Beqa Adventure Divers – Fiji

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About Beqa Adventure Divers, Fiji – Sustainable Green Ecotourism and World Travel

Named The Best Shark Dive in the World by diving legends Ron and Valerie Taylor, The Fiji Shark Dive has been experienced by countless diving icons, professional photographers and cameramen, industry professionals and clients alike.

This is the original and unmatched product featuring Fiji’s unique and highly experienced crew of Shark Divers – much copied but never equalled!

On The Shark Dive you will be able to experience the breathtaking sight of up to eight species of Sharks:  Blacktip Reef Sharks, Whitetip Reef Sharks, Grey Reef Sharks, Silvertip Sharks, Tawny Nurse Sharks, Sicklefin Lemon Sharks, Bull Sharks and the occasional Tiger Shark.  In addition, you can also encounter Giant Groupers, Maori Wrasse, Rainbow Runners, Giant Trevally, Java Morays, Eagle Rays and more than 400 species of tropical reef fish, as documented by our 2010 census.  All this on one single dive, a mere 20 minute ride from our dive base on our state-of-the-art hydrofoil catamaran dive vessels, “MV Predator” and “MV Hunter”.

Perfectly safe, exhilarating and intriguing, Shark diving doesn’t get any better!

Beqa Adventure Divers have worked closely with the Government of Fiji and the traditional owners of Shark Reef to have it designated as a protected Marine Park, Shark Reef Marine Reserve.  Our holistic Conservation Project has been hailed world-wide as a template for sustainable and efficient Eco-Tourism.

We are involved in ongoing cutting-edge research with an international team of scientists to better understand the Bull Shark population of Shark Reef Marine Reserve and have set up a comprehensive database about The Shark Dive which is unparalleled and continues to yield unique insights into the mysterious life of our free-roaming Sharks.  We also conduct regular surveys and fish counts aimed at documenting the results of our stewardship of this unique marine resource.  We do all of this with the aim of learning more about these majestic and endangered animals and contributing to their long-term survival.  Our findings have already prompted us to greatly expand the protected area by creating the protected Fiji Shark Corridor of close to 30 nautical miles along the southern coastline of Fiji’s main island of Viti Levu.  Our newest Conservation Project will result in yet another Marine Park being established within the Corridor.

We will also take you to world-renown Beqa Lagoon, the Soft Coral Capital of the World. Here you will experience spectacular reef landscapes that are teeming with life, Fiji’s famous lush soft coral forests, mysterious wrecks and exhilarating drift dives.  Featuring over fifty world-class dive sites, diving in the Beqa Lagoon caters to all experience levels.

Should you wish to get an introduction to this wonderful activity or just wish to upgrade your skills or your certification, our experienced resident Instructors offer a vast array of tailor-made basic, advanced and specialty courses all the way up to the level of Dive Master. We carry a complete selection of high-end rental gear and will soon be offering Nitrox as a contribution to your safety and enjoyment.

Beqa Adventure Divers’ highly experienced and friendly crew has a traditional covenant with the Sharks of Beqa Lagoon and has perfected shark diving since 1998.  Our staff have also logged more than 30,000 hours diving the spectacular reefs of Beqa Lagoon. No dive team in Fiji can match this unique group of dedicated professionals.

Shark Diving, SCUBA, and Conservation

Here’s why you should choose to dive with Beqa Adventure Divers.

* This is the original product. Yes the company has only been established in 2004 but some of our staff are the very people who have discovered and named most dive sites within Beqa Lagoon and above all, developed The Fiji Shark Dive. No dive team in Fiji is this experienced! The Shark dive on Shark Reef has been conducted since 1999 and is the only such dive that has been described as The Best Shark Dive in the World by Ron and Valerie Taylor and a whole host of diving icons and publications thereafter.

* This is principally a marine conservation project that includes a dive operation, and not vice versa. Our seamless integration of diving, conservation, education, outreach and research has been hailed world wide. We are not on the hunt for awards and personal fame of whispering and the like, but instead, prefer to work hard at researching and protecting Sharks in Fiji and elsewhere. We also do not enable anti-Shark media.

* You are going to dive within Shark Reef Marine Reserve, Fiji’s first marine sanctuary dedicated to the protection of Sharks that has been established by one of our shareholders in cooperation with government and local stakeholders. This is the original site that has been featured in countless publications all across the world.

* We are a renowned ecotourism operator and always strive to further reduce our ecological and carbon footprints. From installing fixed moorings on all of our dive sites to running fuel efficient engines, everything we do is geared to minimising our impact on the environment. As of September 1st, 2010 our newest project, Mangroves for Fiji enables us to offset all of our Carbon Emissions by restoring Mangroves. We shall become a completely Carbon Neutral Business by December 2010, after which we will equally offset the Carbon Footprint our clients have incurred when travelling to Fiji.

