– FIJI AGGRESSOR II_TRIP JOURNAL –
February 07, 2008 – February 16, 2008

Thursday Feb. 07, 2008:I will say one thing for people who live on the west coast… they have it made when it comes to traveling to the South Pacific! All they have to do is show up at the airport before bedtime, board a big 747 jumbo jet, grab a pillow and go to sleep for 10 hours. When they awake its early morning and there in paradise! For those of us who live on the east coast it’s a little different story… (you can consider this the beginning of my ‘Fiji trip report’ even though it sounds more like a rant!

It’s the layovers that really get you… here, let me lay out our travel schedule for you so you can better understand. The whole trip started when we left for the airport around 11 o’clock Thursday morning. Our 5 hour and 47 minute flight to LAX wasn't to depart Dulles International until 2:30 pm EST, but we wanted to get there early just in case United Airlines tried canceling the flight again (which they did 2 weeks earlier without bothering to notify anyone!)

After the usual hassles with luggage weight being over by a pound or two and a ticket agent who tries to change your seating with out asking you we finally got through security and boarded the plane. The flight to LA was okay but long! I knew that if I slept on this leg of the trip I would have a hard time sleeping on the overnight flight to Fiji, so I stayed up for the entire 6 hour flight! Thank God for the iPod and audio books… trying to read a book on an airplane always gives me the red eye and puts me out!

We landed at LAX about 10 minutes late at 5:30 pm PT and disembarked the plane after a short wait for our gate to clear at the main terminal. We then found our way to the ‘Tom Bradley International Terminal’ where we had to check-in with Air Pacific for the next leg of our journey. Air Pacific is the primary airline for Fiji and the South Pacific and I must say they do a much better job of taking care of the customer than domestic airlines do! We checked in and got our boarding passes without any problems and they even allowed us to check a third piece of luggage (our carry-on bags) for no additional charge!! We then spent the next 4 hours getting dinner and waiting around until or 10:30 pm PT flight to take off for Fiji.

You’re probably thinking this doesn't sound all that bad so far, but remember that we have now been awake and traveling for more than 17 hours with an 11 hour flight still to come. If the flight to Fiji is event free and we are able to sleep the whole way all will be good in the world… NOT!!! I can’t get good quality sleep sitting up in a chair! I tried everything, I even tried laying down in the isle until a flight attendant made me get back in my seat… she said “You can’t lay in the isle… there are no seat belts down there” (No, really?!!) I hate air travel in general but this trip was beginning to take its toll… all I could think was that eventually I was going to end up in Fiji and that was the light at the end of this very dark tunnel.

Friday Feb. 08, 2008: ...Wait a second! What the hell happened to Friday... We get on the plane Thursday night and get off on Saturday morning! I feel like I've had a day stolen from my life... well, they do say you get it back on the return trip (we'll have to wait and see!)

Saturday Feb. 09, 2008: I think I may have slept a total of maybe four hours during the flight. The rest of the flight was spent walking around the plane and hanging out in the rear with the other insomniacs, watching several in flight movies (all of which I had already seen), listening to a Dan Brown audio book on my iPod and elbowing the fat guy sitting next to me who could have probably sleep through a plane crash! At some point during the night we crossed the International Date Line and went forward in time, so when we landed in Nadi, Fiji it was Saturday morning or 5:30 am Fiji Time if you prefer!! We have now been on the move for 28 hours with maybe 6 hours of sleep, but wait… There is still more to come! We still have a 3 and a half hour bus ride from Nadi to Suva ahead of us!

That’s right folks, our flight landed at the Nadi Airport, which is on the northwest side of Fiji’s main island known as Viti Levu. We now get picked up by a shuttle bus at 7:30 am and driven to Suva, the capital city of Fiji, which is on the southeast side of Viti Levu. I'm not even going to start in on the quality of the ride, let’s just say it was bumpy. The scenery along the way was absolutely wonderful; to bad I was too tired to really enjoy it. I did snap off a couple of pictures during the bus ride and I'll post them when I have time. Anyway, by the time we finally reached the Fiji Aggressor at the Trade Winds Hotel in Suva it was almost 12 noon Fiji time and 36 hours since I had first crawled from my bed to start this trip. I am now going to sleep…!

