Snorkelling (not diving!)

Hey guys!

I'm spending a week in Fiji after two months in NZ from 6-12th November and I'd really like to do some snorkelling whilst I'm there. Well, what I'd really like to do is go diving, but unfortunately I burst my eardrum when I was 15 so I can't!! (Yes, bring on the violins - I do feel very sorry for myself about this!) Anyway, I see "great diving" mentioned all over the place, but as I've never been properly diving (obviously) or snorkelling, I was wondering whether you can snorkel in any of the places where great diving is talked about, or if you have to go to different places to snorkel? And either way, where is the best place to go snorkelling in Fiji? I used to be a pretty good swimmer but have got out of practice since I left school (i'm now 22) but I'm sure I'll pick it up again. I'm not scared of open water or anything. All that I ask is there be pretty fish and colourful corals!!! I'm flying in to Nadi but haven't yet decided on my itinerary when I arrive, so if there is anywhere which people specifically recommend then I'll work it around that.

Ooh, also, do you have to pay to snorkel? Sounds like a really stupid question but I don't know if a boat has to take you, so you have to pay for that, or if you have to pay to use a certain stretch of water, or if you can rent snorkels, masks, flippers etc. Sorry for the mish-mash of slightly random questions!

Thanks in advance!

Robyn

Good diving does not necessarily mean good snorkeling ... not if a person thinks in terms of specific dive sites. The water might be too deep for surface viewing, or the currents are too strong. But many resorts are so situated that both diving and snorkeling are possible, just not at the same location.

Open water isn't so good for snorkeling anyway, unless you're at a drop-off and large fish are the target for viewing. If you're after color, then in many ways snorkeling can be better than diving, because color washes out below 8-10 meters anyway. So what you want is a shallow reef location, or a lagoon, with the reef coming up close to the shore. If there is beach access then the snorkeling would be free, in my own experience. This is for the holiday resorts. You will have to pay to be taken by boat somewhere. People running dives will tell you which sites are appropriate for snorkeling ... they'll only take you if it's safe and there's something to see from the surface. Resorts also organize snorkel-specific boat trips/excursions, and you pay for these as well.

If you have your own mask, bring it. Quality of rental equipment can be poor, unless you rent from a dive shop. I also rented a wetsuit on a couple of occasions. It can get cold in open water (eg off south Taveuni) and with a wetsuit I was snorkeling for a couple of hours at a time.

Not a lot of great snorkeling on the main island of Viti Levu, it's often a bit muddy-type sand, not a lot of close-in coral. As Oldpro says, the diving further out can be great, but the snorkeling not so good.

There was a decent area near the Fijian Resort on the Coral Coast, I think it's now Shangri-La Fiji Resort. If you head to the outer islands to the west, the snorkeling is good in a lot of the small bays, check out specific places here on the TT. On Vanua Levu, there is good snorkeling near Namale Plantation near Savusavu, but it's a long way to go just for snorkeling.

I'd check out the smaller resorts in the Mamanucas and Yasawas (basically W and NW of Nadi) for decent snorkeling and relatively easy to get to.

Oldpro is right. As a diver and snorkeller the majority of brightly coloured fish and coral will be around 8 metres and above (easy enough to duck dive down or to see from the surface). For those that are also inexperienced a sheltered (non-open water) scenario is often safer.

That being said my best snorkelling experience was in the open water with the humpbacks in Vavau. A word of warning with open water snorkelling, some people can feel claustrophobic because all you can see is blue with nothing to focus on until that big whale comes into view.

I would certainly take my own mask and snorkell - they do no take up much space in your luggage and are well worth the effort and investment.

Thank you so much for your answers, they're really informative. Much appreciated! I will definitely look into all of the things you've mentioned and find out what's best for me. I'm a confident swimmer, and I'm a qualified lifesaver too, but I've never really gone swimming in the open sea so it's probably wise to warn me of the claustrophobia. It seems all right when you're sitting in an office typing about it (as I am now - oh to leave, oh to travel, only seven weeks until I go!!) but I'm sure when you get there, it's a very different experience. I won't go right out of my way just to visit one of the really out-of-the-way places (I won't have time as I'm only there for a week) but as I'm planning on doing a bit of island hopping anyway, I'm sure I can arrange my route to take in at least one of the places you've suggested. I may well be following one of the "suggested itineraries" in the LP (I know it's a bit unimaginative but I don't have time to get things wrong!!) but if it doesn't go via any of them, I'll just tailor it so that it does.

Anyway, I really appreciate you all answering my questions - i realise Fiji is one of the less frequented threads on the TT so thank you very much for taking the time.

I'll probably be back soon for more advice!!

Robyn x

PS I know that I should be interested in the variety of species and ecological impact of global warming of the biodiversity of coral ecosystems (oh, A-level geography, how I do not miss thee) but really . . . I just love the colours! I see the pictures, I fall in love with the reds and the blues and fuscias and the yellows . . . I can't help it, I'm an artist, not a biologist!!

Just got back from Fiji. Snorkeling at Oarsman Bay in Nacula (Yasawas) was very good right off the beach...lots of colourful fish, rays, coral. South end of Taveuni around Vuna was amazing. The water is very clear here because the bottom is mostly volcanic rock rather than sand.In addition to the colourful fish/nice coral we also saw bigger "stuff" here - reef sharks, sea snakes, turtles.