Diving the famous Rainbow Reef, Fiji

We have been sailing through Fiji for months, surrounded by some of the healthiest and most beautiful reefs we have seen anywhere. But there was one place we had been particularly looking forward to diving: Rainbow Reef, in the narrow Somosomo Strait between Taveuni and Vanua Levu islands.

Fiji is often called the soft coral capital of the world, and Rainbow Reef is one of the places that displays why. Strong tidal currents funnel through the strait, bringing nutrient-rich water that feeds huge gardens of soft corals. When the current is running, they open up and transform the reef into an explosion of color – pink, purple, orange, yellow and white.

We anchored in Viani Bay, which is the closest anchorage to the reef. There is a super cruiser friendly resort there, Viani Bay Resort, run by a German lady called Marian. It is a small and cozy resort, with just a few stand alone bungalows, with room for 10 people.

Going with a small resort that is located so close to Rainbow Reef turned out to be a very special experience. The resort uses the traditional long boat out to the reef, which means there is only room for four divers in each group. Less crowded in the water – we definitely like!

Another striking feature of Fiji’s reefs are the huge sea fans rising from the reef like delicate underwater trees. They are actually colonies of tiny coral polyps, related to other soft corals, and position themselves across the current to capture plankton drifting past. Some grow into spectacular fans well over a metre across. Their intricate branches also provide shelter for different kinds of tiny reef creatures.

The corals may be the stars of Rainbow Reef, but the sheer variety of reef fish was just as impressive. We were surrounded by countless reef fish constantly moving in and out of the corals. At times there was so much life around us that it was difficult to know where to look.

Two of the three dives we did on the Rainbow Reef, was at the Great White Wall, which is probably Fiji’s most famous dive. After descending through a coral-covered swim-through, we emerged at around 25 meters onto a near-vertical wall disappearing into the deep, covered almost completely in white Dendronephthya soft corals.

Diving the Great White Wall is all about timing. The thousands of white soft corals covering the wall expand to feed when nutrient-rich water flows through the Somosomo Strait, but the currents can become far too strong to dive safely. The sweet spot is around low slack tide, after the outgoing current has fed and opened the corals but just as the water movement eases.

Because the strength and timing of these currents are governed by the lunar cycle, the ideal window falls on specific days each month. At the wrong time, there will be either a raging current or a grayish wall of retracted coral, while on the right days, the entire wall seems to bloom white.

We were lucky to find available space for the dive during one of the best times of the month. And, considering how much wind we have experienced this year, the days we picked, were also quite calm, so we experienced little current.

Up close, the Great White Wall looks completely different. What appears from a distance as a solid blanket of white is actually made up of thousands of delicate soft corals, each branching into tiny translucent polyps, and seems more like a field of miniature flowers than a wall of coral.

 

We came back from our dives feeling incredibly lucky to have experienced Rainbow Reef at its best. After months of exploring Fiji’s reefs, this was something different. It was a pretty spectacular reminder of why Fiji deserves its reputation as the soft coral capital of the world.

We stayed in Viani Bay for a couple of more nights, and were lucky to enjoy a potluck dinner organized by the resort, for cruisers and the resort guests. The admiral, in particular, enjoyed the taste of civilization again, after spending these past three months in remote areas. We left Viani Bay and headed into the main city, Savusavu, on the next biggest island in Fiji, Vanua Levu. There, we had booked a week in a marina, to pick up a shipment and also stock up, especially on fresh produce.