Paradise Courses offer exciting week-long holiday retreats focussed on a number of subjects. Our teachers are well-established in their fields; they’ll inspire you afresh in the course you choose, show you new ways to look at old techniques or teach you things you never knew in the first place.

Every morning starts with breakfast beside the pool before a daily morning workshops. The workshops fit the pace of each teacher’s programme – it might be a three hour writing session around a table near the pool, morning’s singing in the big bure, an intensive tutorial bent over your drawing pad, or perhaps a dawn start to catch the early morning bird chorus for the birdwatchers. Have a look at each course – and my thanks to all past course participants who have sent me their photos, particularly Julie Rickwood (all sorts of lovely images) and Jenny Carmichael (who has excelled in the quilting photos).

The afternoons are free for you to relax by the pool, have a massage, snorkel on the reef or wander into Savusavu. Or maybe you just want to keep going with your writing or painting or quilting, enjoying the tranquillity of the place and the companionship of the other people with you. And then in the evenings we gather together for a buffet dinner, and there’s time to exchange stories, listen to some Fijian singing and drink a bowl of kava.

During the week we organise a couple of local excursions so you see some Fijian life – we visit a village and watch a meke (dance), spend an afternoon on a beach and have a drink at the Savusavu Yacht Club. And of course you’re free to take your own expeditions as well – a walk through town to buy a souvenir, a boat across the bay to Mutuku Beach, a visit to the J.Hunter Pearls farm where they harvest magnificent black pearls, a steep walk through the bush to a lovely waterfall where you can jump into the deep water pools if you’re brave enough, or lounge in the shallow pools if you’re not.

Our accommodation is at Daku Resort in a range of single and double bures, cottages and villas. It’s a comfortable mid-range resort set in lovely tropical gardens, with a staff who will welcome you like family. Have a look at www.dakuresort.com

Have you thought about making a quilt to capture your memories of a special place?  This week in Fiji is a marvellous opportunity to do just that. You will have a rich choice of subject matter in and around the resort where we stay – the mountainous landscape, the view over the bay, the tropical gardens…or you might like to use a scene from a nearby village or the nearby market. No matter what the inspiration, creating a landscape quilt is an achievable project.  The process combines making decisions about design and colour choices as well as incorporating accurate construction techniques.

Over the week, Gloria will show you how to choose the subject, what aspect to focus on, how to make it come alive, and where to begin. She will then guide you through the process, looking at how to translate what you see into an image in textiles. By the end of the week you will have had the opportunity to produce  a wall hanging depicting a scene of your choice.

You will need to bring basic sewing supplies and a sewing machine, and she will supply hand dyed fabrics, fabrics to paint and the paint.
Gloria Loughman lives by the sea, on the beautiful Bellarine Peninsula, in Victoria.

She has been teaching patchwork classes for many years and enjoys sharing her knowledge and skills with others. She likes to challenge students to design their own quilts but is also happy to provide patterns for those less confident. Her classes are very popular with lots of students coming back. She has also travelled extensively overseas teaching classes in New Zealand, United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Europe, South Africa, and Japan.

Over the years she has dabbled in many areas including strip piecing, bargello, colourwash, fabric dyeing and painting, and machine embroidery After completing some studies in design and colour as part of a Diploma of Art in 1996, she began to make her large vivid landscape quilts depicting the Australian bush. Most of the textiles used have been hand dyed or painted and feature extensive machine embroidery. These quilts have won many major awards in Australia, Europe, Japan and the United States. Her quilt ‘Kimberley Mystique’ was the winner of Australia’s most prestigious national quilting award in 2003.

She has also curated eight exhibitions of Australian quilts to the United States and have had the privilege of judging at many major shows. She has had a number of solo exhibitions, including an invitation to exhibit at the prestigious NEC Show in Birmingham, UK. Her book, Luminous Landscapes, was released by C&T in January 2007, and her second book, Quilted Symphony, will be available in January 2010.

