Dates:
2025 dates TBC
Duration:
11 days/10 nights
Package Cost:
2025 Dates TBC
Payment
To secure your place on this trip, you will need to pay a $500 USD deposit.
HSBC Bank (US Dollars only)
Amanda Delaforce
BSB: 342091
Swift Code: HKBAAU2S
Account Number: 816462439
Receiving Bank Address: Shop 1032, Westfield Hornsby,
236 Pacific Highway, Hornsby NSW 2077 Australia.
In this trip we will visit two of the best diving sites in Fiji: Taveuni Island and the Shark Marine Reserve off of Pacific Harbor
Taveuni is the soft coral capital of the world with amazing dive sites such as Rainbow Reef, the Great White Wall and other locations nearby. The Rainbow Reef is a 32km reef in the Somosomo Strait between the islands of Tavenui and Vanau Levu. It is a famous dive site.
The Shark Marine Reserve (south of Pacific Harbor and north of Beqa Lagoon Resort) is famous for its bull sharks and the occasional tiger. Divers are required to pay a levy, which goes back to the local village in exchange for them not fishing in the area. This has allowed marine life to thrive and shark numbers to replenish.
Group Leaders
Your group leaders, Amanda Delaforce a marine biologist, wildlife ecologist for over 20 years, also a passionate underwater photographer; Kim Randall an experienced diver and educator.
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Amanda is a marine biologist and wildlife ecologist having worked across both NSW and QLD Marine Parks (Australia) over the last 20 years. Amanda has previously been involved in various humpback whale research projects along the East Australian Coast including Eden, Port Stephens, Sunshine Coast and Hervey Bay.
Amanda has been taking guests diving and swimming with marine species including humpback whales, manta rays, whale sharks, dolphins and reef and oceanic sharks while also viewing amazing coral communities and fish in stunning and remote locations. Amanda can provide a wealth of information on the humpback and blue whales while out on the zodiac day expeditions. She holds her coxswains certificate and has been a divemaster for over 23 years.
She works closely with marine conservation and citizen science groups such as Manta Project Australia, Project Manta Maldives, Grey Nurse Shark Watch Australia and Whale Shark Researchers in the Maldives.
Amanda is a passionate underwater marine and wildlife photographer; countless dives and ocean encounters means she knows where to look for inspiration. She has a genuine love and admiration for animals she encounters which are reflected in the experiences she shares with others.
This is her first trip to this amazing location and has been a dream trip for many years. I hope you are as excited as she is to take you on this unforgettable journey. Follow her on Instagram, check out her photography and shop page on her website.
Kim Randall, a native Californian and an avid traveler, discovered her love of the ocean and marine life at an early age, by pleading with her parents to send her to a sailing and diving summer camp. It was here she became certified to scuba dive. While she was always active and into playing sports as a child and young adult, she developed knee issues which prevented her full involvement in them. Scuba diving and water related non weight bearing activities changed all of that!
Kim went on to pursue a career in education, and became a global educational technology consultant. She works with professional learning organizations including Designed for Learning, Discovery Education, Nearpod, and the Krause Center for Innovation, providing relevant and engaging training centered around effective use and pedagogy of educational technologies in the classroom.
When she wasn’t consulting and working with educators, she was (and still is) found planning dive trips around the world. In 2009 she joined the team producing the tv series “Into the Drink”, a diving and travel show filming on location in incredible diving destinations around the world. Kim traveled with the crew and guests on many of the trips, supporting with underwater photography and guest relations. Her love of diving, marine life, underwater photography, and traveling across the globe continued to flourish with this incredible experience. It was through mutual friends filming on one of the boats, that Kim and Amanda became friends, dive buddies, and shared a passion for photography.
With her love of travel, trip planning and diving, she organically loved Google Earth & Maps when they launched in 2005 and became an avid user of both tools. Fast forward to 2018, She co-authored a book geared towards educators called Bring the World to Your Classroom: Using Google Geo Tools. Kim has been an elementary and middle school teacher as well as a technology integration specialist and holds a California Multiple Subject teaching credential. She is based in the San Francisco Bay Area but often found in her spare time traveling to new places near and far, scuba diving, and dabbling with topside and underwater photography. This is her first trip to Antarctica and the only remaining continent she hasn’t visited yet. Kim is so excited for this adventure. Follow her on Twitter, Instagram, check out her photography www.kimrandall.photography or contact her at designedfordiving@gmail.com.
