Diving & Travel Guide to Taveuni and Somosomo Strait

About Taveuni and Somosomo Strait

Taveuni and the Somosomo Strait represent the crown jewel of Fijian diving, home to the legendary Great White Wall and Rainbow Reef that have made Fiji famous as the soft coral capital of the world. The Great White Wall is a sheer vertical face draped in luminescent white soft corals, dropping from 15 metres to beyond 60 metres in depth, with rainbow runners, barracuda, and reef sharks adding to the spectacle. Rainbow Reef, just metres away, offers an overwhelming display of soft corals in every colour of the spectrum, with nudibranchs, pygmy seahorses, and pipefish among the branches. The Zoo site delivers massive schools of barracuda, jacks, and trevally swirling in the current, while the Fish Factory produces tornadoes of fusiliers and snapper patrolled by grey reef sharks. Cabbage Patch provides fields of cabbage coral with turtles and moray eels, and Annies Bommie showcases stunning coral-covered structures with huge sea fans and ribbon eels. Jerrys Jelly offers a swim-through cavern with glassfish and lobsters, Blue Ribbon provides deep wall diving with seasonal hammerhead sightings, and Purple Wall is draped in vivid purple soft corals frequented by sailfish. The straits strong currents bring nutrients that fuel the extraordinary coral growth, but also demand respect from divers. Most diving is conducted as drift dives, with boats dropping divers at the entry point and following the current along the reef. Taveuni is reached by domestic flight from Nadi or Suva, with several excellent dive resorts on both the Taveuni and Vanua Levu sides of the strait.

Highlights

• ✓The Great White Wall: Iconic sheer wall draped in luminescent white soft corals from 15 metres to over 60 metres deep. One of the most photographed dive sites in the world.
• ✓Rainbow Reef: Dense soft-coral forests in every colour, with nudibranchs, pygmy seahorses, and abundant anthias. The site that earned Fiji its reputation.
• ✓The Zoo: Massive schools of barracuda, jacks, and trevally swirling in the current, with groupers and occasional manta ray pass-bys.
• ✓Fish Factory: Tornadoes of fusiliers and snapper with grey reef sharks and whitetip sharks hunting in the current.

Getting There

International flights arrive at Nadi International Airport (NAN) on Viti Levu, with connections from Australia, New Zealand, the United States, and across the Pacific. Fiji Airways is the national carrier. Domestic flights with Fiji Link connect to Taveuni, Kadavu, Vanua Levu, and the outer islands. Seaplane services reach remote resorts and the Lau Group.