Programme

Saturday 30 October
Arrive Fiji and fly on to Savusavu.

Sunday 31 October
Morning workshop: an introduction to the week. Learn about designing a landscape quilt.  Look at different colour choices.  Begin to design quilt, concentrating on the background.  Poolside lunch and coconut cutting demonstration, followed by a walk around the resort gardens.

Monday 1 November
Morning workshop: Watch demonstrations of fabric painting then have fun painting your own unique fabrics.  Paint fabric for your sky, water or any other areas of your background.  After lunch you will have some free time for snorkelling, swimming and relaxing.  Or there’s an optional visit to town, visiting geothermal hot springs, local market and shops.

Tuesday 2 November
Morning workshop: Time now to construct the background of your landscape.  Simple construction techniques will be outlined including mosaic piecing and invisible appliqué.  There will also be a tapa making demonstration.

Wednesday 3 November
Morning workshop: Today we will look at the various techniques that can be used to create trees, buildings or other elements on the surface. Appliqué, painting and machine stitching will be explored to give extra texture and dimension to the landscape. In the afternoon we will have a boat or beach outing.

Thursday 4 November
Continue with individual projects.   In the evening we will go into Savusavu for drinks at the yacht Club and diner in town.

Friday 5 November
Finish individual projects, concentrating on quilting and looking at various options for borders and binding. End session with a show and tell.  Afternoon visit to Vivili village for traditional meke (dance).  Final diner.

Saturday 6 November
Return home.

International travel from Australia
The course price for all courses excludes the international flight from Sydney. You are able to book your own flights, or we can arrange them for you. We usually book with Virgin Pacific Blue which leaves Sydney at 8.10am (depending on time of year) and arrives in Nadi at 2.10 pm. This enables us to connect with the late afternoon domestic flight to Savusavu.

If you are coming from another city in Australia, we can also book your flight; we will advise of the price before going ahead.

If you wish to make your own flight arrangements, the course price is AUD$1980 for yoga courses, AUD$2280 for all other courses.

International travel from New Zealand
The course price excludes the international flight. The reason for this is that many of our New Zealand visitors prefer to use their frequent flier points – although we will quote and book your flight if you would like. Flights from New Zealand are with Air New Zealand and Air Pacific.

International travel from other cities
If you are coming from another part of the world and are arranging your own flights to Fiji, the course price is AUD$1980 for yoga courses, AUD$2280 for all other courses. Please advise us when you plan to arrive so we can make the appropriate domestic flights bookings.

Requests for different flight dates
We are happy to book your flights earlier / later than the course dates if so requested. If this involves moving into an expensive period we will let you know and add on the difference, but this is unlikely to happen, and we will quote you before going ahead.

Overnight stays in Nadi
In some instances, flight times make it necessary to spend a night in Nadi. We can book you into Raffles Gateway hotel for $75 (standard single / double). It is a comfortable, pleasant mid-range hotel directly beside the airport, with a courtesy bus service running regularly back and forth.

Domestic flights from Nadi to Savusavu (Daku Resort)
Daku Resort is just outside Savusavu on Fiji’s northern island of Vanua Levu.
The price of your course includes the domestic flight from Nadi to Savusavu return.

The flights from Nadi depart at 7.00am, 10.00 am and 3.00pm (although the local carrier will delay this flight until 3.30pm in order to help passengers arriving from Sydney on the Virgin flight make the connection).

The return flights from Savusavu to Nadi are at 8.30 am, 2.00pm and 4.30 pm. The flight is in a deHavilland Twin Otter which has 20 seats, and takes 55 minutes.

It’s hard to say what it is about Savusavu that draws repeat visitors and why so many of those visitors end up full or part-time residents with their own slice of paradise. It’s an active community of locals, expats, yachties, and visitors from around the globe. It’s a quirky little place with limited choices for the dedicated shopper – but lots of endearing nooks and crannies.