How To Get There
Embarkation/Arrival: TBC
Disembarkation/Departure: TBC
International Flight/s: There are a number of airlines that fly to Fiji including Fiji Airways (best option), Jetstar, Qantas, Singapore. If you are traveling from Australia flights can vary from $600-$1000 AUD, it takes about 4.5 hours with a direct flight. From the United States prices start at around $1000 US upwards. The flight time from Los Angeles or San Francisco is approximately 11 hours with direct flight options. Guests traveling from the US will need to depart LAX or SFO on TBC.
Internal Flight: We will be flying from Suva to Taveuni Island on TBC
*Please contact us prior to booking your flights as it is best to have the international and domestic legs in one ticket for weight and luggage purposes.
Price Includes:
- 7 nights at Paradise Taveuni includes:
- Meals: full cooked breakfast, along with 2 course lunch and a delicious 3 course dinner after a full day of diving
- 5 Day Dive Package – 3 tank boat dives (16 dives)
- Shore dives daily from 7am–5pm, excluding dive gear
- Accommodation in oceanfront rooms
- Wifi in main building
- Fijian Cultural Show/Dance
- 3 nights at Pearl South Pacific includes:
- Full cooked breakfast
- Wifi
- Non-motorized water activities
- Fire walking show
- Accommodation in renovated marina view rooms
- 3-4 dives at the Shark Marine Reserve
- Up to 15-20 Dives (includes tanks and weights)
- Land transfers from airports to hotels and back
- Presentations on marine wildlife – sharks and corals
- Travel and explore with a marine biologist and educational expert
- Photography and editing advice provided
- Friendly atmosphere
- Certified dive guides
- Getting to experience local culture
Exclusions:
- Dive gear rental ($20 US/day on Taveuni)
- Massages or add-on day trips to explore Taveuni Island
- Wifi in rooms on Taveuni ($15 FJ per day)
- Alcohol or beverages
- Lunch & Dinner in Pacific Harbor
- Shark Reef Marine Reserve Levy ($25 FJ)
- Airfares: International & Domestic
- Travel Insurance / DAN dive Insurance
Itinerary:
- Wed 2 – Arrival into Nadi – Transit to shark dives (3 hours drive)
- Thurs 3 – Shark Dives – Bega Lagoon (staying at Pearl South Pacific Resort)
- Fri 4 – Shark Dives – Bega Lagoon (staying at Pearl South Pacific Resort)
- Sat 5 – Fly to Taveuni from Suva (10.30am internal flight)
- Sun 6 – Taveuni – Great White Wall
- Mon 7 Taveuni – Great White Wall
- Tue 8 Taveuni – Diving
- Wed 9 Taveuni – Diving
- Thurs 10 Taveuni – Diving
- Fri 11 Taveuni – Sightseeing
- Sat 12 – Depart
Group Size:
It will be limited to 12-15 pax (includes expedition leaders) for photographers/divers. Photography assistance will be available to help you get the most out of your trip. *Please bring/or have a copy of your SCUBA diving card. Divers must be advanced certification or have completed at least 30 dives for the shark dives.
About Fiji:
- A group of roughly 330 tropical islands in Melanesia in the South Pacific, Fiji is roughly 1100 miles northeast of New Zealand. The capital and gateway city, Nadi, is located on Viti Levu, one of the two major islands.
- The currency is the Fijian Dollar (FJ).
- The traditional Fijian language is made up of a number of dialects, with the official interpretation being Bau Fijian.
- Visibility: During the dry season, visibility is often 100’+ outside the lagoons. The Bligh Waters can have high visibility even in the wet season, ranging from 80-100ft.
- Weather: November marks the beginning of Fiji’s summer. The days start to get a little warmer than previous months of the year with the maximum average daytime temperatures reaching 29°C / 84.
