Annie's Bommies
A fantastic introduction to Taveuni Island diving. Sadly this is not a site named after a local Fijian woman with an hourglass figure. Rather the term refers to the several large conical protrusions from the sea bed that characterise this Taveuni Island site. In many ways Annie's Bommies is typical of the diving in Taveuni Island found in the Somosomo Strait and is essentially a continuation of the wonderland known as the Rainbow Reef. This is one site where you will notice a marked difference depending on current strength. Without current it is pretty enough with fair marine life. When the current runs, however, it is an almost violent affront to the senses, bursting with floral beauty. The marvellous colour of the scene simply cannot be over-stated.
Annie's Bommies may not feature a dramatic wall, but it is a great spot to take your time investigating nooks and crannies, weaving in and out of the bommies and taking a breather when sheltered from the current. At these times you can leisurely explore for small wonders: nudibranchs, gobies, pipefish, and even ornate ghost pipefish if you have a sharp eye. All the while keep a lookout for leopard sharks resting on the bottom, perhaps in the company of blue-spotted rays. You are always likely to see the gaping mouths of moray eels protruding from sheltered holes. This site truly shines when you dive Taveuni during a moderate current – the soft coral polyps expand into colourful bushes, creating one of the most photographed scenes in Fiji. You may not meet Annie, but you will remember the day you had a good look at her bommies.
Cabbage Patch
Back‑rolling into the clear waters of the Somosomo Strait – which does much to justify Fiji’s claim as the soft coral capital of the world – you might expect impressive soft coral on every Taveuni diving excursion. However, at spots like this the soft coral presence is no more than normal. What is impressive about this spot, close to Garden Island Resort, is the vast field of cabbage coral stretching well beyond the area of sight. Layers upon layers of pristine yet fragile plates of coral bedeck the Taveuni seabed, sloping from a sandy floor at around 30 metres up to the shallows of 8 to 10 metres.
But there is more to marvel at than coral itself. Look out for unicornfish, arc‑eye hawkfish, Achilles tangs, and scalefin anthias, plus the occasional banded sea krait. When diving in Taveuni you may, if lucky, come across the bicolour fang blenny – a long yellow blenny endemic to Fiji, often seen striking at other small fish that enter its territory. On sandy areas watch for pairs of fire dartfish, shrimp‑goby partnerships, and sea cucumbers such as Thelnota anax and Bohadschia graeffei (the one with black frilly tubercles). For underwater photographers, the shallow plateaus at 10–12 metres offer excellent natural light to capture the scale of the cabbage coral fields – a signature feature when you dive Taveuni Island.
Coral Gardens
The coastline around Paradise Taveuni Resort has several dive sites on offer at Vuna Reef that are sheltered from the prevailing island winds. After only 10 minutes scenic boat ride from the resort, you will arrive at one of the best sites in the region, Coral Gardens. This aptly named site is formed by 3 streams, or 'fingers', of lava that once flowed into the ocean at this spot. You will start the dive in the shallow shelter at the top of the first finger and, once settled, begin your drift onwards - a classic Taveuni scuba diving experience. This is a site that can be dived at any depth and during the descent the first glimpses of the many soft corals can be seen. This is a popular feeding station for the larger reef fish and parrotfish. Triggerfish and surgeonfish can be seen in abundant numbers. The first finger also provides a home for the reef's smaller residents, with squirrelfish hiding beneath the overhangs and anemonefish guarding their offspring.
Between lava fingers are large sandy areas. The first is dominated by colonies of garden eels swaying in the current. Coming to rest on the sand in front of the second finger, you have the chance to pause and appreciate throngs of fish: anthias in their hundreds, schooling bannerfish, and boxfish darting in and out of hard corals. Hovering above the lava finger also lets you watch schools of pelagic fish that gather here; barracuda, snapper and yellowfin tuna are common visitors when you dive Taveuni. Hammerhead sharks and manta rays have also been spotted, though you will need luck on your side. Heading up the third and final lava finger, keep an eye out for juvenile blue ribbon eels bobbing in the entrance of their homes. As you reach the top of the finger and the 5‑metre mark, you enter a labyrinth of swim‑throughs, perfect for whiling away a safety stop. This maze of corridors provides a fascinating end to the dive and showcases why diving at Taveuni Island is so varied.
and manta rays have also been spotted although you will need to have luck on your side.
