Scuba Network II - Planet Manta

Another week in paradise in the company of reef sharks, eagle rays, hammerheads, manta rays and a giant bumphead parrotfish! Our past week has been outstanding, and it was amazing to welcome back Ryan, the leader for Scuba Network, and Phil and Adrienne, our friends from Hawaii who dived with us back in 2022. We welcomed them aboard, did an uneventful checkout dive (that’s the best kind!) and departed to start our adventure in Bligh diving the Sea Mounts.

Mantacam by Insta360, technology making our manta studies more complete!

Mantacam by Insta360, that one is just cool!

E6 and Mount Mutiny are always a perfect way to start the trip: easy diving and stunning reefs. The Cathedral at E6 is always a highlight of the trip, and the Rainbow Wall at Mount Mutiny can leave the most experienced of divers at a loss for words with such vibrant colors. We saw many scorpionfish, a few reef sharks, the big schools of pinjalos and barracudas, a chilled turtle and a couple of curious hammerhead sharks. We surfaced from our last dive to a beautiful double rainbow, the perfect way to unwind. A few brave individuals headed to Alacrity for the night dive and saw a big variety of decorated crabs.

We moved to Vatu-i-ra and introduced current to the mix, adding action and abundance to the dives. Mellow Yellow and GoMo were some of the favorites, with divers claiming they could do that particular dive forever. Maytag was gentle and fishy, the best of both worlds. Whole Shebang was a gentle drift and we could enjoy the magnificent wall with abundant soft corals. We saw moray eels, a few reef sharks and a very special silvertip. For the last dive, the current went a little crazy and we found shelter at the magnificent inner wall at Charlie’s Garden. Back at Alacrity for the night dive, we saw a slipper lobster and some pleurobranchs.

Photo by Ryan: Scorpionfish

Photo by Mike: Double rainbow

Photo by Roger: Grouper getting cleaned

Wakaya was our next destination, and our mantas did not disappoint. Some of our divers had never had such close, intimate encounters with them. Bel used the 360 degree camera for the Mantacam survey and got some amazing images, as well as realize they provide information that’s a lot more complete than the regular cameras. Yay for technology. Aside from the 8-10 mantas we saw throughout the day (including some of our favorites: Shirley, Dorothy and Riley), we saw schooling barracudas, reef sharks, a turtle, leaf scorpionfish and a hammerhead. We surfaced to dolphins following the boat and finished the day with a fantastic village visit. Ryan represented us as chief again, and said some words in Fijian, to the delight of the villagers. We walked around, watched the mekes (traditional dances) and joined them for a few dance moves. 

Photo by Ryan: Torantino

Mantacam: Riley posed so much. We missed you, girl!

The move to Namena proved a little too rocky for some of our less boat-legged guests, but the marine reserve certainly offered enough great diving that more than made up for it. We had very intense currents on the first day and a lazy second day, mother nature playing showing who’s boss. We saw golden mantis shrimps, a wide variety of nudibranchs, ribbon eels, flatworms, leaf scorpionfish, morays, whitecap shrimpgobies, octopus, eagle rays and hammerheads. Grand Central Station and Schoolhouse brought the shark encounters and schooling fish, the abundance only a protected area can offer. And the special sighting for the trip was a huge, lonesome bumphead parrotfish, spotted twice on the second day. Our kava party was amazing, our guests really had a great time and shared a lot of laughter. The night dive was full of hermit crabs, plus a sighting of free-swimming moray and another of an octopus. Phil surely could not have asked for a better birthday.

Photo by Roger: Bommie life

Photo by Ryan: Anemone fish

Photo by Roger: Barracudas

Photo by Mike: Super full moon

Photo by Mike: Sunset

We finished with a big day at Cat’s Meow, Humann Nature and UndeNAI’Able. Moderate currents, mild wind and clear skies with a bright sun all got together to provide us with the best possible dives. Cat’s and the soft corals, Humann and the hard corals, UndeNAI’Able and everything! Fish big and small, a sleeping turtle, several nudibranchs and stunning scenery. Our final day could not have been any better! We headed towards Lautoka grateful for another amazing trip with outstanding people.

Photo by Roger: Sweetlips

Photo by Roger: Pat

Photo by Ryan: Soft corals

Our happy group!