Saturday Night: Once on board the Fiji Aggressor II we were shown to our cabin and given about a half hour to settle in before being summed to the dinning area for a safety briefing and to go over the itinerary for the upcoming week. We were told that the weather last week had been quite sever and now that the storms had past the radar was showing favorable conditions for at least the next 5 to 7 days. As a result, the Captain and crew had voted to take us up North to Bligh Waters to dive on two of Fiji’s best known photographic dive sites 'E6' and 'HI8'. These two dive sites are actually enormous sea mounts right in the middle of Vatu-i-ru Channel that come up from the sea floor (3000+ feet below) to within 10 feet of the surface at low tide.

James and Marnie laid out our time line for the week and told us all about the dive sites we would be visiting while the rest of the crew cast off the lines an got us underway for the crossing to Wakaya Island. After the briefing, while underway and still in the protection of Suva Harbour, we sat down for a nice dinner where we had a chance to chat with the crew and get to know the other guests that we would be diving with for the week. I was so tired that I don’t even remember what I had for dinner the first night. All I wanted to do was slip into my bunk and hide from the world. Before dinner was finished James told us that the 'crossing', as it is called, to Wayaka Island was about 110km to the North and with any luck we should reach it sometime around 3 or 4 in the morning. That meant a rolling nights sleep for yours truly… I'm glad I don't have the same problems sleeping on a boat as I do sleeping on a plane!

I finished up the glass of wine I was sipping on and headed down to the dive deck to setup my underwater camera housing for tomorrow’s first dive which would be at 7am. While I was there I also unpacked all my battery & strobe chargers and locked down a spot at the charging table where they would hopefully stay dry. I'm not sure what time I actually climbed into bed, but I do know it was well before 9pm and the boat was already in open water by the side to side rocking motion that was being afflicted on my drained and overly exhausted body. I'm excited that the diving start's tomorrow, but right now I need sleep! More to follow…

Sunday Feb. 10, 2008: This morning we awoke to find ourselves in the beautiful calm waters just off the island of Wakaya. The clear blue skies and picture perfect sunrise were a welcomed sight at 7am as we gathered on the dive deck for our first dive briefing. We started the week with one of the crew's favorite dive sites known as 'Blue Ribbon Eel Wall'. This turned out to be a beautiful dive with a verity of both hard and soft corals. There was a light current and the visibility was a bit low, but we made due. The marine life on the wall was incredible with fish and sea creatures of every classification you could imagine. I was using a super wide angle lens, so I couldn't take advantage of all the macro stuff and the two Blue Ribbon Eels that were sharing the same ledge on the wall. There were also a couple of very photogenic Lion Fish on the corner of the wall and someone said they even saw a large Sea Turtle. There were even a couple of White Tip Sharks that swam by, but the visibility and distance to them would not allow for a good photograph.

After breakfast (and after changing my camera lens) it was off to another great site called ‘Manta Rock’. Today this dive site would live up to its name. That's right, the group saw a total of 4 large Mantas on the site and several of the divers even got them on film (video to follow). I think this was really the one big highlight of this site, everything else kind of blended into the first dive except that the visibility seemed to be getting better. There was a lot of excitement after the dive about the Manta sightings. It seamed as though everyone started verbally imagining the week ahead and all the incredible pictures that might be granted to the lucky soul for being in the right place at the right time! I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Once back on board the Aggressor, the crew hoisted anchor and made way for our next set of dive sites just off the island of Makogai. While we were underway, Julie and I cleaned up and then joined the other guests for lunch in the dinning area. So far the food has been outstanding and I can't wait to see what's on the menu for dinner. The trip from Wakaya to Makogai Island took just under two hours which allowed me time to change my camera battery and charge up my strobes for the next set of dives. Our first dive of the afternoon was at 'Christines' where we all enjoyed photographing the Lion Fish and the numerous verities of Anemone Fish. The soft corals were also blooming with color and thriving with small fish! One just can't help but notice how healthy the reef system is here in Fiji… It's truly wonderful!!