Savusavu calls itself the Hidden Paradise – and with good reason. It’s off the sunset strip of commercial vacationland, away from the rush of day-glo tourists, bus tours and international hotel chains. Located on Fiji’s second largest island, Vanua Levu, it’s a 50 minute very scenic flight from Nadi. You’ll land on a beautiful little airstrip by the sea. Town is about 6 minutes over the hill from the airport, and 8-10 minutes to Daku Resort. From Daku, Savusavu town is about a 25 minute walk along the sea – or a three minute taxi ride.

Town is a mile long and has nearly everything you need lodged in colourful buildings facing the bay. You’ll find a mix of cafes, funky Indian shops, a Hot Bread Kitchen, hardware stores, video stores, a well stocked bottle shop, a post office, ANZ and Westpac banks, two supermarkets, and an outdoor/indoor fresh veggie and fruit market where you’ll find all the home grown goods – plus a great handicraft market run by local Fijian women.

If you want to get a feel for Savusavu, you could start off at the Copra Shed, a wooden building with its own wharf which was once used for loading copra from the coconut plantations onto the boats to Suva. Nowadays it’s home to one of the best restaurants in town, Surf and Turf, run by Vijendra Kumar. Vijen has worked as a chef in some of Fiji’s top resorts, and opened his own highly popular place in 2007.

For a more casual meal, pop into the Captain’s Café for burgers, pizza and fish and chips. Check out their fruit smoothies too. You’ll also find the Savusavu Yacht Club at the Copra Shed, where you can enjoy a drink whilst looking at the yachts in the harbour.

Then walk through town and browse the shops. You’ll find t-shirts and casual wear at Solanki’s, and if you want him to run you up a dress or a beach wrap. he has a tailor’s shop at the back. Further on, there’s the market where you can usually find papaya, water melon, bananas and pineapple. At the back, there’s a handicraft shop that offers things like tapa cloth, wooden bowls and shell necklaces. The market is behind the Town Council which you’ll recognise by the two extraordinary carved stone lions – a unique piece of municipal decoration in the South Pacific!

A bit further on the Hot Bread Kitchen sells fresh bread, buns and cheese rolls; Chhaganlal’s store is crammed with fabric, fishing lines, stationery, and a little section of tourist items that are fun if you’re looking for a souvenir. At the end of town the green Waterfront Building houses Bula Re, another good restaurant where you can eat or just have a fruit juice or an iced coffee.

There’s lots more….but you’ll discover it all for yourself. J.Hunter Pearls sell beautiful pearl jewellery made from their own pearl farm in Savusavu Bay; Karen Bower’s shop has a range of paintings by local artists (herself included); at Denise Melinsky’s shop in the Waterfront you can find some wonderful bits of local furniture and craft work.

Just outside of town you’ll find local villages and fantastic scenery – yours for exploring. Rent a car for a day or hop on a bus and really see Fiji.

Complete information on visitor facilities all around Fiji is provided in Moon Handbooks Fiji by David Stanley.

Read more about beautiful Daku Resort here.
View Larger Map

The programme includes a number of activities – and there are more if you want. We plan the courses to give you a mixture of time for the course itself, local excursions when we take you snorkelling or out to a village, and free time for relaxing or getting on with your own projects. Here’s a quick summary of what is and isn’t included (and most people find that the programme covers enough), and then there’s a description of the activities.

The cost of the course ($3180) covers:

• International flights for Australian purchasers (not for New Zealand purchasers – but we’ll add it on if you want)
• Domestic flights Nadi – Savusavu return
• Airport transfers from Savusavu airport
• Accommodation at Daku Resort
• All meals during the course
• Course fees
• Activities as listed

If you’d like to arrange your own international flights, the cost is $2280 twin share.

