Our trip on the NAI'A started when we hopped on a Qantas 747 in Los Angeles and flew non-stop to Nadi, Fiji. After a short bus ride to Lautoka, where the NAI'A is moored, we were on our way to a divers' paradise. The owner, Rob Barrel, greeted us and introduced passengers and crew. Instructions were given on setting up dive gear, while personal gear was stowed in our room by the crew. As the boat got underway, we were served lunch and in a few hours we were enjoying our first dive.
The main salon, crafted out of local woods, is a spacious 625 square foot room that serves as lounge, theater classroom and dining room. A cold breakfast of toast and cereal is served at sunrise before the first dive; there is a full breakfast afterward. Lunch is served after the second dive, snacks after the third and a white tablecloth and complimentary wine dinner is served after the dusk dive. The dress code for each meal is casual, with most guests wearing shorts and t- shirts. The meals are healthy and hearty, utilizing locally grown produce, meat and fresh fish.
There is a large multimedia center on one side of the salon, with facilities for VHS and Hi-8 tapes in both PAL and NTSC formats, a slide projector and light box. A large music CD collection and paperback and reference book library are available for guests.
The NAI'A provides excellent photography facilities with a large camera room adjacent to the dive deck. There are storage shelves and workspace for a dozen photographers. Both 120 and 220 volt outlets are available to allow photographers to hook up a variety of chargers, lights and other electrical devices. If repairs are necessary, the on-board machinist can help you drill, cut or modify equipment. E-6 processing is available on a daily basis and processed slides are sleeved or can be hand mounted for preview in the slide projector.
The dive preparation and briefing area is between the camera room and the dining hall. When you first arrive on the boat, you set up your gear the way you like it. the crew then takes it to the back of the boat where it stays for the rest of the trip. Only your mask, fins, snorkel and wetsuits return to the staging area. Wetsuits are hung to dry between dives.
The dive deck offers a lounging area sheltered from the midday sun. For those who want to work on a tan between dives, the roof over the dive and camera deck is a sundeck complete with recliners.
A typical day starts with dives at 7:30, 11:00, 2:00 and 6:30. Optional dives are offered at 4:00; several late night dives and unlimited diving are offered in between if surface intervals permit. This is definitely the trip for hard-core divers!
The best part of skiff diving is that the two skiffs take turns picking up divers and returning them to the mother ship. One skiff is always on-site waiting for divers to surface.
When you return to the NAI'A, you are helped from the skiff and your cameras are set in one of two large fresh-water tanks. The gracious Fijian trade winds will dry your suit for the next dive. Two hot, freshwater showers are in the dive preparation area and a stack of fresh hot towels is always available after each dive.
An excellent example of the type of diving found in the Fiji Islands is a coral ridge jutting out from Nananu-i-ra, on the northern coast of Viti Levu. Dubbed Sunset Ridge, depths range from 10 to 100 feet. As you swim along the ridge, you will see a variety of soft corals in blues, reds, purples and sunset oranges. At 56 feet, living in a crinoid at the tip of a gorgonian, is a black and orange Harlequin Ghost Pipefish. The area is also home to a variety of anemones, clownfish, lionfish and many species of crustaceans. If you swim to 100 feet you might see Rainbow Runners, Barracuda, Surgeonfish, sharks, turtles, rays and a couple of bumpheaded wrasse.
The best example of a seamount in the Fiji Islands is the famous E-6 Seamount. It is in the narrowest part of Bligh Water, between the large islands of Viti Levu and Vanua Levu. When it was discovered, NAI'A photographers shot dozens of rolls of slide film and had them processed in the ship's E-6 processor, hence the name of the site. The seamount rises from 3,000 feet to the surface at low tide, so anchoring is out of the question. A special mooring line has been established that keeps the NAI'A downwind from the seamount.
The Sistine Chapel, near the mooring line at E-6, is a large swim- through lined with gorgonians, soft corals and Bristle nudibranchs. Adjoining cracks and crevices shelter many large lobster, lionfish, crabs and nudibranchs. On night dives at E-6, you are easily able to find Giant Cuttlefish, Arrowhead Crabs, cowries and Flashlight Fish.
Not far away, there is a smaller seamount called Mount Mutiny. Highlights of diving Mount Mutiny are a wall of Siphonogorgiidae soft corals, an unusual thin-stalked species of octocoral found in a broad range of colors whose colonies can extend for 200 meters at depths of 60 to 120 feet.
Off the island of Wakaya lies a coral reef that offers a treasure chest of exotic creatures. On the four dives we made along this reef we found half a dozen Blue Ribbon Eels, two green leaffish, a gray leaffish, Manta Rays, Hammerhead Sharks and a macro wall that would run any photographer out of film in 30 minutes. This is definitely one of those spots where it is tough to decide which lens to put on the camera. At the top of one of the large coral heads, we found two very active fish cleaning stations that were sure to entertain any diver. Two types of dartfish were friendly enough to allow photographers a close look at their beautiful color variations.
Nigali Passage, near the island of Gau, hosts a variety of diverse sites. A narrow cut in the reef surrounding the island provides a channel of water where there are schools of sharks, Barracuda and a fish dubbed a snapass (one reference book calls it a snapper, while another calls it a bass). Each dive is timed so divers follow the current through the cut toward the inside of the reef. The two skiffs drop the divers off so they can drift past schools of fish swimming the opposite direction. When you reach the end of the cut, you surface to find the skiffs ready to take you back.
After a couple of dives through the cut, Rob gives a briefing on a shark feeding and describes how each diver will place himself/herself during the dive. Once everyone is in place, Rob comes down with the bait on a line and ties it to a rock in the middle of the divers. At first snapass attack the bait but eventually the sharks come in. This is the perfect time for photographers to get their shark close-ups.
If the current is not right or it is too late to dive the cut, the NAI'A moves to Jim's Alley on another side of Gau. There we found dozens of types of soft coral, a large sea snake, starfish galore, many schools of fish and half a dozen species of Nudibranchs. Several mantas are regular visitors, too.
Off the island of Namenalala is a site called Grand Central Station. This dive has it all: deep walls, current cuts, huge schools of fish, nudibranchs and beautiful coral formations that are perfect for your wide angle lens. Our first dive at Namenalala puts us in the middle of a huge school of Barracuda (we estimated it at more than 2,000 fish) that seemed completely oblivious of us. The same school of fish greeted us on each dive we made.
For those who like deep water pelagics, this is the place. You merely swim down to the edge of the wall and wait for sharks, turtles and rays to swim by. If you let the current carry you away from the wall, you will eventually end up in Kansas. This area is covered with a soft coral, called Sinularia, that resembles a wheat field swaying in the wind.
Bookings for the NAI'A in the United States are handled exclusively by See & Sea Travel. Most of the organization's agents have been aboard NAI'A and know the specifics of the ship and the details of the diving. they can provide up-to-the minute information on availability, water temperature, new discoveries and special airline discounts. Contact the dive experts at (800)DIV-XPRT for your diving adventure aboard the magnificent NAI'A!
Please note that the information above in red has changed since publication of this article. Information on booking is available on this web site at: Booking Information