Our last dive of the day was on a site called 'Half Pipe'. Here we were entertained by a Humphead Shrimp, a Golden Mantis Shrimp, two Leaf Scorpion Fish and a pair of Clarkes Anemone Fish that just couldn't get enough of having their pictures taken. This would have been a great site if only there hadn't been such a strong surge in the middle where all the fish (and all the divers) were hanging out.

Sunday Night: Later that evening after dinner, I had a chance to look through the photos I had taken for the day and decided to make some adjustments to my underwater camera system. The lens and port combination I'd been using just wasn't quite working for me and it seemed as though I was missing a lot of shots because I wasn't using a macro setup. On the other hand I knew that if I put a macro lens and port on my camera I would probably be chased around the whole dive by a Whale Shark. The problem with a digital SLR rig is that you can't change lenses underwater, so what you jump in with is what you have for the entire dive, like it or not! The solution… well there really isn't one. I decided to go with a Nikkor 18-70mm Zoom Lens with a +4 close-up adaptor to sharpen the edges of the image. This would allow me the ability of wide angle if I needed it and would also let me get close-ups of the small stuff too. Stay tuned for the results tomorrow!

Monday Feb. 11, 2008: This morning we awoke to another perfect day and after a smooth, peaceful ride the night before we found ourselves in the middle of Vatu-i-ru Channel motoring our way up to 'E6'. According to Marnie, both 'E6' and 'HI8' are basically enormous sea mounts which sit in the middle of the channel, therefore you never know what might turn up or fly by while diving here. The sites are well known for their dramatic walls, caverns and swim-thru's. The sight was most stunning from the surface and got even better once we were in the water!

Our first dive on 'E6' turned up a Turtle, several Lion Fish, some Nudibranchs and even a White Tip Shark! We also saw Pipefish, schools of Barracuda and large Jacks, Puffer Fish and tons of different species of Anemone Fish. Our second dive on this site was a mirror image of the first; we just drifted to the right side of the sea mount this time instead of the left!
Our next two dives were on 'HI8' which is in all respects a clone of 'E6', but having already done two rather deep and long dives I decided to spend more time in the shallows where the sunlight would have the greatest effect on my photographs. I was right, the early afternoon made for some very impressive photographs and I really just can't get over the amount of color there is in the soft corals here… it is truly an awesome sight when viewed first hand!

After Dinner the crew pulled anchor and we headed east for an area known as the Namena Marine Reserve which is a protected reef system just north of Namena-la-la Island. Once there, we would spend both Tuesday and Wednesday motoring around and diving on a number of different sites in the area. From talking with the locals it seems that the two big 'must dive' sites in Namena are 'North Wall' and 'North Save-A-Tack'; James and Marnie have assured us that we will have a chance to dive them both as well as several other great sites!

Tuesday Feb. 12, 2008: This morning we gathered on the dive deck for yet another beautiful morning sunrise and dive briefing. Our first dive today would be on a site called ‘Kansas’, which is a shallow bommie or pinnacle that sits in the channel of the North Save-a-Tack Passage. This site gets its nickname for the prolific coating of a species of leather coral that resembles a wheat field swaying in the wind. ‘Kansas’ is frequently current-swept and today was no different; the current was running at about 2 knots which made it difficult to work our way around the entire site. The soft-coral growth covering the sides of this pinnacle was truly spectacular! This site is also host to a feature known as the “Window of Dreams”, which is a large opening clustered with soft corals, bubble coral, sea fans and various types of whip coral. As for the marine life, well let’s just say that there’s no shortage of it here in Fiji. It’s almost like diving in a giant salt water aquarium. This site was absolutely covered with a variety colorful reef fish including Coronet Fish, Clown Triggers, Spotted Groupers, Pipe Fish and tons of Anemones.