It doesn’t cover:

• Course materials – this is mainly for the art courses. We’ll send you a list of materials before you come.
• Expenses of a personal nature eg laundry bills, bar bills, massages.
• Extra activities not on the programme.
• Travel insurance.
• Overnight stays in Nadi

Activities

Activities vary slightly depending on the course, so have a look at the individual programmes. Here’s a quick rundown on what there is to do.

All courses include:

• Coconut demonstration – a fascinating look at how Fijians use every part of the coconut in their culture. This takes place in the grounds of Daku resort which is set in the grounds of an old coconut plantation, and lasts about one hour.

• Tapa making demonstration. Tapa is the decorated bark cloth widely used in Fijian ceremonies. One of our staff will show you how the bark cloth is made, and will then decorate it in front of you. This is more of a chick thing but some men find it pretty fascinating too.

• Beach or boat outing. We stay a bit vague on this because we judge it on the weather and on what you, the group, want to do. Sometimes we go snorkelling, sometimes we take the boat to a nearby beach, sometimes we take a taxi round to the other side of the peninsula and go to a beach for a picnic.

• Visit to Savusavu town. Well, that’s a bit of a no-brainer – it’s an easy taxi ride in and you will almost certainly go back more than once. The market is fun to look at, and there are some nice shops for souvenirs. You can also get the local tailors to make you up a garment pretty fast.

• Visit to local village for a meke. A meke is a traditional dance and they do it with tremendous energy and colour. You’ll also be able to wander around the village and see how Fijian villagers live.

• Visit to Savusavu Yacht Club and dinner in town. Dinner’s on us! (Drinks are up to you).

And then there is all this too:

• Massage. One hour $50. We will put massages on your tab.
• Great snorkeling – the resort has supplies of masks and snorkels although if you have your own, bring them along. You can go outside Daku; we can also take you to Split Rock about 5km down the road (also accessible by taxi) or out to Lesciaceva Reef on the boat.
• You can arrange to go diving, or fit in an early morning fishing trip.
• Mountain hikes behind the resort – lots of bird life although not easy to see in the thick rainforest canopy. Bring some tennis shoes – preferably not new as it often gets muddy.
• Kayaking: Doubles $35 for an hour and half; $50 for half a day. Singles $25 for an hour and a half; $40 for half a day.
• Pearl farm – Savusavu has a black pearl farm producing quality pearls. The visit takes roughly 2 hours and costs $25.
• Waterfall trip – $10 entrance and $50 taxi.

.

All prices are quoted in Australian dollars.

1. Payment schedule
A $250 non-refundable deposit is required to secure your booking. The full amount is due 90 days before the course commencement date.

2. Cancellation terms.
Any cancellation must be made in writing (letter / fax / email). Cancellation charges are as follows:

• cancellation 60 – 90 days before commencement of course: 40% of cost

• cancellation 59 – 30 days before commencement of course: 65% of cost

• cancellation less than 30 days before commencement of course: 100% of cost

If a course is under subscribed we may cancel; in this case a full refund (including deposit) will be made.

If a teacher is unable to come due to last minute accident / illness, we will find a replacement.

3. Prices and times
These are based on flights ex-Sydney; please ask for a quote if you are flying from another airport. Flights from other airports may require an overnight stay in Nadi; this can be booked with us for A$75.

Bookings made less than 60 days in advance may carry a supplementary charge; this is dependant on flight prices and we will advise you of the difference.

Once booked, changes may be allowed at a cost, if permitted by the airfare rules. If not so permitted, no changes can be made

4. Passports.
It is your responsibility to ensure that your passport is up to date and that you supply us with your name exactly as shown in the passport. Visas are not required for Fiji for Australian and New Zealand passport holders but your passport should have 6 months validity.

5. Insurance.
You are strongly recommended to have travel insurance for this tour. Please confirm details of your insurance, or go to the link to purchase it through us. If you do not take insurance, you are required to indicate this on the booking form.

