NAI'A News
November 2001

View from the Bridge
November 14, 2001

Bula Friends:

Sitting here in my small office on NAI'A's bridge, looking out across glassy seas toward the hazy outline of Viti Levu far to the south, it is hard to believe that there could be struggle anywhere in the world. It is so peaceful here, unchanged over millennia.

I just returned from the early morning dive at UndeNAIAble, where the current was incoming and gentle, the water clear and the soft coral was pumped up and spectacularly vivid. A school of trevally at least 1,000 strong circled us for the first third of the dive. And at the safety stop, we watched a majestic manta ray casually glide along the reef edge. My mistake was, upon returning to deck, to tune in the BBC World Service on the ship's radio, where the news was of "victories" in Afghanistan, anthrax in Washington, and another plane down in New York. I wished I had stayed on the coral garden underwater.

Although we do mourn our loss of innocence along with our countrymen and women in America and throughout the world, we also continue to celebrate the beauty and harmony of the places we live and work here in the Fiji Islands. And our goals remain the same as they have always been: to provide the most fulfilling and relaxing diving experience possible and to inspire others to protect this magical ocean resource for the generations that follow us here.

NAI'A is still the most comfortable access to what Howard Hall calls "the world's most beautiful coral reefs". And she is still home to our famously musical and good-humored Fijian crew. My family and I continue to operate this company with verve and commitment - advancing our marine research and conservation projects in Tonga among whales, in Kiribati's Phoenix Archipelago and here in Fiji where we are campaigning for the Namena Barrier Reef to be declared a National Marine Sanctuary.

But even in Fiji, far from the centers of conflict, world events do haunt us as international air travel and economic confidence slows. Not since our exclusive booking agent, Sea & See Travel, went bankrupt four years ago (ostensibly due to delayed effects of the Gulf War), has NAI'A had empty berths to fill at such short notice! We rallied then and, with your enthusiastic support, NAI'A consequently enhanced her service and entered a far more ambitious stage of live-aboard diving adventures. That is exactly how we intend to approach the current changes - turning adversity into intensity.

So we are now offering a great deal to lure you back to NAI'A's Fiji and to re-invigorate your routine with the exquisite joy of nature's design and marine animal encounters at their finest. Our "Color Me Fiji" discounts are more than 25% off the regular charter rate - amounting to $700 off a 7-day trip or $1000 off a 10-day trip. That's a saving of $100 per night! These deep discounts apply only to three dates at the beginning of 2002 on which we still have available space:

• February 2-12 (10 nights, 9.5 dive days)
• February 16-23 (7 nights, 6.5 dive days)
• March 30-April 6 (7 nights, 6.5 dive days)

This Color Me Fiji offer is in addition to the $200 per person referral discounts you can already earn on every NAI'A date by bringing some friends along with you. And, if you book your travel with our subsidiary, Pacific Islands Travel, we can also provide generous savings on airfares - among the most competitive deals in the industry!

For years the Fiji Visitor's Bureau promoted this destination with the slogan "Fiji: the way the world should be". Now, more than ever, that line rings true. Come back and see for yourself.

Best fishes,
Rob Barrel & the NAI'A family