The Edge
U2 can enjoy this excellent site which is found at the Motualevu Atoll, some 30 km from Taveuni mainland. The Edge is one of a 3-piece collection of dive sites and if you still haven't found what you're looking for during your vacation here, this may be the one. Regardless of the weather above the ocean, it's a beautiful day here where this vertical drop-off enjoys great visibility, allowing for the spectacular colours to come through. As with elsewhere at Taveuni Island, there is no shortage of soft corals throughout, but there is also room for plenty of hard corals and a few leather corals. You will notice as you make your way along the wall there are a few overhangs and windows at each elevation which make great photo opportunities, with or without you in the frame.
This is another site where you can dive well below the point of staring at the sun, but there is no real benefit to this since the diverse coral gardens above 20 metres are the sweetest thing about this site. Queen angel (of Harlem) fish and blue-spotted coral trout are among the highest profile reef fish here. With a keen pair of eyes you might spot a poison-fang blenny mimic which is even better than the real thing. This lemon-coloured sub-species is endemic to Fiji. You should also bear in mind that this site is a good location for checking out the mysterious ways of the magnificent anemones which might have contracted into their brightly coloured balls or be displaying their fine fingers in the current. Whatever happens, you are bound to find yourself among the contented passengers back on the boat having been to The Edge.
Eel Reef
Located just north of Rainbow Reef, Eel Reef is a less frequented gem that rewards scuba divers in Taveuni with extraordinary macro encounters. As the name suggests, the reef is home to an astonishing number of ribbon eels and snake eels: blue, black, and the stunning yellow‑headed ribbon eel are almost guaranteed sightings. The site features a gentle slope from 8 to 25 metres, dotted with small coral bommies and rubble patches where eels poke out from their burrows.
But Eel Reef offers more than just eels. The sandy patches between bommies harbour ghost pipefish, flying gunards, and several species of frogfish, including the elusive painted frogfish. Dive guides know exactly which bommie the resident pygmy seahorse calls home, a highlight for photographers. When you dive at Eel Reef, the current is usually mild to moderate, making it an excellent site for extended bottom times and macro photography. Late afternoon dives here often reveal hunting octopus and flamboyant cuttlefish. For those who love the small and strange, Eel Reef is an essential addition to any Taveuni diving program.
Fish Factory
On the inner side of Vuna Reef is one of its best know sites - Fish Factory - a site that offers much for both beginners and advanced scuba divers in Taveuni. Generally dived on a rising tide, your Fish Factory experience begins on sand in the turquoise waters near the central Taveuni lagoon of Vuna Reef. Descending to 10 metres, you will find yourself hovering above the white sand floor amongst a multitude of coral bommies. If you are a more advanced diver you can descend further down the slope if you wish to achieve some depth, but in truth the best sights are to be found around the 15-20 metre mark. Drifting with the current, you will encounter schools of damsels and anthias darting about the bommies. With a closer look, pincushion stars and a variety of nudibranchs pepper the sea bed while large moray eels grope hungrily for food.
This is great site to keep an eye out to the blue as well, as schools of pelagic fish often pass by. Barracuda, Spanish mackerel and trevally are common visitors, while whitetip reef sharks often cruise the bommies. Even pilot whales have been spotted here by some lucky souls. As you progress through the dive, the rocky outcrops and hard corals start to dominate and eventually become the solid wall that forms most of the Vuna Reef, and it is here that the soft corals really shine. Covering the rock wall the pinks, purples, yellows and oranges of the corals are on full display as the nutrient-rich current passes by. Turtles can often be found swimming along the rock wall and blue spotted rays rest in the crevices. Fish Factory is also a great site for snorkellers, so it truly offers something for everyone and is a wonderful glimpse into the underwater world of southern Taveuni and a perfect starter site for those new to diving in Taveuni Island.
