Naia

Boat

The NAI’A is a 36 Metre (118ft) steel dive yacht, built and powered for comfort, safety and stability. NAI’A was built in 1979 and was completely refitted in 1993, 2000 and 2010 with the latest technology and facilities specific to diver’s needs. She is diesel-powered and can cruise at 9 knots and has 110/220 volt power on board.

The NAI'A sleeps up to 18 guests in privacy and comfort.

The main deck has a beautiful air conditioned lounge with a TV/DVD and an assortment of books, magazines, games and puzzles.

The upper deck partially is shaded and has chaise longues and chairs.

The dive deck is spacious and well equipped with personal gear boxes and an in-place fill station

Adjacent to the dive deck is a camera room with electrical sockets.

The dive platform has hot freshwater showers and easy access to the tender boat where the dive gear is loaded by the crew.

Cabin

The NAI'A lower deck has 9 comfortable staterooms.

All cabins have private head with shower, closet and AC.

• 3 Staterooms: Kingsize bed convertible into two single beds, porthole.

• 2 Staterooms: Kingsize bed and a single bunk-style bed, porthole.

• 2 Staterooms: Kingsize bed, porthole.

• 2 Staterooms: Two bunk-style single beds, porthole.

Diving

• 4 to 5 dives per day including night dive.

• Weights, weight belts and 80 cu. ft. (12l) aluminium tanks with standard yoke valves are included.

• All dives are guided by professionals and from two (22ft) inflatable dinghies.

Other information

• Nitrox available: $150 for 7 days trip, $210 for 10 days trip or $300 for 14 days trip.
• Rebreather Friendly : Rate on request.
• Rental Dive Equipment Available： Rate on request and must be booked in advance.
• Dive Insurance： Mandatory.
• Travel Insurance: Recommended.
• Wi-Fi Internet Available： No.
• Payment on board： By cash (USD), traveler’s cheque or credit card.
• Crew gratuities : Not included, an average is 10 to 15% of your cruise price depending upon your satisfaction.

Where is Fiji's Finest Scuba Diving?

Central Fiji has the best diving, no doubt about it. This "NAI'A Triangle" of Lomaiviti, Bligh Water and Namena is the focus of our regular itineraries, covering about 500 nautical miles. NAI'A has journeyed throughout Fiji, in all directions and to every corner of the country's boundaries -- and beyond. We've found beautiful sites and dramatic attractions in every region and we still explore new places. But the central region has proved the most consistent in the quality and health of terrains, animals and conditions. Lomaiviti's coral reefs and islands are Fiji's most dynamic and varied: voracious sharks to vibrant soft corals.

Fiji's coral reef system is a complex web of barrier reefs surrounding large lagoons and islands. Coral growth and fish action are most robust on those outer barrier reefs. Marine life is especially concentrated within the reef passages and channels that link the lagoons with the deep ocean. But the barrier reefs are remote and vast - a long way from shore bases - so only the best-equipped live-aboard diving vessels can access these locations. Much of the area remains uncharted and the dive sites untouched. All this makes NAI'A dive sites in the NAI'A Triangle of Lomaiviti, Namena and Bligh Water largely exclusive. You are extremely unlikely to encounter another dive boat during a NAI'A trip -- it will feel like your own private pristine Fiji.

Our normal itinerary for both seven and ten-day charters starts and ends in Lautoka, just north of Nadi, where the international airport is located. After an initial "checkout" dive on the afternoon of boarding, NAI'A heads north and east around the flank of the main island of Viti Levu to reach Bligh Water. Several different dive sites in Bligh Water are available including Vatu-i-ra, E6, Mt. Mutiny, and Cat's Meow, depending on localised weather conditions. From there we choose our sites according to weather, tides, and our passengers' inclinations. But generally we visit the islands and barrier reefs of Namena, Wakaya, and Gau. On ten-day charters we have more time available to dive the various reefs in the Koro Sea, some of them near Namena and others near nowhere!

Fiji's finest diving

We have dived Fiji's finest reefs since 1993, under every imaginable set of circumstances. Importantly, we've kept good records. Many sites are current-dependent and detailed local knowledge is critical in order to maximize the number of good dives in the best spots. For that reason we don't offer a fixed itinerary -- "if it's Tuesday, it must be Wakaya". Instead we tailor each voyage to the tides and weather that week.

Why is Central Fiji the Best for Diving?

A common misconception is that the further you travel the better the diving. We also desire to explore remote locales and "get away from it all". But ecologically and globally speaking, coral reefs don't always share our goals for isolation and solitude.

It is true, however, that offshore diving (away from the populated towns and cities) is generally better - more prolific pristine life, clearer water, and a higher chance of exciting pelagic fish encounters. Look at the Fiji Islands as a whole; you will see that the area in the center of the country between the two main landmasses is still a long way from developed or populated areas.

So why are the reefs here so significant? Well, there are five key ingredients in the perfect coral reef - recipe all of them found in central Fiji region:

• Temperature & Climate - coral reefs require warm tropical water and sunlight.
• Salinity, Nutrients & Food - Central Fiji's reefs benefit from the combined effect of nutrient-rich run-off and deep-ocean upwelling. Encouraged by prevailing southeast trade winds, the clean food-laden ocean water is funnelled into and along the deep channel between Fiji's two main islands, Viti Levi and Vanua Levu. And a balancing nutrient load comes down from those two high islands out onto the barrier reefs and into the same central channel. Most NAI'A dive areas lie along that channel line.

• Circulation - tidal and wind-driven currents are intensified through Fiji's center. They play a crucially important role in circulating cleansing water flow, removing sediment and moving food back and forth throughout the reef system. These same currents aid in the daily mixing of broadcast spawn from fish and invertebrates.

• Protection - coral reefs need shelter to truly thrive. Open ocean atolls are usually not so luxuriant and abundant as they must develop amid the constant pounding of ocean swells and storm surf. Central Fiji's maze of barrier reefs provides ideal protection without compromising the important water movement.

• New Recruits - Central Fiji is a nexus for spawn from coral reef animals that have traveled thousands of miles looking for a place to mingle and colonize. This spawn, carried over the open sea surface from all over the Tropical Pacific, finds in Fiji a perfect stop-off point at which to stop, settle and grow. Fiji is the first major barrier for spawn that has traveled across the Pacific with the southeast trades. Like other food and nutrients, this spawn is concentrated in Central Fiji waters, by the topography of the barrier reefs, the deep Bligh Water channel and the life-breathing currents.