Manta Love - Part 4

Water Temperature: 25-26C/77-78F and dropping

The diving gods once again united to provide us with a wonderful week filled with exceptional dives and some very special sightings. We had a few hammerhead sightings, some from very close by. We observed humpback whales from NAI’A, some times in the distance, and others right next to the boat. We saw a manta courtship train for the second trip in a row, this one with 3 males pursuing a female. Yes, the diving was rather remarkable. And to share it with so many return guests was even more special.

We started our journey with only 9 out of 17 guests on board. Their checkout dive was uneventful, and they even returned saying it wasn’t at all a mediocre dive as we described it (just a dive to check your gear, don’t judge Fiji based on it!). So, they were in for a treat with our other dives for sure! Our return guests (Heidi, J-Sue, Colin and the 3 Amigos), plus Deb, joined us from the Solomons late at night and we set out for the Sea Mounts.

The dives at E6 were a great way to start the day. Although the 1st dive presented some challenges with the current, everybody got a nice dive at the Cathedral, such an iconic dive in our itinerary. But the hard corals again mesmerized our guests with their bright colors and great variety. On the Rainbow Wall, the chyronephthya corals added even more color to the mix, and on the Hard Coral Wall the curious hammerhead and hunting trevallies made it difficult for anyone to pay attention to the wall. A small turtle, high as a kite, was the only thing to make us watch the wall for a while. After four dives, we moved to Nananu-i-ra to collect our last guest, Jeff, and headed out to Vuya.

Photo by Colin: Reef

Photo by Colin: Turtle

Photo by Cathy: Too much shennanigans

Cat’s Meow and Humann Nature sure made a great start to our day. The moderate current helped gather the fish in one spot, but still allowed us to swim around the bommies. Elena and Fiona said it was probably their best dive ever. The soft corals were open, the fish were abundant and active, a turtle and schooling barracudas showed up at Humann Nature. Then we moved to UndeNAI’Able and 3 humpbacks hung around the surface close to where we dived. Yes, we heard them, but no swim was possible. UndeNAI’Able Reef attracted all the guests compliments, Fabrizio was out of words. Then we saw the humpbacks again, this time breaching and waving a little. They disappeared into the sunset. Heather and Shaden, our brave night divers, loved the slipper lobster and the huge pleurobranch!

Photo by Mike: Sunrise

Photo by Colin: Humann Nature

Our move to Namena Marine Reserve was smoother than expected and our two days there were magical. The magnificent south provided sightings such as ribbon eels, whitecap shrimpgobies, plenty of nudibranchs, baby scorpionfish, golden mantis shrimps, orangutan crabs and even a curious hammerhead, looking all silly trying to shake his remoras off. Our kava party took place on our first night there. We danced a lot, and Jamie-Sue got all the tsunamis a girl can dream of.

The bombastic north was a little too bombastic for one of the dives (Greg did a flying entry/exit), but all guests got a do-over dive to truly appreciate the glory of Schoolhouse and Kansas. In the end, even Colin changed his feelings towards Kansas. Grand Central Station was great on both days, but curiously had more sharks and tunas the day it had less current (Gareth’s favorite). Still, plenty of grey reefs for everyone. And Schoolhouse just had every school we can see there: pinjalos, bigeyes, black and midnight snappers, bannerfish, oceanic and redtooth triggerfish, bigeye trevallies and barracudas (although a little too deep). What a gorgeous site!

Photo by Colin: Kansas

Photo by Colin: Redtooth triggers and grey reef sharks

Photo by Mike: Reef

Photo by Heather: The full moon, reason for our extreme dives

Photo by Mike: Kava Time!

We got to Wakaya and Annie and Heather came up from their room already calling “It’s manta day!”. And boy was it manta day! For the second trip in a row we saw a courtship train, this one with 1 females and 3 males. Out of the 4 mantas involved, we identified/named 3 of them over the last 2 and a half years (Rocky, Gaeta and Danny PegLeg). Both groups got to see some of that action, plus Torantino, Tasha, Distinguished and Dorothy (our first sighting of her in 2024, and she’s one of our favorites!). As if that wasn’t enough, Lefty also saw some serious barrel feeding action, and both skiffs saw a hammerhead.

Photo by Bel: Torantino says hello!

Photo by Bel: The courtship train, plus Dorothy

Photo by Colin: Sneaky Distinguished

Photo by Colin: Shy hammerhead

We moved over to Makogai and did our 3rd dive there at Rick’s and Becky’s. The dives were lovely, with leaf scorpionfish and longnosed hawkfish, but the real treat was after the dive. As we headed over to the village, 2 humpbacks circled NAI’A a few times, surfacing right next to us. The only way to finish a day as magical as that was our heartwarming village visit. Cathy represented us well as our chief, we all danced and returned to NAI’A pumping. Fabrizio put it well when he said he had this energy about him he just couldn’t stop smiling. Then Brenda offered us a literary moment that no guest is soon to forget.

Photo by Mike: Leaving Wakaya, heading to Makogai

Photo by Mike: One of the two humpbacks checking us out

Photo by Mike: BULA!

Photo by Mike: Makogai sunset

And lastly we arrived at Vatu-i-ra for our final day of diving. The wind was stronger than the previous days, and we only had about half the guests going out. Mellow Yellow was stunning, full of life and color, but the current picked up during the dive. Coral Corner was beautiful, with hunting sharks and barracudas, but a perilous down-current at the end. So we moved over to Alacrity for the two final dives and how happy our divers were with the selection. The current allowed us to explore the cuts in the wall, covered with soft corals and gorgonians, almost “cathedral-like” with the light coming from the top. It was the perfect end for an outstanding journey with a group of remarkable individuals. We hope you all enjoyed this past week as much as we did, and that we meet again one day!

Photo by Colin: Fusiliers and reef

Our outstanding group. We will miss you all!!