* We are beholden to Fiji. We cooperate closely with Fiji’s government and local communities and stakeholders, and generally strive to make a contribution to enhancing the country’s international reputation and prosperity, and that of its people. With the exception of the directors, all of our staff are Fijians who partake directly in our success via a generous bonus scheme. All of our earnings accrue and are taxed in Fiji, meaning that we do not operate offshore booking offices and do not dodge taxes by circling our cash flow via shell companies in tax heavens.

* Safety is our main concern and our safety record is pristine. Whilst always striving to provide a memorable and highly enjoyable experience, we observe stringent safety guidelines comprising regular maintenance, upgrades and surveys of all of our infrastructure, highly trained staff, exhaustive dive briefings, special Shark diving procedures, high staff to client ratio, non decompression diving and comprehensive emergency equipment and protocols.

* We provide for excellent and exclusive service. BAD is a high end operator and we pride ourselves in being highly professional and mindful of the needs and comfort of our clients.

Specifically, we limit the number of customers on our boats and you will never experience any dive where divers from other operations will join in and spoil your exclusive experience.

* You will be able to capture stunning images. We are experienced UW photographers and videographers and know our sites, Fishes and Sharks. We have designed the Shark dive in view of allowing for unobstructed and clear views of the animals, and experienced elite amateurs will be safely positioned in strategic locations from where they will be able to shoot top-notch pictures and video.

We would like to share with you our love and our respect for the Marine Environment and its inhabitants.

Come and meet our special friends beneath the Sea.

Book a sustainable dive with Beqa Adventure Divers, Fiji.

How to be Green – Sustainable Development at Beqa Adventure Divers

Beqa Adventure Divers – a dive shop and SCUBA trip operator that specializes in diving around wrecks, reefs, and sharks – is one of Fiji’s premier ecotourism operators.  Frustrated with the knowledge that their boats and vehicles were emitting carbon into the atmosphere and thereby contributing to global warming, Beqa Adventure Divers set out on a mission to off-set their carbon emissions through locally-grown mangroves that could provide a livelihood to the local Fijian population.

Beqa Adventure Divers started Mangroves for Fiji, a privately funded project that combines the advantages of planting mangroves, with the advantages of off-setting one’s carbon footprint.

What are mangroves?  Mangroves are like rainforests by the sea and are equally threatened.  They are vital habitats that not only protect the coasts against tsunamis, hurricanes and sea level change, but also directly benefit the adjacent reefs by being the nursery areas of countless marine organisms from crustaceans to sharks.  Mangroves are also largely overlooked excellent carbon sinks that sequester large amounts of carbon, as compared with tropical and temperate forests.  Beqa Adventure Divers set out to protect the mangroves, seeing them as nature’s answer to global warming.

Beqa Adventure Divers, through Mangroves for Fiji, encourages other businesses to completely off-set their carbon emissions by sponsoring the planting of mangroves in Fiji.  For this project, it is assumed that one hectare of mangroves (or 10,000 mangrove trees) sequesters one metric ton of carbon every year.  Participating businesses calculate their carbon emissions and sponsor planting by local stakeholders in Fiji, who will be paid FJD 1,000 ($570 USD) for every hectare of restored mangroves.

Beqa Adventure Divers’ journey to becoming completely carbon neutal and encouraging others to do the same dovetails with other current environmental efforts.  Fiji’s Department of Forestry is aiming at planting 1 million trees, so the mangroves link in well with this country-wide undertaking.  The Department of Fisheries and Department of Environment consider mangrove habitats essential in their effort to preserve the country’s natural resources.  Other NGOs in Fiji have long run ongoing mangrove projects and are pitching in to assist in the project.  Partnering with these institutions has allowed Beqa Adventure Divers to grow its knowledge and skills quickly and has assisted them in liaising with local mangrove planters.  In line with their belief that in order to achieve sustainable results, they need to cooperate with local stakeholders, they have decided to preferentially engage with Fijian villages and settlements, schools and grassroots initiatives whilst availing themselves of the welcome mediation and assistance by the various government departments.

Money earned by the mangrove planters is already being converted into funds for education, infrastructure, farming equipment, and other local causes as determined by the local Fijian mangrove planting groups.  Additionally, Beqa Adventure Divers teaches visiting groups of divers and travelers about carbon off-set and the mangrove project in general.

Beqa Adventure Divers offers its advisory services and its website template for free to any other group wishing to replicate and manage a similar program.

Beqa Adventure Divers also sponsors the training of snorkeling guides from local villages and conducts local trips to Beqa Island to enjoy a day out seeing the sites and supporting the local economy.  The company also established the Shark Reef Marine Reserve in 2004 and a youth program dedicated to educating and training unemployed youth to become dive professionals

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