Golden Reef
On the outer edge of the Somosomo Strait, closer to Vanua Levu, lies Golden Reef, named not for precious metals but for the incredible golden‑yellow soft corals that dominate the site when the current flows. This is a more advanced Taveuni Island diving site due to potentially strong currents and depths ranging from 12 to over 35 metres. However, for experienced drift divers, it offers one of the most spectacular colour displays in Fiji.
The reef is a series of parallel ridges and gullies, each covered in a dense carpet of golden, orange, and crimson soft corals. Between the ridges, schools of big‑eye trevally and barracuda swirl, while larger pelagics such as dogtooth tuna and grey reef sharks patrol the drop‑off. The outer wall plummets beyond recreational limits, but the upper ridges at 15‑25 metres provide endless excitement. When you dive at Golden Reef, time your dive with the incoming tide for the strongest coral display and best pelagic action. Due to its location, Golden Reef is often less crowded than the main Rainbow Reef sites, offering a sense of adventure and discovery. It is best dived with an experienced local guide who understands the current patterns, ensuring a safe and unforgettable diving experience in Taveuni Island.
The Great White Wall
"Great" is a bland term too often thrown about but here it is justified, for it describes one of the most dramatic sights and sites you are likely to witness, and certainly one of the major diving attractions of Taveuni. Much depends on hitting it at the right times as regards current and tidal changes. The dive will probably begin for you at a tubular cave around 15 metres depth, festooned with hard and soft corals as well as colourful sponges and crinoids. There may be a few resident lionfish and morays greeting you as you cruise along.
Once you have filed through this swimthrough towards the exit at about 25 metres and turned left, you might be forgiven for thinking you had your ski holiday and your dive vacation mixed up, since you emerge onto what looks like a sudden snow-covered drop. This almost vertical wall (surely a black run) is blanketed with white coral. Between the white coral are little splashes of orange, green and red but the overall effect is undoubtedly that of a great, white wall. Square-spot anthias seem to be the pre-dominant fish on the wall as they dash around against the white backdrop. However the wall itself, with its white blanket, several whip corals playing home to gobies and a few large gorgonians, is the undoubted star attraction. The wall plummets dramatically into the abyss and you will too if you don't keep an eye on your depth gauge, for given the snow-blinding scene, it is difficult to monitor depth using points of reference. One interesting change however is that as the depth increases the wall takes on a more iridescent lavender hue (dilly dilly).
Fiji is not renowned for its deep dives but this Taveuni site does give you an opportunity to get down to where the air tastes differently if you so desire, although there are no additional deep water features other than the great lavender wall itself. If conditions permit your guide may also lead you through another swim-through or 2 which are home to soldierfish, squirrelfish and fairy basslets. Unique, dramatic and rewarding all apply to this, one of Fiji's signature sites. If you have been growing tired of scuba diving lately, this is going to be the one that saves you, and after all, it's the Great White Wall.
Jerry's Jelly
At some stage on your Taveuni diving trip a helpful guide will explain to you that 2 deep and wide bodies of water move tidally through the narrow and shallow passage that is the Somosomo Strait. This volume of water movement in such a small channel is why the current picks up across the Rainbow Reef. At some stage when you are diving in the Somosomo Strait those words will echo in your ears. This site could be one of those times. You are likely to begin your dive by dropping down to around 18 metres with the reef on your left shoulder. If the current is of medium strength you can cover a reasonable distance along this reef, finning only gently to maintain your position. Innumerable garden eels rise up from their burrows to feast on the nutrient rich water rushing past their front doors, and dropping back inside only if you venture too close for comfort.
As you continue your drift, keep a look out for Spanish mackerel, dog-tooth tuna and white tip reef sharks as well as smaller but no less impressive nudibranchs in big numbers. At some stage you will come to a point which involves crossing over a reef flat before dropping down on the other side of the reef into the lee of the current. You may find the speed of the crossing breathtaking, and as you career over the flat you will see the reef crossing beneath your body at an exhilarating rate.
