Savusavu & Natewa Bay · Fiji · Coral garden · Reef
Dreadlocks
Two hard-coral bommies flanking a garden in sheltered Savusavu Bay
Area photo: Debra Baker · CC BY 4.0
Dreadlocks is a coral garden in the heart of Savusavu Bay, sheltered from the current that runs over the sites beyond the bay. It is an easy dive for all levels and a relaxed change from the livelier Vanua Levu sites, and nudibranchs turn up here in as good a variety as anywhere in Fiji.
Where it is and how deep
16.7598° S, 179.2577° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
Divers drop in through calm water and sink over two bommies that flank the coral garden. The bommie tops sit at about 5 m and are covered in hard corals in the sunlight; lower down, soft corals in reds, oranges and yellows take over, with flatworms among them. The garden around the bommies lies at about 16 to 20 m. Oriental sweetlips and lionfish lurk in the overhangs of the bommies, and harlequin filefish and butterflyfish work across the garden.
Marine life and season
- Nudibranchs
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good |
Season follows Savusavu & Natewa Bay: Diving runs all year with no peak month: the wet months bring calm, warm water and the trade-wind months bring chop but very good visibility.
Sources
- Savusavu and Vanua Levu diving, Fiji — Dive The World
More dive sites in Savusavu & Natewa Bay
Pinnacle
Three coral towers rising almost to the surface at Namena
Seamount
Schools of hammerheads over a football-field seamount
A ledge on a Namena wall that falls away for hundreds of feet
Similar dives elsewhere
Coral garden with sharks, turtles and barracuda, to 29 m
Coral bommies and a coral nursery off the resort beach
Shallow invertebrate reef in a bay boats overnight in
An islet with one tree, ringed all round by hard and soft coral