Island Information

Moon Handbooks
South Pacific (8th Ed.)

South Pacific Diving Guide

Scuba diving in tropical waters is very popular with both novice as well as professional divers, offering relaxed dive experiences and pristine coral reefs rich with marine life.

Below is an outline of what the South Pacific offers the avid scuba diver:

• Cook Islands doesn't offer any dedicated dive resorts, but there are a number of good dive operators offering coral reef diving out of both Rarotonga and Aitutaki. The outer reefs are filled with marine life and at certain times of the year it is possible to see migrating whales pass by Rarotonga. Dive operators include Cook Island Divers, Pacific Divers, Dive Rarotonga and the Dive Centre all on Rarotonga. In Aitutaki there is Aitutaki Scuba or Bubbles Below.
• Fiji Islands offers world-class dive sites for both novice as well as experienced scuba divers. Top dive spots in Fiji include the Rainbow Reef in the Somosomo Strait between Taveuni and Vanua Levu, the Great Astrolabe (fourth largest reef in the world) off Kadavu, and Beqa Lagoon off Pacific Harbour on the southern side of the main island. Liveaboard diving to the remote areas of Lomaiviti (central Fiji) are offered by Nai'a Cruises, while in the Northern region near Savusavu and Taveuni, Tui Tai Adventure Cruises combines great diving with other active adventure activities! Top dive operators in Fiji include Aqua-Trek (Beqa Lagoon and Taveuni), Beqa Adventure Divers (Beqa Lagoon shark diving), Subsurface Fiji & Aqua Blue (Mamanucas), Ovalau Watersports (Lomaiviti). Taveuni has a number of other operators in addition - including Dolphin Bay Divers, ProDive at Paradise resort, Swiss Fiji Divers and popular local divers at Jewel Bubble Divers. Fiji has a well-organised dive association and a hyperbaric chamber in Suva. Learn more about Fiji diving.
• French Polynesia covers a vast area of the South Pacific and includes incredible reef systems. Great diving at Tahiti, Bora Bora, Moorea, Rangiroa and other atolls. The luxury cruise operator Haumana Cruises offers dive liveaboard cruising in Rangiroa and Tikehau. Rangiroa is the largest atoll in the South Pacific, as well as being the world's second largest. TOPdive is a well-known dive operator in the region, with dive shops in Tahiti, Bora Bora, Moorea and Rangiroa.
• In New Caledonia the main scuba dive shops are found in the northern provinces (try Babou Plongee) , the southern provinces (Noumea Diving) and on some of the smaller offshore islands such as Ouvea (Ouvea Plongee), Isle of Pines ((Kunie Scuba Centre), and Lifou (Lifou Fun Dive).
• Samoa offers a number of dive centres in the capital of Apia on the main island of Upolu, such as Moanalei Dive'N'Surf, AquaSamoa WaterSports, and Liquid Motion. On nearby Savai'i island there is Dive Savaii at Fagamalo, and Dive And Fly Samoa at Manase. Diving in Samoa is usually more of a general holiday activity than for serious dive expeditions.
• Solomon Islands offers some of the most pristine sites in the South Pacific, one reason being that it has not been over-commercialised. M.V. Bilikiki and M.V. Spirit of Solomons offer liveaboard diving experiences. The Western Province has a number of good diving operations and dive resorts, such as Danny Kennedy's Adventure Watersports in Gizo, Uepi Island Resort on the Marovo Lagoon, and Munda is also popular with dive travellers - try Dive Munda. In the capital of Honiara, dive shops explore the World War II wrecks just off the coast.
• Tonga has four main island groups and with many of the islands uninhabited, this means that there is a wealth of pristine reef structures. Some of the best diving can be found in the Ha'apai group - look for Happy Ha'apai Divers - and in the Vava'u group further north. Here you can try Beluga Diving, Dive Vava'u and Dolphin Pacific Diving .
• Vanuatu offers excellent diving both around the main island of Efate and its immediate offshore islands, as well as in Espiritu Santo in the northern region of Vanuatu. There are a number of dive operators in the Port Vila area of Efate, diving the reefs nearby. Other top spots are the sites around the nearby islands of Moso, Hat Island, and Hideaway Island. One fun feature of Hideaway Island is that it is the location of the world's only underwater post office! Santo, as it is called, is particularly well-known for its wreck diving, especially the World War II wreck The SS President Coolidge. The Henry Bonneaud wreck (pictured on this page) is another famous dive site as is Million Dollar Point and USS Tucker. One of the longest running dive operators in Santo is Allan Power Dive Tours.