village by a resident villager. If it happens, that the village is close to the sea and snorkelling is possible, there is apart from other things the question about dress code: if women decide to stay in a village most of the time they have to be prepared to snorkel in shorts and t-shirt. I'm not sure if that is what cactusbum had in mind.

3rd: what type of webpage is that???

Bulabear, Thanks for the info. Is the issue of permission to shore snorkel a streach of water in Fiji a real problem? It will not keep me from going, but I like to follow local custom as much as possible. Thanks for the heads-up on dress code. Does this apply to water nearby villages, or does it mostly apply to all areas not in shouting distance of a resort? ps Where did United Traveler get this Dive Master stuff? I think my advanced open water diver certification will get me through it sufficiently.

Cactusbum, most likely you will stay in a "resort"like place - keep in mind that if I say resort, that this can be a family run project with 2 bures (everything is called resort in Fiji) - as long as they are offering officially accommodation for tourists, there is no problem at all and if in doubt ask your host.
The water-right issue is one reason why Fiji had this last coup, one point of this bill was , that everyone using the water (even just snorkelling) was to pay for it (in dollars), now with the interim government this isssue is at the moment void, but a very sensitive matter. Again in a resort like place, definetly not a problem.
However - if you should get a private invitation to a village, then it is important to follow protocol, again then ask your host. Traditions vary from village to village. As more remote you go as more traditional, and general rule in village is for woman "dressed from head to toe" (however you can see elderly women sitting topless in the river doing laundry!), it's just something what we cannot really comprehend, and even men wear most of the times sulus ( sarong).
Another rule - don't wear a hat in a village!

Another place for good snorkelling, but with more village character (and more basic) is Leleuvia's neighbouring island Caqalai ( no dress code on the island).

If you head to Vanua Levu, the "other" island in Fiji, go to Savusavu. East of there is a nice long road, and you can pull over and do some good snorkeling. You'll have to search Google, etc., for a decent budget place to stay, I was at Namale Plantation, an upscale place (had to stay there as the place I worked for was sending people there). But apparently ther are some fairly good budget places that sprang up there in the last few years.

There are a few small villages, so if you are in oen of them jsut ask permission,. But a lot of that road passes through areas where no oen lives, so just pull over in those spots.

Further to Raro's advice, you might want to check out websites like vrbo.com or greatrentals.com for houses to rent in the Savusavu area. Some are close to good snorkeling, and even include kayaks or boat access. Don't expect long stretches of powder sand, though. Entries can be over sharp rocks. However, once you're in the water, Fiji has ome great snorkeling.
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You might also check out some of the "backpacker resorts" in the Yasawas. Places like Octopus and Sunset on Waya Island have "cheap" accommodation with decent to very nice beah snorkeling.
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Most of Viti Levu has very mediocre snorkeling at best, with a wide stretch of dead fringing reef before the rough waters on the outside, and brutally bad entries.

I may be chiming in to late. Check out Lawaki Beach house on Baga island in Fiji. Cheap to stay and excellent snorkeling right off the beach. A budget sort of place.