In August of 2017 I lead a small group trip to VoliVoli Resort for Bluewater Photo. I had chosen the resort due to the ease of getting there, the reputation and value of the resort and the quality of the diving in this region, known as the Bligh Waters. The experience there exceeded my expectations.

Getting to VoliVoli was a breeze. Fiji Airways offers direct non-stop flights from Los Angeles to Nadi, where you are picked up for the resort transfer. The resort is situated about 3 hours from the airport and is located on the north coast of the main island of Viti Levu. No domestic flights are required to get to the resort.

The resort, located in the village of Raki Raki, is built on a hill with beautiful panoramic ocean views. This region is well know for it's world class diving and some of the best diving offered in Fiji. The resort is well run with a selection of accommodations located towards the top of the hill. A few steps below is the restaurant and lounge area, with the pool just outside. At the bottom of the hill is the dive shop and beach bar. The downside was a lack of a camera room near the dive shop, which made it necessary to carry camera gear back to the room for daily maintenance. However, the resort was very eager and accommodating to assist with schlepping our camera gear back and forth, with use of their "shuttle service" AKA golf carts. The accommodations at the resort were very comfortable and the food was good, but the real treat was the staff, who treated you like family. All of the staff knew you by name within the first 24 hours and all went out of their way to make the stay a very pleasant one, always greeting you with a warm Fijian smile and a hardy BULA!

The dive operations were run very smoothly and the crew were a joy to dive with. They were always keeping safety in mind with everything from choosing the divesites based on conditions to assisting divers back to the boat when the seas picked up. The main reason we were here was for the diving and that certainly didn't disappoint! I was very pleasantly surprised to see how healthy the reefs were. I was a little concerned after reports from hurricane Winston were often to the effect of needing to give time for the reefs to recover. While some of the reefs did sustain damage, there were many dive sites where the reefs appeared untouched, even in the shallows in about 15 feet of water. The best dive sites were about an hour out, into the Vatu I Ra Passage. Sites such as Black Magic Mountain, Instant Replay and our favorite, Mellow Yellow, showed us just why Fiji is know as the soft coral capital of the world, with some of the most colorful reefs anywhere. The great thing was that there were some amazing dive sites within 10 minutes of the resort, so on days when it was a little rougher and more difficult to get out to the passage, we were not stuck with lesser dive sites. Some favorites were Pinnacles and Redemption.

Overall, VoliVoli Beach Resort was a great place to stay and very easy to get to from the International airport. The diving in this area is what would have me coming back at any chance I had. If you've been thinking about going to Fiji and wanted a place that was easy to get to and has spectacular diving, VoliVoli is a great way to go!