Our next dive would be a nice easy drift dive on ‘North Save-a-Tack’. During the dive briefing, James took the time to drawl a very detailed map of the dive site on the briefing board. This would give us a better idea of where the current would take us and what we should be looking for during the dive. The map looked more like an obstacle course than a drift dive, but you have to figure that these guys have done this before… right?! We dropped in on the seaward side of the channel and found ourselves on a beautiful bottomless wall at around 100 feet of depth. As we drifted along the wall we saw all sorts of small critters and schooling fish; there was even a small White Tip Shark hiding in a small cavern under an outcropping on the wall.

We quickly came upon the cut-out or channel in the wall that James had mentioned earlier in the briefing. You could easily see the white-sand sea floor that gently sloped upward and onto the reef which we were suppose to follow for the next leg of our tour. Before moving on with the dive, we spent a few minutes hanging out on the corner of the wall taking pictures of the schools of Barracuda, Jacks and Tuna that were every where. We also spotted several Gray Reef Sharks and a couple of large White Tip Sharks patrolling the waters just off the wall. Moving along we came to our next turn at a set of bommies which were spanned by a large arch-way. Here we found several species of colorful Butterfly Fish, Spotted Sweetlips, Angelfish, Lion Fish, large Triggerfish and a variety of small gobies. After swimming under the overhang and snapping off another 50 to 60 pictures we continued along the navigationally challenging course that James had laid out for us earlier and finally found ourselves back at ‘Kansas’ where Sam was waiting to pick us up with the skiff. This was a really fun dive… we have to do it again!

After lunch we dove on a site called ‘Kaenens’, which is a pinnacle that starts at about 70 feet and comes up to within 10 feet of the surface. This was another very nice site for soft corals and sea fans. During the dive we were also happily entertained by Juvenal and Adult Lion Fish, Pipe Fish, loads of Anemone Fish (of all different kinds) and several different species of Nudibranchs.

Our last dive for today was on ‘Black Forest’, which gets its name from the large amount of black coral that’s found there. Another pinnacle, this one also starts around 70 feet of depth and rises to just below the surface. What did we see, you ask? What didn't we see! This site was a big hit after running into a large White Tip Shark, Lion Fish, Pipe Fish and two Adult Blue Ribbon Eels! Up on top of the pinnacle during our safety-stop it was ‘Nemo City’; there were so many Anemone Fish it was like a movie! We even found a large Octopus and tried luring it out from under its rock until it tried to latch onto James’ arm. Back on board the Aggressor, after a shower and a nice dinner, it was back downstairs to the camera table to switch out lenses, batteries and memory cards. I ended up with some really sweet shots… I'll post them tomorrow night!!

Wednesday Feb. 13, 2008: This morning started out much the same as the others so far this week… Perfect! With a fresh cup of coffee in hand, I made my way down to the dive deck to be briefed on our first dive of the day; Another of Fiji's fantastic dive sites, this time it would be ‘North Wall'! The visibility on the wall was outstanding and even though we didn't see any large sharks, there was more than enough small stuff to keep our camera shutters going for the entire dive.

After breakfast it was off to ‘North Save-a-Tack’ once again for another fantastic drift dive! On this dive I decided to follow James, who said he knew of a good place to hangout and wait to get some nice shark photos (if we were so lucky to be graced by their presence.) After dropping in on the wall and drifting to the first turn at the sand flat, we swam slowly up the sandy bottom to the left side of the first bommie. It didn’t take long before we spotted them; Several White Tips and a large Gray Reef Shark! WOW… what a sight!

Even though the sharks are quite timid here, they’re still curious animals and therefore will make at least one pass at a diver before swimming away into the deep blue. This offers a reasonably good chance of a decent photograph from time to time. On this particular dive, there must have been a dying fish held up some where in the bommie because they never completely left the area. Even with James and I chasing them around trying to get close enough for a good picture, they still would only swim out of camera range and then loop back around to the pinnacle again. After playing with the ‘big boys’ for about 20 minutes or so, we finished off our dive back on ‘Kansas’ where we ran into more Anemone Fish, Lion Fish and a Clown Triggerfish at the ‘Window of Dreams’!

