Our wet honeymoon

We got back to Denver just in time to pack for Fiji and cook Thanksgiving dinner. We had to leave before the pumpkin pie to catch our flight. I’m telling you, flying on the holiday is the way to go! Of course you have to give up time with the family but there was NO ONE IN LINE at security! And of course we did not know that when we booked our flight so our layover in LA was insane. Once we could finally check in, we still had hours to go before our flight left for Fiji. Do not ever go through security into the International Terminal without eating a meal because there is only 1 bar in the whole place & it serves hotdogs & microwave pizza. You could not even watch the football game because there were only about 4 tables in the whole place. If you don’t bring your own snacks you use up all your mad money on munchies. Of course you have no choice on the water, but as long as it is not peanut butter or a brick of cheese, you’re OK to bring it through security.

It was an overnight flight, which wasn’t too bad. Take something to help you sleep because the plane is 10 – 14 seats across with no room to stretch out, especially if it is full. Then they wake you up at 4am for breakfast (or was it 3?) By the time you get off the plane you are a little punch drunk. Then you have to deal with baggage claim and customs….be prepared to wait and wait and wait. As a group of 30 people, we had a lot of luggage! Some was lost and it all had to be loaded on the bus.  We finally left the airport and drove to Pacific Harbor (about 1 ½ hrs) and then took a boat to the island (45 min). They drive on the left side of the road, which takes some getting used to. The countryside is very mountainous with rain forest vegetation at the higher elevations.  The resort, Beqa Island (Benga) is surrounded by a coral reef lagoon, so the boats had to anchor off shore and we ferried in on smaller boats and waded ashore. The native staff was right there in the water with us, welcoming us with flowers, greeting us with “Bula”.

The resort was gorgeous, as you can imagine. (Beqa Lagoon Resort Gallery) All the rooms are individual huts called Bures (beret), spread out around the grounds. Some were along the koi ponds, some were under the trees and some, like ours, were along the beach. You walked behind the bure to get to the front door. Out from the door was a plunge pool, chaise lounges and a grass lawn going down to the beach, which had a hammock strung between 2 palm trees! The inside of the room was just as beautiful with a living room, bedroom and bath. The ceilings are covered with woven reed mats, the bathroom was tile and the bed was a huge carved 4 poster bed. Quite the place.

All the meals are included and were served in a large open sided common room, decorated with lots of woven mats, wood carvings, Tapia wall hangings and huge flower bouquets. All the wood support posts were covered with intricately braided palm fronds and flowers. The food was excellent, although a bit rich. Almost everyone got sick for about 48 hours mid week. Luckily Jim and I didn’t. A lot of the time it is unusual spices and sauces that can upset your digestive tract more than a “bug”.

But as great as the resort was, it could not hold a candle to the sights under water! We went out every morning on the boats for a 2 tank dive and went to a different location on the reef each day. Fiji has soft corals as well as hard corals. It is like an abundant flower garden where ever you go. And the fish are incredible. So many species and colors and so little time. It was a kaleidoscope of color and movement. We saw sharks on every dive and several turtles, lots of macro creatures…it takes your breath away. We also went on a night dive and saw lots of nocturnal life, including a clam that had a red electric charge across his mouth, like a miniature lightning bolt. The special shark dive brought in a Tiger shark, very impressive and scary. (Fiji and Beqa Lagoon)

The flight back was not as insane as the flight there, but we left Fiji at 11pm Saturday night and got back to Denver at 10pm Saturday night, very weird. A word to the wise, when you check in early, your bags are in the bottom of the baggage compartment and THE LAST to come off! It seemed to take twice as long to get our bags and clear immigration and customs than it did going out. We called the kids to bring our coats to the airport as it was snowing and we were in shorts and flip flops! Quite a climate shock.

Jim and I both agree that the next time we go to that part of the world to dive, we want to do a “live aboard” where you stay on a big boat and move around to dive sights. That way you get to have many more dives each day, and the diving is why you go!