An eco-luxe resort experience, just minutes from the Rainbow Reef and Fiji's most acclaimed dive sites. That's the promise at Sau Bay Resort & Spa. Proximity to the reef makes this boutique property a top pick for a Fiji dive vacation, and there are a lot more reasons why this intimate dive resort earns consistent five-star reviews.
An Ideal Location
Sau Bay Resort sits at the mouth of its namesake bay on the east-central coast of Vanua Levu island. A glance at Google Maps reveals why this is an ideal location for a dive resort focused on visits to the Rainbow Reef. The reef rises from the deep waters of the SomoSomo Straits, which is a six-mile wide channel separating Vanua Levu from the island of Taveuni to the east.
Because the reef is located on the western side of the channel, close to the resort, there's no need for an open-water crossing to reach top dive sites such as Rainbow Passage, Rainbow's End, Great White Wall and the Cabbage Patch. These and more premier Rainbow Reef dive sites are just a ten-minute boat ride from the Sau Bay dive center. And while the waters of the straits can be mirror-calm on some days, there are also periods of rougher weather that make crossing a bit more challenging. When the seas are up, the Sau Bay boats are able to hug the reef line for a smoother ride. The dive staff also gauges daily weather conditions and adjusts dive plans accordingly, as some sites can be reached comfortably in almost any sea conditions. This flexibility gives guests more frequent opportunities to experience the best of the Rainbow Reef.
An Oasis of Serenity
There are no roads leading to Sau Bay Resort. Guests arrive by boat and are welcomed into a collection of six oceanfront bures — the Fijian name for a small cottage — set into a 100-acre rainforest preserve. This limited collection of guest accommodations hints at the elevated levels of bespoke personal services that await both at the resort and while diving. The property includes three single-bedroom and one two-bedroom bures, a luxury tent-roofed treehouse bure and luxury ocean-view bure. Private decks and expansive windows keep the focus on the garden-like surroundings and the sounds of the ocean.
More relaxations await at the over-water SomoSomo Spa, which offers a range of European beauty treatments, relaxing massage therapies and traditional Fijian Bobo touch therapy. The resort's oceanfront restaurant invites diners to savor the fresh tastes of land and sea. Menus inspired by an intriguing melange of international and Fijian flavors that make use of fruits, vegetables and herbs from the resort's organic garden. The culinary team bakes fresh bread daily, maintains a respectable European and Australian wine list, and can accommodate most special dietary requests. For an intimate dinner experience, couples can enjoy a private candlelight dinner at an oceanfront pavilion. In addition to diving and snorkeling, guests can spend their time on coastal or mountain hikes, sail or kayak in the bay, birdwatch in the rainforest or schedule an island-hopping adventure.
Bespoke Diving Services
Sau Bay specializes in providing small-group luxury diving experiences. The staff provides concierge-style handling of dive gear, but that's just the start. By taking the time to understand each diver's unique abilities, interests and needs, the dive team can ensure that every guest from novice to expert enjoys the best possible in-water experience. The dive center also offers a range of PADI continuing education and specialty courses for guests looking to enhance their in-water skills and expertise.
The dive center operates a 32-foot custom dive boat that can accommodate up to 12 divers but typically serves about half that number to create a more relaxed onboard experience. The resort's second boat, a twin-engine 28-foot craft, can accommodate an equal number of divers, and is also used to transport guests to and from Taveuni Island, which is the starting point for trips to Sau Bay Resort. Both boats are designed for a comfortable ride underway and stability at rest. The dive center offers Nitrox and stocks top-line rental equipment from Atomic, Zeagle and Sunto.
Reefs On The Doorstep
Sau Bay is the closest luxury dive resort to the Rainbow Reef, but guests don't need to board a boat to enjoy some excellent diving or snorkeling. A short swim from the beachfront dive center reveals the thriving ecosystem of the house reef, which stretches to both sides of the resort. A turn to the left puts divers deeper into the sheltered and current-free waters of the bay, where they can enjoy long bottom times at moderate depths. Swimming to the right takes divers beyond the mouth of the bay, where increased water flow from the channel nurtures a series of hard-coral pillars known as bommies. Snorkelers can explore even more of the bay using the resort's kayaks to reach the opposite shore or to paddle deeper into the bay to check out mangrove-lined shores that are a haven for macro life.
The house reef is ideal for tune-up dives before visiting the Rainbow Reef, and it is available day and night for anyone who just can't get enough bottom time. Night dives are particularly memorable, as dive lights reveal a new cast of characters. It's a time when octopus, eels and crustaceans are out on the hunt, electric-hued cuttlefish patrol the reefs and coral heads come alive with squadrons of cleaner shrimp offering their parasite removal services.
The Main Attraction
Fiji's Rainbow Reef takes its name from the proliferation of multi-colored soft corals that cover large areas of this underwater ridge line. These filter feeders thrive in the currents that often wash the reef, as do the numerous species of hard coral that share space on many dive sites. This combination of dense hard and soft corals and nourishing flow creates some of the region's riches and most diverse ecosystems. Dive sites are often covered in clouds of small fish and are frequented patrolled by by larger reef predators, passing pelagics and sharks. Fortunate divers may even get a glance of a cruising manta ray.
The Sau Bay dive center's proximity to the Rainbow Reef allows the staff to adjust daily dive schedules based on their understanding of conditions at each site. Most dives on the reef will involve some degree of current. This should pose no problem for divers with the drift dives common to places such as Cozumel. But newer divers are not forgotten either, as the Sau Bay dive team is adept at providing each diver with the appropriate levels of support, and to select sites that allow less-experienced divers to enhance their skills while also enjoying some memorable underwater experiences.
One of the true “A-list” sites of the Rainbow Reef is the Great White Wall, where a huge colony of light-blue soft corals cover a towering vertical cliff face. When sunlight hits this submarine escarpment, it creates the illusion of a snow-covered cliff face. While this site tops most diver's want list, there are only certain periods that are conducive to safe and comfortable visits. Once again Sau Bay's proximity to the site —just 15 to 20 minutes by boat — allows the dive shop to take advantage of every available opportunity for guests to experience the Great White Wall based on the staff's understanding of tides and weather conditions.
Eco-Friendly Diving
Sau Bay is committed to practices that minimize their ecological and carbon footprints. The resort uses solar panels to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, and continues to implement new energy-saving technologies that increase efficiency and reduce overall electrical consumption. Guests looking to offset the carbo footprint of their vacation travel and resort visit are invited to purchase carbon credits to help fun a range of environmental programs. The resort actively protects the surrounding rainforest and initiates beach cleanups, mangrove replanting and coral restoration efforts.
In the summer of 2023, Sau Bay became the first dive center in Fiji to be designated as a PADI Eco-Center, which is a special recognition awarded to a select number of dive center worldwide, based on a proven commitment to environmentally sustainable practices and the promotion of ocean conservation. The resort made another first by adopting the Great White Wall as the first dive site on the Rainbow Reef to be included in PADI's Adopt The Blue initiative.
The Caradonna Connection
Sau Bay can be reached by one of two routes. inter-island flights to Savusavu are followed by a one-hour drive on the roads of Vanua Levu and a boat ride to the resort. The preferred route for many quests is a flight into the Matei airport on the island of Taveuni, followed by a 15-minute taxi ride to the resort landing and a boat trip across the SomoSomo Strait. Traveling via the quicker cross-channel route creates opportunities to explore Taveuni before or after visiting the resort.
Caradonna works closely with Sau Bay to create customized vacation packages that include both international and inter-island flights, transfers and inclusive resort packages. Contact your Caradonna agent to learn more and begin your trip of a lifetime to the Rainbow Reef.