Then as you edge slowly back into shallower water, the current will again make itself felt. The very top of the reef is at about 6 metres so it's slightly too shallow for safety stop purposes. This means that the safety stop begins when all the divers in your group, who will be holding on to some rocky part of the reef and with their bodies (and bubbles!) horizontal, simply letting go and allowing the current to pull them along as they off-gas for 3 or 4 minutes and reflect on the excitement of this Taveuni dive, whose conditions you are sure to encounter on at least a few occasions in the Somosomo Strait.
Paradise Reef
This is the house reef of Paradise Taveuni Resort, which is easily accessible from the marina's jetty and can be dived on any tide and at any time of the day. It offers scuba divers a wide diversity of terrains so could in fact be subdivided into separate sites. You can spend all your time enjoying the shallows around the jetty where you will be surrounded by quite small coral heads, or you have the option of quickly descending a steep slope of beautiful hard corals to 30 metres.
By heading north along the slope, you get the chance to discover the many small creatures that have made Paradise Reef their home. Damsels and blue chromis abound, nudibranchs and leopard cowries nestle in the crevices, and banded sea snakes delve about looking for food. The chance of big encounters always exists too. A pair of spotted eagle rays may glide silently past and manta rays have been spotted just 20 metres from the jetty. If you head south from the marina, you'll witness the sheer diversity of Paradise Reef. The steep slope shallows out, accompanied by an army of cheek-striped fusiliers, and becomes a large sandy bottomed area ranging from 5-15 metres. This is a photographer's playground with lionfish of all sizes, and displays of Christmas tree worms sprinkled over all the coral heads. Further on you'll find yet another new territory - a field of sea grass guarded staunchly by its resident anemonefish and scoured for food by hungry titan triggers.
This incredible diversity can also be experienced on night dives when the reef's nocturnal residents come out to play. The rocky outcrops become the perch for hundreds of feather stars eager for food, while the eyes of hermit crabs and banded shrimps gleam in the torch light. You can also witness the true spectacle of Paradise Reef at night with the glittering dance of the flashlight fish. With their pouches of bioluminescence glowing under their eyes, the flashlight fish speed past divers like a cloud of stars before vanishing into the night. For those staying at the resort, Paradise Reef offers easy access to superb Taveuni Island scuba diving any time you wish.
Pot Luck
Dropping into a depth of around 12 metres you can see the ocean floor here from the surface as you stride excitedly off the dive boat. As you sink down you may be met with a proliferation of fish congregating around a series of coral heads. A large school of jacks is often present facing into the mild current and often joined by smaller schools of sweetlips and barracudas.
After drinking in the sight of such a number of fish, the dive proceeds to become a matter of drifting gently with the current towards the north if conditions permit. This means there is a sloping wall to your right shoulder which drops to a sandy, sloping bottom at around 30 metres, rising to a height that varies between 15 and 10 metres. The slope features quite healthy coral coverage, mostly in the form of staghorn coral and table coral, with a number of giant clams and fans also present. When you dive Taveuni Island you should look out for the unusual sight of parrotfish in large numbers, effectively schooling as they swarm around the slope, munching the hard coral and then excreting it in puff of fine sand that slowly cascades down to the sea floor. Interestingly these groups consist both of blue green parrotfish and pure purple ones!!
You may also run into a banded sea krait or two at this site, and the local dive guides are more than happy to handle them, so you can take your time to marvel at the beauty of their sleek black and white bodies before they are released and weave their way effortlessly through the water and past the awestruck scuba divers. The site may be called Pot Luck, and of course underwater there are no guarantees, but for numbers and variety of fish, Pot Luck may be a better bet than many other Fiji dive sites and it is also one of the most easily accessed in Taveuni.
Rainbow Reef
This is one of the first sites people mention when talking about diving in Taveuni or Fiji. In fact the area is big enough to be subdivided into several sites and all but the shortest of stays will probably see you visit here on more than 1 occasion. Parts of it are also known as Rainbow's End or Rainbow Passage. As you descend to begin this Taveuni dive you will see below you a great profusion of colour as this site consists of several bommies adorned with a great array of soft corals in such colours as to be reminiscent of, yes, you guessed it, a rainbow!