Our first dive of the afternoon was on ‘Chimneys’. This is a big dive site with way too much to see on just one dive! The bommies on this site are kind of spread out, but with the good visibility one could just make out all the other pinnacles and ridges on the site. This allowed for easy navigation from pinnacle to pinnacle during the course of the dive. On this dive we saw Dancing Durban's, Humpback Cleaner Shrimp, Spotted Sweetlips, Oreo Groupers, schools of Hump Head Snappers, Pipe Fish, Anemones and millions of other small reef fish.

Our last dive of the day (and the last dive in the Namena Reserve) was on another wonderful site called ‘Rob’s Find’. This was another pinnacle dive with little to no current and although the visibility was a bit lower here it was still a very nice site. There were a host of Lion Fish, Anemones and other reef fish on this dive. We also found several Nudibranchs, various large Groupers, more Clown Triggers and someone said they saw another White Tip Shark! Oh yea, there was also a large Octopus up on top of one of the pinnacles that almost got James’ arm when we tried to tease it out from under it’s rock!

The past two days have been some of the best diving I have ever encountered! I just can't say enough about the Namena Reserve area or Fiji as a whole… The diving here is just incredible!! Several of the guests opted to do the night dive here, but I decided to use the much needed extra time working on my camera equipment and editing some of the almost twelve hundred pictures I had already taken!

After the night dive, we left Namena and began the night crossing to Makogai Island. We would arrive sometime in the early morning and the crew would anchor us in the quiet lagoon by the village we would be visiting later on Thursday evening. We hope the ride over is a peaceful one so we can all get a good nights sleep. The week is about over and I don’t think any of the guests want it to end… I know I don’t!

Thursday Feb. 14, 2008: This morning we awoke to the sound of the Fiji Aggressor’s twin diesel engines warming up to move us out of the lagoon and take us just off-shore of Makogai Island. It was a truly beautiful sunrise and the waters were as clam and flat as a sheet of glass. The crossing last night had gone smoothly and with any luck we would finish out our week of diving with the same excellent weather we’ve experienced so far. We would have to make our bottom times shorter today, on our third and fourth dives, so as to have enough time to prepare for our shore visit to the village on Makogai Island this evening. More on the village visit later!

Our first dive was on ‘Rick’s Place’ and it was an Awesome Dive! The word “WOW” comes to mind, but just doesn’t seem to do it the justice it deserves! It must have been the early morning lighting that made it so special for me. The way it shimmered on the surface and made the soft corals just come alive with color was truly amazing. The beautiful sea fans were also a treat as they swayed in the slight surge of the oceans current. This is what a healthy coral reef should look like… a true underwater photographer’s dream site! The top 30 feet of these two pinnacles are covered by the most incredible coral gardens which are home to Lion Fish, Leaf Scorpion Fish, White Tips, Painted Cray Fish, Hump Head Cleaner Shrimp and a vast amount of bubble coral. Nice Dive!!

Next up was ‘Becky’s’! This was another pinnacle dive, but this site had a very interesting and large swim through which was adorned with tones of beautiful sea fans. The entrance is at about 80 feet and as you swim up through the pinnacle you eventually exit on the other side at around 40 feet. I bumped into a large Oreo Grouper as I was making my way up the coral shaft… I don’t know who was more surprised, the Grouper or myself! Also on this site we got to see the elusive Blue Ribbon Eel, Lion Fish, Nudibranchs, Morays and even a large Banded Sea Snake which I chased around until I was rewarded with a couple of good photos. There was absolutely no current today and it looked like our next two dives would be the same way.

We finished off the diving day on ‘PinBall’ and then ‘Dominoes’, two sites that have been named for the number and layout of pinnacles on each. There was absolutely no current on either one of these dives but the visibility was slightly lower due to a shallower depth range and a sandy bottom. Both dives were still a lot of fun and as usual the tops of the pinnacles were covered in colorful soft corals. Along with the many Reef Fish we also encountered a baby Octopus, Scorpion Fish, Nudibranch, a Sea Snake and a curious White Tip.