6. Health requirements.
Please ensure that you advise us of any health conditions and that you carry sufficient medication for any medical conditions. Fiji has no mandatory requirements for inoculations but you should consult your doctor for advice.

A Week of Choir Singing

Earlybird special: Book by April 1 and get a special price of $1850 (flights not included).

Gary’s course is a joyful celebration of the human voice. He believes passionately in encouraging everyone and anyone to sing, and has often helped people who never believed they could produce a note to be part of an exciting and harmonious choir. During the week, we will learn songs and pieces in a range of styles including classical, pop, gospel, jazz and world music. As well as a celebration of the human voice, it will be an exercise in making voices work together to create something beautiful, something greater than a single melody line. Through melody, harmony, rhythm and words we’ll be exploring the high points – those fabulous climaxes which leave singers and audiences powerfully moved and wanting to come back for more. “The thing I love about choir singing is the excitement of discovering that almost everyone can do it, and do it quite well.”

Teacher Gary Smith is a well known and highly popular choir director. His particular skill lies in his ability to communicate simple or complex pieces of choral music to small or large groups of people, leaving them with a satisfying and uplifting musical experience. His vision of the music is clear and strong and he knows how to get it across. Whether it’s a piece of traditional Hawaiian folk music, a medieval madrigal or a jazz standard, Gary has an approach to teaching where everyone feels included and capable of achieving the beautiful sounds they never thought they were capable of.

Gary has been singing with and directing choirs and small a cappella groups for over 35 years in styles as broad as church music, opera and classical, pop, jazz, gospel and various world music traditions. A graduate of the NSW Conservatorium of Music, Gary taught music in high schools for many years and currently works with several community choirs in Sydney as well as singing tenor in the a cappella jazz quintet The Fifth House, recent winners in the MacDonald’s Performing Arts Challenge.

The course is structured around morning workshops, with afternoon excursions to visit local Fijian choirs – and free time when you can swim, snorkel, walk or just lie by the pool and read a book.

Programme

Saturday 26 June
Travel to Nadi and on to Savusavu.

Sunday 27 June
9.00am – 12.00pm: Workshop
1.00pm: Poolside lunch.
2.00pm: Coconut demonstration
Afternoon free for swimming, snorkeling, relaxing.
6.30pm: Pre-dinner drinks. Dinner and informal singing.

Monday 28 June
9.30am – 12.30pm: Workshop
1.00pm: Lunch
Afternoon: Visit to village with church choir
7.00pm: Dinner and informal singing.

Tuesday 29 June
9.30am – 12.30pm: Workshop
1.00pm: Lunch
Afternoon: Optional visit to town, visiting the geothermal hot springs, the local market and the shops.
7.00pm: Dinner and informal singing

Wednesday 30 June
9.30am – 12.30pm: Workshop
1.00pm: Lunch.
2.00pm: Visit to village with church choir.
4.30pm – 6.30pm: Beach outing
7.00pm: Dinner and informal singing.

Thursday 1 July
9.30am – 12.30pm: Workshop
1.00pm: Lunch
3.00pm – 5.00pm: Free afternoon
6.00pm: Drinks at Savusavu Yacht Club; dinner in town

Friday 2 July
9.30am – 12.30pm: Workshop – Final session
1.00pm: Lunch
Afternoon: Free time. Options for private tours, relaxing.
4.00pm – 5.30pm: Village visit for traditional Fijian meke (dance)
7.00pm: Dinner, concert and party

Saturday 3 July
Return to Nadi and on home.

Imagine this scenario: a feeling of despondency starting the week saying ‘I cant draw to save my life…’ or ‘I wasn’t born with this skill…’  to the sense of achievement, fulfilment and exhilaration by the end of the week when you discover that you actually can.

Drawing is fundamental to all painting skills like the skeletal frame is to the human body. Painting is drawing with a brush!  Designed for all aspiring artists at whatever skill level, this course is fun … learning to see things and portray them in your own way. Using simple but proven methods of capturing the image, seeing simple shapes, creating depth and appreciating light, you will gain confidence each day.

