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    Scuba Diving The Great White Wall in Fiji

    The Great White Wall of Fiji is on many scuba divers’ bucket lists, and for good reason. The experience is surreal; it takes you through a tunnel in the top of the reef out to a wall of soft white coral, and up through another tunnel to finish the dive in shallow reef.

    At the beginning of the dive, look for garden eels popping up from the sand near the reef. The surface reef is thriving with life already, but it’s not long before you swim through a “cave” in the reef from about 15 meters or 50 feet out to the Great White Wall at around 25 meters or 82 feet deep. The cave contains several hard and soft corals, including a healthy staghorn branching coral. You may also see several fish using it as shelter.

    Leaving the cave, you find yourself diving into what feels like a dream. The Great White Wall’s soft white coral stretches to the edge of your vision in every direction. The deeper it gets, the more it actually appears lavender or purple, until finally disappearing into the dark ocean depths. Be mindful of your SPG, as it’s very easy to wander too deep as you gaze at the brilliance of the White Wall.

    Mixed in with the white coral, though less prominent, are colorful soft corals. The diversity and sheer number of fish around the wall are remarkable. Looking out from the wall, you’re likely to see some larger fish such as travalie and white tip reef sharks hunting for tasty reef fish.

    For your safety stop at the end of the dive, you’ll swim up through another tunnel onto the top of the reef, where you’ll get to explore at five meters or 15 feet before returning to the surface.

    When to go:
    There are actually only four to five days every month in which you can go; two days at each half moon phase.  Julie at taveuni Ocean Sports will organize a wonderful experience on the white wall, but plan ahead for this dive in particular. Take a look at her web site at http://www.taveunioceansports.com.

    Visibility: 20-40 meters/70-130 feet most of the year

    Water Temperature:
    23°C/75°F in winter
    30°C/86°F in summer

    Species you’ll see:

    IMG_9742Definitely:
    White Dendronepthya soft coral
    Fusiliers
    Triggerfish
    Parrotfish
    Squirrelfish
    Butterflyfish
    Damselfish
    Surgeonfish
    Angelfish
    Anthia
    Feather sea star

    Probably:
    Staghorn branching coral
    Whip coral
    Brain coral
    Fire coral
    White tip reef shark
    Garden eel
    Giant clam
    Blue sea star
    Lionfish
    Napoleon wrasse
    Grouper
    Trevally
    Fiji clown fish
    Sponge

    Possibly:
    Black tip reef shark
    Nudibranch
    Hawksbill sea turtle
    Pin cushion sea star
    Moray eel
    Ribbon eel