Thursday Night: After getting cleaned up from our last dive, we relaxed with a glass of wine as we waited for Marnie to brief us on what we could expect during the Village visit this evening. I had already removed my camera from my underwater housing, changed lenses and prepped it for the land excursion, so I was pretty much all set when Marnie called us all to the skiff for the ride over. With our Sulus in place, we headed for the village where we would attend a welcoming Kava ceremony with the local Chief, villagers and school children. After being greeted on the beach by the Chief and village children, we were taken on a small tour of the village and then given a history lesson on the island, the village and the people that live there. It turned out to be a great photo opportunity for both myself and the overly photogenic village children.

Before the ceremony started, the villagers prepared our food in the traditional Fijian way to be cooked in the ‘Lovo’ or fire pit. Our food would then be carried back on board our boat for dinner later on that night. Everyone partook in the Kava for the first round and some of us even asked for seconds and then thirds! It could have had something to do with it being so hot and humid inside during the ceremony. There was no air movement at all and I was sweating like there was no tomorrow. I don’t think anyone thought to bring water with them. So as guests, we all suffered through the same slightly uncomfortable situation until the dancing and other festivities of the ceremony were finished. After thanking the Chief and other villagers for their hospitality we were taken back to the Aggressor to enjoy our village cooked feast!

After a fantastic Fijian style dinner the crew dropped the mooring and we headed down to Wakaya Island for our final Friday morning dive. It has been a great week so far and we’re all hoping for one more perfect dive to finish things out.

Friday Feb. 15, 2008: This morning we awoke to a fantastic sunrise anchored just off of Wakaya Island. We would only get one dive today before pulling anchor and starting on our journey back to port in Suva. As a result of the perfect conditions at ‘Wakaya Pass’ we found ourselves back on the dive site that we started the week on, ‘Blue Ribbon Eel Wall’. Without going into a whole lot of detail I can tell you that we were all no less impressed this time around! We didn’t run into any big critters, but the awesome visibility and tons of macro stuff more that made up for the lack of Sharks and other large animals one might normally see here.

So with the first part of our trip coming to a close and all the diving aboard the Aggressor finished it was time to start cleaning up and stowing our gear for the trip home. Well for some people anyway… Julie and I just needed to clean and dry our dive equipment enough to get it to our next destination which was Castaway Island. Once there we would spend our second week diving on Fiji’s beautiful coral reefs. But before I get too far ahead of myself, we still have the evening wine and cheese party yet to attend followed by a nice (and expensive) group dinner in one of Suva’s fine restaurants. Both events were a lot of fun and after a great dinner and a couple of well deserved mixed drinks Julie and I took a taxi back to the boat where we finished packing and then called it a night.

Saturday Morning Feb. 16, 2008: After breakfast all the guests were instructed to bring their luggage to the dive deck so that the crew could off-load it to the shuttle bus when it finally arrived. Well, the shuttle bus was almost an hour late which was going to put Julie and myself in a bind because we had pre-paid tickets for the ‘Tiger IV Shuttle’ to take us from Nadi to Castaway Island. The ‘Tiger IV’ is a high-speed catamaran that serves as a shuttle service to all the out-lying islands in the Mamanuca Group. Our boarding tickets were for the 12:15 pm shuttle to Castaway Island and if we missed it we would have to wait until 3:30 pm for the next one. Remember now, the bus ride from Suva to Nadi takes three and a half hours with no traffic… are you doing the math yet!!

The shuttle bus, which was supposed to pick us up at 7am, showed up just before 8 and after packing it to the rim with fifteen divers and all the luggage and extra crap that goes along with us we finally disembarked at about 8:05 am. The ride back to Nadi was a bit cramped, but at least it was a peaceful and scenic trip. The three and a half hour trek gave me some much needed downtime to listen to my iPod and to absorb some of the events of the past week. As I think back on it now, I remember that I was making mental notes to myself for use in my online journal, but for the life of me I can’t remember what they were. I just keep remembering the song that was playing and wondering how the week had gone by so fast!
There is no better way for a diver to do Fiji than on the Fiji Aggressor II... ~Thanks Guys!!!

By: D. Vanderbilt

Continue to Part-2... Castaway Island»

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