Currents are normally a factor here and of course this means the soft corals often look their most magnificent and the nutrients mean there is plenty of fauna to keep you amused. There are masses of colour everywhere as you make your way around the island reef which drops down from about 9 metres to a little over 20 to the sandy bottom. Swarms of little orange basslets seem to hurtle all over the place in and around Rainbow Reef, dotted with nudibranchs, crinoids and Christmas tree worms. There are also a lot of anemones around swaying in the current and being determinedly protected by the resident anemonefish. Also keep an eye out for both adult and juvenile clown triggerfish who seem to like this area of Taveuni.
Further removed is the big stuff, so don’t keep your nose buried in the bommies. Behind you there may be barracudas and whitetip reef sharks, as well as the possible appearance of leopard sharks moving languidly with huge tails slicing through the current. Rainbow Reef is the heart of Taveuni diving and a site you will want to dive repeatedly, as each visit can differ dramatically with current and light.
Rainbow's End
This spot is unsurprisingly found on the edge of the cluster of dive sites known as Rainbow Reef, which is home to some of the finest diving in the Somosomo Strait. The slope is decorated with table corals and other varieties of Acropora, as well as some boulder corals and porites, usually playing host to several bored clams and Christmas tree worms. There is always plenty of life here, more typically numerous individuals rather than schools, so you can spot parrotfish, red-breasted wrasses, emperor and blue girdled angelfish, Napoleon wrasse, long nose butterflyfish, and moorish idols. More numerous are the redtooth triggerfish and fusiliers, both blue streak and blue and yellow. In the sand you can look out for blue ribbon eels, as well as gobies standing guard while their shrimp partners take care of the house work.
Sites like this on the Rainbow Reef can leave the student of fish names with a long list of species, while the less informed diver might say "We saw every fish imaginable", which typifies the rich rewards of many of the dive sites in Taveuni. Rainbow’s End is slightly less current‑sensitive than the main Rainbow Reef sites, making it an excellent choice when the strait is running strongly but you still want to enjoy world‑class diving at Taveuni Island.
The Stairs
Just a 10 minute boat ride from the Paradise Taveuni Resort is Vuna Reef, a beautiful reef system that is dived exclusively by the resort. A C-shaped reef wall jutting off the south-western tip of Taveuni Island, Vuna Reef offers sheltered lagoon sites for beginner divers and exciting wall dives for the more advanced. A big favourite with the Pro Dive Taveuni team is a site known as 'The Stairs', situated midway around the reef. As you descend, the first impression is of the sheer scale of the walls stretching away in all directions and covered with hard and soft corals. On reaching 28 metres you are met by a swimthrough and overhang covered in the soft white corals that Taveuni is famous for - and with the current flowing past this point, the corals are fully extended to feed on the passing nutrients.
Moving on, scuba divers enter the shelter of the wall and reach the bottom of 'The Stairs' - a set of swimthroughs that spiral up the reef like a staircase. Large enough to accommodate several divers at once, the ambient light reveals sponges and corals encrusting the walls. After you wind your way up the 'stairs' you will exit out onto a plateau in 12-14 metres, home to a sudden profusion of anthias, fusiliers and parrotfish. It's hard not to linger long here. Another series of swim-throughs back down the wall will see you pass a vast gorgonian fan. Whitetip reef sharks are often seen here, cruising silhouetted in the exits of these stunning archways, and leopard sharks can be found relaxing in the sand.
The dive does not end here, however. Depending on the rise and flow of current, it is possible to progress along the wall of Vuna Reef and encounter some of its other residents - butterflyfish, moorish idols, trumpetfish and Maori wrasse are all here, along with Spanish mackerel and trevally. Gradually you will ascend the reef wall until reaching your safety stop when you can spend the last few minutes of their dive along the top of the reef, enjoying your last glimpses of the marine life.
