Fiji scuba diving highlights include a fantastic variety of colorful soft corals, a wealth of marine life, lots of specialist scuba diving resorts and live-aboard dive charters as well as excellent snorkeling off the beach.

The Fiji archipelago is encircled by a huge reef. Within its protected waters are shallow lagoons, steep drop off's, and thousands of scuba dive sites. Most areas are easy to get to with plenty of resorts offering scuba diving scattered around the islands. Sea temperatures are incredibly warm - typically 25C in winter (May to Nov) and up to 30C in summer at depths of 5 meters. Visibility is also excellent with depths of 40 meters not unusual. The best diving conditions are early morning before the winds pick up. Heavy rainfall in the summer can obscure visibility off the main islands with river run-off.

Mamanuca dive sites can easily be accessed by boat (20 minutes or so) from the Nadi Airport area on the main island of Viti Levu. Several resorts in the Nadi Area offer full diving facilities and there are numerous day packages for snorkeling and diving. The Mamanucas have shallow lagoons with hollows and bommies with excellent marine life. There are some interesting caves to explore notably Sawa-i-Lau in the Yasawa Group.

World famous Astrolabe Reef and Beqa Lagoon in the Southern Islands include numerous soft corals, reef bommies and passages. Small secluded dive resorts accessible only by boat. Lush rainforest and tropical beaches. Humid and wet at times. Very traditional Fijian lifestyle and culture. Beqa Lagoon can be accessed by boat (1 hour plus) from the Coral Coast on the main island of Viti Levu. Several resorts along the Coral Coast offer full diving facilities and daily access to the Lagoon and beyond.

World famous Rainbow Reef in the Northern Islands (between Taveuni and Vanua Levu) with advanced drift diving through channels. Numerous smaller reefs around Vanua Levu, Taveuni, Qamea, Laucala and Matagi with abundance of soft and hard corals and excellent marine life. The Northern Islands have been developed for eco-touism as well as diving and the regions outstanding mountains, rainforests and waterfalls are all relatively accessible with tours and trails to the major attractions. Humid and wet at times.

Two separate barrier reefs between Viti Levu and Vanua Levu in the north-east of Fiji are accessible from Nananu-i-Ra and the Lomaiviti Group. Rich area fed by tradewind currents with excellent marine life including mantas and hammerheads as well as bommies and pinnacles in the lagoons. A handful of small island resorts, some very luxurious. Also accessible by charter dive boats that explore some of the unexplored areas of these huge reefs. Shipwrecks can be explored around the old Colonial capital of Levuka on Ovalau. Mostly sunny.

In cases of diving emergencies, divers will be taken by sea, road or low flying air to the Fiji Recompression Chamber Facility in Suva. Charges vary according to circumstances so it is best to have adequate insurance cover. At some of the smaller budget resorts cowboys do exist, so choose carefully and if you're a beginner, don't jump to the chance of diving without proper PADI certified instruction.