Fantastic Fiji

Has it really only been a week? It feels like a lot longer since my Fiji Airways flight landed its fuselage and human cargo on the tarmac in Nadi, Fiji's international airport, in the middle of the night.

I quickly learned to say “bula” instead of “hello” and “vinaka” instead of “thank you.” The people are polite, cheerful, and welcoming, so both words are used multiple times each hour.

After two nights at a simple, but clean and nice backpacker resort directly on Wailoaloa Beach on the main island, it was off to my little eco-resort in the Yasawa chain, a 2.5-hour ferry ride east of the main island. Four nights in a nice little cabin (the shared bathroom required a 50-meter walk, so you quickly learn to manage your evening intake of drinks to avoid nighttime bathroom trips) and way too much, way too good food.

And then what I came to Fiji for: 11 wonderful dive sessions with almost no current on ten of the dives. I called it couch diving. Gear on, out on the boat, into the water, manage buoyancy control, and keep your eyes open. Plenty of whitetip reef sharks, turtles, nudibranchs, lots of feisty clownfish (come to mama!), tons of large and small colorful fish and the most intact, healthy, and functioning coral system I've seen since my dives on the Great Barrier Reef in the early 2000s.

It's just the beginning of low season in Fiji (the rainy season is slowly showing its arrival), so on most dives, it was just me and the dive master keeping a half-eye on his client, but otherwise letting me play at my own very calm pace. Most other guests are from New Zealand and Australia, only 3-4 hours flight from Fiji.

Lucky me: One of the dive instructors had heard me express my interest in wrecks. Due to my diving experience, he offered to take me out to a relatively new wreck, Glory Wreck, at a depth of 25-30 meters. He had never been there himself and wanted to get to know it. A Stine can only say one thing: Yes, please! An incredibly cool solo dive, where we each explored the wreck inside and out, wherever possible. Occasional checks on each other, and then free play continued. Hurray! I've rarely felt so much adventure and freedom on my previous 400 dives: Into the wheelhouse, out through the cargo hold. Collecting mandatory scrapes and scratches (yes, I was fully vaccinated before departure). The first fish life and the first corals have moved in on the deck. Give it a decade, and it will become an incredibly beautiful reef.

Now I am waiting for my catamaran back to the main island. Tomorrow I’m heading to French Polynesia.

Vinaka, Fiji❤️🌺