South Pacific Adventure Divers,

Stadniks

07/04/15 at 11:50

Went on "Beqa Lagoon" diving trip with SPAD Fiji. Guide Alex + 8 divers including myself + a couple of snorkellers. This was the 2nd dive of the day. I used a 2mm short wetsuit + 12lbs weight. That with 12L (medium) aluminum tank made for perfect buoyancy. After a half an hour rest on the Beqa Island, we headed for the 2nd dive. We spent pretty much the entire dive at 15-18m with 3 min safety stop in the end. Usual tropical coral beauty: lots of colorful corals, lots of small fish, schools of fish. It was a drift dive. We swam with the current in the 1st half of the dive, which made it quite easy. However, during the 2nd part we had to swim against the current which was quite strong. I had to fin pretty hard just to stay at the same stop. Because of that we didn't make it back to the boat and had to surface a few hundred meters away from it. The guide Alex inflated a red safety sausage, and we waited for about 10min for the boat to get back to us. Because of the rough sea getting back on the boat was challenging. During the dive my computer flagged an ascent speed violation (albeit for a very short period) and signaled for a mandatory safety stop between 6 and 3m. Made a 3 min safety stop at 6m before surfacing. We headed back to the island to pick up the snorkellers, then headed straight back to Warwick. Again, the sea was rough and ride bumpy. I got back to Naviti by 3pm. Overall, very exciting trip: 2 tank dives, wreck and lots of colorful corals. But can be very challenging if the sea is rough and you don't have a stomach for rough seas.

Stadniks

07/04/15 at 09:55

Went on "Beqa Lagoon" diving trip with SPAD Fiji. Guide Alex + 8 divers including myself + a couple of snorkellers. The boat departed from Warwck hotel at 8am. Rough sea made for a VERY bumpy ride to Beqa island. The snorkellers disembarked at a tiny resort at Beqa lagoon, then the boat made a 5 min trip offshore for the 1st dive. I used a 2mm short wetsuit + 12lbs weight. That with 12L (medium) aluminum tank made for perfect buoyancy. Within 7 min we descended to a ship wreck at 24m. The wreck is beautifully preserved. No current and clear water made it an excellent excursion. After 7-8 min at the wreck we ascended to a depth of about 10m where we spent the rest of the dive. Usual tropical coral beauty: lots of colorful corals, lots of small fish, schools of fish. My dive computer flagged an ascent speed violation (albeit for a very short period) and signaled for a mandatory safety stop between 6 and 3m. Made a 3 min safety stop at 6m before surfacing. Because of the rough sea getting back on the boat was somewhat challenging. Once everyone on board, we went back to the lagoon and disembarked for some cookies and lemonade and to rest before the 2nd dive.