By the end of the week you will have produced a sketch book of drawings and paintings that you will be extremely proud of, that capture the essence of the world around us. You will have nurtured and developed a skill that will bring immense pleasure to your travels and gain an insight into the wonderful world of sketching and watercolour painting. You can draw!

Malcolm Carver is an architect and an artist, who has over the past 30 years travelled extensively in Europe, Australia, Asia and the Americas. He has devoted these experiences to creating extensive travel sketch books, providing valuable inspiration for workshops and studio work in watercolour.

Malcolm has an an enlightened and passionate approach to sketching drawing and watercolour painting. Over the past ten years, he has augmented his travel with a variety of both international and local workshops with all the leading watercolourists in the world today

He believes that we can all draw to a degree and we can learn to see, like other life skills. He seeks to reinforce the fundamental skill of seeing and sketching before painting by simplifying detail in drawing techniques and learning to see shapes.

You can see his work at www.aquarellegallery.com.au/malcolmcarver

Programme
The programme may change depending on weather and group interests. Malcolm is happy to sketch and paint all afternoon wherever we are – on the beach, under a palm tree, up the mountain.  You are welcome to sketch, paint , watch or just relax.

Sunday 6 June
Arrive Nadi and fly to Savusavu. The resort is 10 minutes from the airstrip, and you will be welcomed into it with a traditional Fijian welcoming ceremony.

Monday 7 June
Morning workshop:  introduction to the week. Poolside lunch and coconut cutting demonstration, followed by a walk around resort gardens. Afternoon visit to town, local market and shops.

Tuesday 8 June
Morning workshop; lunch. In the late afternoon there will be a tapa making demonstration

Wednesday 9 June
Morning workshop; lunch. Afternoon beach / boat outing.

Thursday 10 June
Morning workshop; lunch. Afternoon: free time. Drinks at the Yacht Club and dinner in town.

Friday 11 June
Morning workshop; lunch. Later in the afternoon we will visit Vivili village to see a traditional Fijian meke (dance) and then have a final dinner at Daku.

Saturday 12 June
Morning workshop; lunch.

Sunday 13 June
Leave Savusavu. Return to Nadi.

A fantastic week of snorkeling, learning and exploring in Fiji.

The reefs around Vanua Levu provide some of the most rewarding snorkelling in the world. If you don’t want to dive the reefs, this week will give you the chance to see sharks, rays, turtles and many species of reef fish and corals.

In the evenings, an experienced marine biologist will give talks on the marine environment and brief you on the next day’s snorkel. He will come with you to guide the snorkel and point out some of the wonders of the ocean on an all-day field trip.

Below the water is definitely the centre of the week, but we’ll also show you a lot of Fiji above the water. Visits to schools, farms and villages are included.

This is a week of learning and a fabulous holiday as well.

And you are welcome to arrive earlier in the week or stay on later – we’ll just charge you at regular room rates less 15% if you’re on the course.

Itinerary:

Saturday
Introductory lecture and field trip with Johnnie Singh, marine biologist, to Nuggets.

Sunday
Field trip day with Johnnie Singh to Lighthouse.

Monday
Morning: Snorkel to Split Rock.
Afternoon: Town Visit.
Evening: Lecture on Conceptual Coral Reefs

Tuesday
Morning: Snorkel to Cousteau Marine Reserve.
Afternoon: Snorkel to Charlie’s Reef.
Evening: Lecture by Robin Irwin, former Government Minister, on Fijian politics.

Wednesday
Morning: Snorkel to Mystery Reef.
Afternoon: Excursion to Pearl Farm
Evening : Lecture on ‘Cities under the sea’

Thursday
Morning: Snorkel to Lesciaceva Reef.
Afternoon: Excursion to school at Urata village.
Evening at Yacht Club and dinner at Surf & Turf Restaurant.

