Snorkeling - day trips

jaharkie02:28 UTC06 Mar 2010

I'm off to Fiji at the end of June to attend a wedding. The wedding is being held at the Outrigger on the Lagoon and I will most likely stay at the Bedarra Beach Inn probably for 5 nights. The advice I am after is where is the best snorkeling along that stretch of coast and who runs the best snorkeling trips. I have had a quick look on the internet and most of the trips I am seeing are of the all-you-can-drink variety which is not really my thing. I will be travelling and staying with a large family party who will mostly be wanting to sit about in the sun so I will be looking to do at least a couple of full day trips to get away from them all.

nztourist20:47 UTC06 Mar 2010

I was blown away when we went to Danny's Village homestay.

You can see a real village, have lunch traditional fijian style, snorkel in a marine reserve right in front of the village, visit a local school and swim and walk along a beach with 100's of coconut palms on the coral coast with no tourist in sight.

They can pick you up at your resort and take you to Danny's

even though it is set up as a homestay time the time we stayed there 3 groups of tourists from local resorts visited for the day and had lunch. One group cam in the afternoon and had dinner.

here is a youtube link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KH9_Ui4J3lI

some reports on trip advisor

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g1552721-d1550691-Reviews-Danny_s_Village_Homestay-Namatakula_Coral_Coast_Viti_Levu.html

and some pictures

http://www.fijihomestays.com/fiji_homestays_photos.htm

hope this helps

Edited by: nztourist

newfie4300:16 UTC07 Mar 2010

We did a day trip out to Mana Island and really enjoyed the snorkeling off the beaches there.

thebirchadventure20:15 UTC08 Mar 2010

What you are looking for is the Marine Protected area. MPA

Its located at Votua Village which is around a 15 min drive up the coast.

There are no authorised tours allowed on the MPA so you will need to ring a lady by the name of Fabi who owns a cafe located there who can arrange for a authorised person to take you out.

See my previous post for details.

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=1882156

jaharkie07:28 UTC11 Mar 2010

Hey everyone - thanks for this! I should be able to avoid sitting around squabbling with relatives sucessfully!

Snorkeling - day trips Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea / Fiji
jaharkie02:28 UTC06 Mar 2010	I'm off to Fiji at the end of June to attend a wedding. The wedding is being held at the Outrigger on the Lagoon and I will most likely stay at the Bedarra Beach Inn probably for 5 nights. The advice I am after is where is the best snorkeling along that stretch of coast and who runs the best snorkeling trips. I have had a quick look on the internet and most of the trips I am seeing are of the all-you-can-drink variety which is not really my thing. I will be travelling and staying with a large family party who will mostly be wanting to sit about in the sun so I will be looking to do at least a couple of full day trips to get away from them all.
nztourist20:47 UTC06 Mar 2010	I was blown away when we went to Danny's Village homestay. You can see a real village, have lunch traditional fijian style, snorkel in a marine reserve right in front of the village, visit a local school and swim and walk along a beach with 100's of coconut palms on the coral coast with no tourist in sight. They can pick you up at your resort and take you to Danny's even though it is set up as a homestay time the time we stayed there 3 groups of tourists from local resorts visited for the day and had lunch. One group cam in the afternoon and had dinner. here is a youtube link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KH9_Ui4J3lI some reports on trip advisor http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g1552721-d1550691-Reviews-Danny_s_Village_Homestay-Namatakula_Coral_Coast_Viti_Levu.html and some pictures http://www.fijihomestays.com/fiji_homestays_photos.htm hope this helps Edited by: nztourist	1
newfie4300:16 UTC07 Mar 2010	We did a day trip out to Mana Island and really enjoyed the snorkeling off the beaches there.	2
thebirchadventure20:15 UTC08 Mar 2010	What you are looking for is the Marine Protected area. MPA Its located at Votua Village which is around a 15 min drive up the coast. There are no authorised tours allowed on the MPA so you will need to ring a lady by the name of Fabi who owns a cafe located there who can arrange for a authorised person to take you out. See my previous post for details. http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=1882156	3
jaharkie07:28 UTC11 Mar 2010	Hey everyone - thanks for this! I should be able to avoid sitting around squabbling with relatives sucessfully!	4