- Average Water Temperatures in November: 80-82F/ 26-27C
Bookings, Payment, Cancellation Policy and Force Majeure in relation to the Tour
- Amanda Delaforce Photography and Travel Pty Ltd highly recommends you purchase travel and dive insurance as soon as possible after confirming your travel plans. We recommend Dive Assure or DAN for diving insurance. Dive Assure offers a Dive and Travel Insurance annual and short-term (per trip). You can purchase it here: https://app.diveassure.com/#/registration/main/process/0/int/0/18669/en-intl
- Evidence of adequate travel and dive insurance must be provided prior to departure.
- Bookings made more than 100 days out from the start of a trip require a deposit of $500.00 USD per passenger
- All deposits are non-refundable.
- Bookings made less than 100 days out from tour commencement require payment in full to secure your booking.
- Payment in full is required 100 days out from the start of the trip. We will email you a final payment reminders. No refunds will be given within 100 days of the start of any trip, under any circumstances.
- If you cancel your spot more than 100 days before the start of a trip, and we/you are able to resell/fill the spot, a trip credit for your remaining balance (minus a $300 USD service fee deducted) will be issued for use on another Amanda Delaforce Photography and Travel Pty Ltd trip within 2 years of the cancellation.
- If you cancel your spot less than 99 days prior to the start of a trip, no refund or credit will be issued for deposits that have been paid.
- If our In-Country Providers cancel or if aForce Majeure Event occurs, meaning any act of God, war, terrorism, fire, flood or any other extreme weather conditions, loss of power, epidemics or pandemics, industrial disputes, slow-downs or other strike activities, riots or civil disturbances, acts of government, semi government or other authorities, inability to obtain any necessary license or consent and delays caused by sub-contractors, suppliers or other third parties (including telecommunications carriers), material shortages or other disruption to the trip beyond our control, Amanda Delaforce Photography and Travel Pty Ltd shall not be held responsible for matters outside of our control or any failure to deliver the trip.
- The affiliated and established company’s such as the ‘Paradise Tavenui’ or ‘Pearl Resort’, holds the relevant insurances and maintains responsibility for the dive and snorkel insurance policies and procedures. As such when in the water diving, snorkeling or swimming you are diving under the affiliated company’s policies and procedures and must adhere to either the Captain, Dive Instructor or Divemaster’s instructions.
- Amanda Delaforce Photography and Travel Pty Ltd takes no responsibility for loss, damage or injury arising from any shortfall, error or omission in the information passed to the customer during the course of the sale or subsequent delivery of the product. The company takes no responsibility nor can be held liable for loss, damage, or injury that occurs on a supplier’s or service provider’s premises or transport, or between two such premises.
- Participation in any of the Activities involves certain risks which may result in injury or death. This warning does not purport to describe or disclose all risks associated with participation of the Activities. There are a wide range of inherent risks when engaging in sports and particularly underwater sports; for example, with diving there is the risk of decompression sickness, embolism or other hyperbaric injury can occur that requires treatment in a recompression chamber. Open water scuba diving trips may be conducted at sites that are remote, either by time or distance, from emergency services or recompression facilities. Scuba diving, snorkeling and tours will involve uncontrolled encounters with wild animals which bears the risk of stings, bites, and at the extreme end, more serious injury and death.
- Participants should be responsible and aware of animal behaviors and their own interactions and engage in these activities entirely at their own risk.
- We will not be liable to you in respect of any personal injury (including without limitation serious injury or death) that you may suffer or sustain directly or indirectly as a result of attending the trip or participation in the Activities. Nor will we be liable to you in respect of any other losses arising as a result of any such personal injury (including without limitation loss of profit or earnings or other consequential losses). We will not be liable to you in respect of any of your personal property that is lost, stolen or damaged before, during or after a trip.
- Please ensure you understand our cancellation policy prior to providing any deposits and agree to the booking and trip.
- By placing a booking with Amanda Delaforce Photography and Travel Pty Ltd, this implies that you accept these booking terms and conditions and cancellation policy.
Trading as “Amanda Delaforce Travel and Photography Pty Ltd”