Diving Passport

Hundreds of kilometers of coral reef can be found in the Islands of Fiji. The most common form is the barrier reef. Typically, the ocean side of a barrier drops steeply to very deep waters. The walls of corals are commonly found on the outside of the barriers.
The barrier is separated from the island by a shallow lagoon, where 70 meters (230 ft) is usually the deepest point. The ideal place to see delicate hard corals and juvenile reef fish is in the waters protected from the crashing of waves. The passages and the breaks in the coral barrier, where the lagoon and ocean water merge, are the most interesting areas to dive. The combination of the colored soft corals, sponges and numerous creatures with the great predators is what makes diving the ultimate adventure. An atoll is very similar to a coral barrier; it is a ring of coral with a lagoon in the center. Many marine mountains or banks are present in the waters of Fiji. These banks are peaks of submerged mountains that can almost reach the surface and are surrounded by very deep waters that offer a habitat for sharks and pelagics.

MARINE LIFE

The underwater life of Fiji is just amazing, there are more than 400 different kinds of coral species. The most spectacular is the soft coral, abundant species that create underwater rainbows. Its primary habitat is in reef passages or channels where the current is moderate to heavy. The average size of the soft coral is only 30 cm., however, the density of the soft coral in some areas is tremendous and that is why Fiji is known as “The Soft Coral Capital of the World.”
Besides the prolific soft and hard corals of Fiji, the numbers of invertebrates found in these waters are too many to accurately catalogue. From flatworms to nudibranchs, octopus, lobsters and crabs, the population of marine invertebrates is both varied and magnificent.
The fish population in Fiji is one of the richest in the world. Perhaps the signature species for this archipelago are the butterflyfish and angelfish. One can observe many types of species in every dive, like the clownfish, goupers or colorful reef fish like the coral trout.
In the open water species, there are great varieties of barracudas and sharks. Mantas are very common in Fiji, while eagle rays and several stingray species are rarely seen. The population of marine mammals includes bottlenose dolphins, spinner dolphins, pilot whales and, occasionally, humpback whales that migrate through Fiji.