News
Volivoli Beach Resort in Fiji joins the Best Boutique Collection
Volivoli Beach Resort has become the fourth member of the Best Boutique Collection, a new representation company for stylish boutique resorts and lodges.
The Fijian dive resort is run by the Darling family in third generation and has been completely renovated after cyclone Winston left huge damage in 2016.
With its rich and colourful underwater world, abundantly blessed with soft corals, it is no wonder that Jean-Michel Cousteau named Fiji the “Soft Coral Capital of the World”. Volivoli Beach Resort is located at the Northern tip of Viti Levu in Rakiraki with direct access to the Bligh Water Passage where the majority of the dive sites are at a depth between 20 and 40 metres.
Besides soft and hard corals, divers can expect to see large gorgonian fans, small caverns, lobsters, sepia, as well as schools of barracuda and jackfish. At certain times of the year, it is also possible to see hammerhead sharks and eagle rays. At the dive sites closer to the resort, macro and critters including the rare ornate ghost pipefish as well as two wrecks offer diverse dives. The PADI and SSI dive centre “Ra Divers”, directly located in the resort, runs courses up to instructor level.
After hurricane Winston erased a large part of the resort in 2016, the Darling family decided to take this as a chance and upgrade the resort. Along with the renovation, new Luxury Ocean Front Villas were introduced, each with two bedrooms, a private swimming pool and a spacious outdoor covered living area. In total, Volivoli Beach Resort offers 33 rooms and villas in five different categories.
Local Fijian customs such as Meke (traditional style of dance and singing performance), Lovo (earth oven prepared food) and Kava (traditional ceremonial drink) are performed weekly, typically on a Thursday night at the Ra Bar in the resort. For further exploration of Fijis stunning landscape, nature and culture, guests can choose from a variety of excursions such as a guided cultural village tour, a waterfall adventure tour, regional trekking, Standup Paddle Boarding River Adventure and a sunset cruise.
“We are very excited to welcome more guests from Europe in Fiji through our new partnership with Best Boutique Collection. While Fiji is certainly on the bucket list of many divers there, the time difference makes it difficult for us to efficiently communicate with the tour operators. On the consumer level, we need to address the prejudices that a vacation in Fiji is pretty expensive and that it is very tedious to get here,” says owner and General Manager Nick Darling.
The best travel time for Fiji is between April and December. Fiji is easily accessible from Europe with only one stop in Seoul, Hong Kong, Singapore, Los Angeles or San Francisco, hence offering multiple options for an interesting city break on the way to paradise. The nearest airport to Volivoli Resort is Nadi International (NAN) and the transfer time from the airport to the resort takes about 2.5 hours.
For more information on Volivoli Beach Resort, please visit www.volivoli.com or
www.best-boutique-collection.eu/en/volivoli-beach-resort-viti-levu-fiji
News
Dive Worldwide Announces Bite-Back as its Charity of the Year
Over the next 12 months, specialist scuba holiday company Dive Worldwide will be supporting Bite-Back Shark & Marine Conservation with donations collected from client bookings to any one of its stunning dive destinations around the world. The independently-owned operator expects to raise £3000 for the UK charity.
Manager at Dive Worldwide, Phil North, said: “We’re especially excited to work with Bite-Back and support its intelligent, creative and results-driven campaigns to end the UK trade in shark products and prompt a change in attitudes to the ocean’s most maligned inhabitant.”
Bite-Back is running campaigns to hold the media to account on the way it reports shark news along with a brand new nationwide education programme. Last year the charity was credited for spearheading a UK ban on the import and export of shark fins.
Campaign director at Bite-Back, Graham Buckingham, said: “We’re enormously grateful to Dive Worldwide for choosing to support Bite-Back. The company’s commitment to conservation helps set it apart from other tour operators and we’re certain its clients admire and respect that policy. For us, the affiliation is huge and helps us look to the future with confidence we can deliver against key conservation programmes.”
To launch the fundraising initiative, Phil North presented Graham Buckingham with a cheque for £1,000.
Visit Dive Worldwide to discover its diverse range of international scuba adventures and visit Bite-Back to learn more about the charity’s campaigns.
MORE INFORMATION
Call Graham Buckingham on 07810 454 266 or email graham@bite-back.com
Gear News
Scubapro Free Octopus Promotion 2024
Free Octopus with every purchase of a SCUBAPRO regulator system
Just in time for the spring season, divers can save money with the FREE OCTOPUS SPRING PROMOTION! Until July 31st SCUBAPRO offers an Octopus for free
with every purchase of a regulator system!
Get a free S270 OCTOPUS with purchase of these combinations:
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with A700
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with S620Ti
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with D420
MK25 EVO Din mit S620Ti-X
Get a free R105 OCTOPUS with purchase of the following combinations:
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with G260
MK25 EVO or MK17 EVO with S600
SCUBAPRO offers a 30-year first owner warranty on all regulators, with a revision period of two years or 100 dives. All SCUBAPRO regulators are of course certified according to the new European test standard EN250-2014.
Available at participating SCUBAPRO dealers. Promotion may not be available in all regions. Find an authorized SCUBAPRO Dealer at scubapro.com.
More information available on www.scubapro.com.
-
News3 months ago
Hone your underwater photography skills with Alphamarine Photography at Red Sea Diving Safari in March
-
News3 months ago
Capturing Critters in Lembeh Underwater Photography Workshop 2024: Event Roundup
-
Marine Life & Conservation Blogs3 months ago
Creature Feature: Swell Sharks
-
Blogs2 months ago
Murex Resorts: Passport to Paradise!
-
Blogs2 months ago
Diver Discovering Whale Skeletons Beneath Ice Judged World’s Best Underwater Photograph
-
Gear Reviews2 weeks ago
GEAR REVIEW – Revolutionising Diving Comfort: The Sharkskin T2 Chillproof Suit
-
Marine Life & Conservation2 months ago
Save the Manatee Club launches brand new webcams at Silver Springs State Park, Florida
-
Gear Reviews3 months ago
Gear Review: Oceanic+ Dive Housing for iPhone