Friday
Morning: Snorkel to Lighthouse.
Afternoon: Visit to Vivili village
Evening: Lecture on Coral Critters

Saturday
Leaving Ceremony and departure to Nadi.

And you can snorkel off our beach whenever you want – we have a small but pretty reef right outside the front of the resort.

Cost: F$1615 twin share. F$1615 is approx AUD$1050 / US$850 – we take payment in Fiji dollars and your bank will advise you the rates they charge. Single supplement F$400.
Includes accommodation, all meals, excursions, equipment.

Not included: Travel – but we are happy to help book your domestic flights if you’d like, and we’ll pick you up from Savusavu airport.

Bookings: This week can be booked directly with Daku Resort on reservations@dakuresort.com

Sites in more detail

Split Rock
Split Rock is 200 metres off shore; a large coral head, it is named for the distinctive split down one side. At the bottom of the split you can see purple gorgonian fans and pale yellow soft corals. At the entrance to the split a fierce clown fish defends her anemone and the male takes refuge in its fronds. When a female clown fish dies, the male changes sex and becomes female, and he next male moves up the hierarchy. There’s a large school of inquisitive black and white sergeant fish nearby; they will come right up to you and often give your fingers a gentle nip. There is a glorious abundance of orange and purple anthias and golden damsels near the surface; a little deeper, parrotfish can be seen nibbling away at the coral, and a large brown spotted grouper glides shyly away. There are two large clams on the rock, and several small green fern corals. Split Rock is one of the most colourful and enchanting sites of the bay, and endlessly fascinating in visit after visit. The top of the coral head is 3 foot deep, and the base is about 30 foot deep.

Golden Nuggets
Some 700 metres past the point of the peninsula, the twin pinnacles of Golden Nuggets offer anther magnificent display of smaller fish. The first pinnacle has purple and orange anthias, the beautiful iridescent blue sapphire damsels, Moorish idols with their lazy grace, and the blue damsel fish guarding his garden against intruders – human or fish. On the second pinnacle you will see schools of surgeon fish and snapper fish. Quite often a white tipped shark is around, utterly arresting in its fearsome power – but not aggressive to humans and very well fed on the fish life. You will also see magic coral which turns from bluey-brown to white when threatened and is hardly known outside Fiji.

Lighthouse
At the edge of the reef which runs out from Savusavu Bay is a lighthouse, which gives its name to the site. There are numerous plate corals, soft spaghetti corals with tentacles swaying in the currents, and many fish – trumpet fish, pale green damsel fish, humpbacked wrasse and maori wrasse. We sometimes see a turtle at this sight,
always a treat – and occasionally a shark cruising deep below.

Charlie’s Point
About half a kilometer past the end of the peninsula, Charlie’s Point offers reefs in two directions. One way is a relatively shallow reef with coral heads on a sandy sea bottom; the other way goes out towards the deeper sea and there is a wall dropping down to about 50 metres. There are mainly hard corals here, with many of the blue-tipped corals. You will see clouds of blue damsel fish; trumpet fish, wrasse, damsel fish – and possibly cuttlefish who are likely to disappear, leaving only a squirt of black ink as evidence of their presence.

Mystery
This is an isolated reef out in the bay, a bit further than the other sites. It’s scattered with coral heads covered in multi- coloured soft corals. You’ll see Spanish mackerel, coral trout and unicorn fish.

Coral Gardens
The Coral Gardens are best dived at mid to high tide as they are in relatively shallow Water. They are a reef running along the shore line near Split Rock – you’ll see many types of coral including staghorn coral, brain coral, finger coral, table coral and cabbage (lettuce) coral. Fish life is abundant. One of the pleasures of this area is the sense of swimming through the maze of interlocking coral heads – and if the tide is low, be cautious as you can easily cut yourself. And because its shallow, you’ll also see mushroom corals and sea cucumbers on the ocean floor.