{"id":7490,"date":"2016-01-04T09:09:05","date_gmt":"2016-01-04T17:09:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.oceanlight.com\/log\/?p=7490"},"modified":"2018-12-31T07:17:51","modified_gmt":"2018-12-30T23:17:51","slug":"diving-the-vatu-i-ra-passage-in-fijis-bligh-waters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.oceanlight.com\/log\/diving-the-vatu-i-ra-passage-in-fijis-bligh-waters.html","title":{"rendered":"Diving the Vatu-I-Ra Passage in Fiji’s Bligh Waters"},"content":{"rendered":"

See also: Photos of Fiji’s Beautiful Coral Reefs<\/a><\/p>\n

The ocean waters between Fiji’s Viti Levu and Vanua Levu islands are called the Bligh Waters after Captain William Bligh and his flight from mutineers. The Bligh Waters are famous among divers as they are home to some of the most spectacular coral reef diving<\/a> in the world. In particular, the Vatu-i-Ra Passage area of the Bligh Waters is wonderful, perhaps my favorite in Fiji and certainly the most colorful diving I have seen anywhere in the tropics. Some friends and I spent 6 days exploring the bommies, reefs, canyons, and walls of the Vatu-i-Ra region (as well as 8 more days elsewhere in the Bligh Waters), both from a land resort (Wananavu<\/a>, highly recommended) and from the excellent liveaboard dive vessel Nai’a<\/a> (one of the finest diving experiences I’ve ever had). The Vatu-i-Ra Passage, or Vatu-i-Ra Seascape, is named after the small island Vatu-i-Ra, a bird sanctuary with two beautiful white sand beaches. The coral reefs near this island, and in particular the narrow passages between the reefs and opening into atolls, pulse with life and energy when currents build and water begins flowing quickly. It is then that the soft corals for which Fiji is famous are fully extended, reaching for planktonic food, surrounded by the clouds of anthias and reef fishes, and at their most beautiful. Here are some underwater photos of the Vatu-i-Ra Seascape to give you a sense of what its like. All of my Fiji coral reef images<\/a> are available for publication and as high quality metal, canvas or photographic prints. Cheers and thanks for looking!<\/p>\n

\"Colorful<\/a><\/p>\n

Colorful Dendronephthya soft corals and schooling Anthias fish on coral reef, Fiji
\nImage ID: 31316<\/a>
\nSpecies: Dendronephthya Soft Coral<\/a>, Anthias<\/a>, Black Sun Coral<\/a>, Dendronephthya<\/i><\/a>, Pseudanthias<\/i><\/a>, Tubastrea micrantha<\/i><\/a>
\nLocation: Vatu I Ra Passage<\/a>, Bligh Waters<\/a>, Viti Levu Island<\/a>, Fiji<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Colorful<\/a><\/p>\n

Colorful Dendronephthya soft coral and schooling Anthias fish on coral reef, Fiji
\nImage ID: 31349<\/a>
\nSpecies: Dendronephthya Soft Coral<\/a>, Anthias<\/a>, Dendronephthya<\/i><\/a>, Pseudanthias<\/i><\/a>
\nLocation: Vatu I Ra Passage<\/a>, Bligh Waters<\/a>, Viti Levu Island<\/a>, Fiji<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Bright<\/a><\/p>\n

Bright red Plexauridae sea fan gorgonian and yellow sarcophyton leather coral on pristine coral reef, Fiji
\nImage ID: 31325<\/a>
\nSpecies: Sarcophyton Soft Coral<\/a>, Gorgonian<\/a>, Sea Fan<\/a>, Sarcophyton<\/i><\/a>, Gorgonacea<\/i><\/a>, Plexauridae<\/i><\/a>
\nLocation: Vatu I Ra Passage<\/a>, Bligh Waters<\/a>, Viti Levu Island<\/a>, Fiji<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Symphyllia<\/a><\/p>\n

Symphyllia brain coral on tropical coral reef, Fiji
\nImage ID: 31327<\/a>
\nSpecies: Brain Coral<\/a>, Symphyllia<\/i><\/a>
\nLocation: Vatu I Ra Passage<\/a>, Bligh Waters<\/a>, Viti Levu Island<\/a>, Fiji<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Dendronephthya<\/a><\/p>\n

Dendronephthya soft corals and schooling Anthias fishes, feeding on plankton in strong ocean currents over a pristine coral reef. Fiji is known as the soft coral capitlal of the world.
\nImage ID: 31358<\/a>
\nSpecies: Dendronephthya Soft Coral<\/a>, Anthias<\/a>, Dendronephthya<\/i><\/a>, Pseudanthias<\/i><\/a>
\nLocation: Vatu I Ra Passage<\/a>, Bligh Waters<\/a>, Viti Levu Island<\/a>, Fiji<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Sarcophyton<\/a><\/p>\n

Sarcophyton leather coral on diverse coral reef, Fiji
\nImage ID: 31456<\/a>
\nSpecies: Sarcophyton Soft Coral<\/a>, Sarcophyton<\/i><\/a>
\nLocation: Vatu I Ra Passage<\/a>, Bligh Waters<\/a>, Viti Levu Island<\/a>, Fiji<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Acropora<\/a><\/p>\n

Acropora coral (foreground) on South Pacific Coral Reef, Fiji
\nImage ID: 31483<\/a>
\nLocation: Vatu I Ra Passage<\/a>, Bligh Waters<\/a>, Viti Levu Island<\/a>, Fiji<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Acropora<\/a><\/p>\n

Acropora table coral on pristine tropical reef. Table coral competes for space on the coral reef by growing above and spreading over other coral species keeping them from receiving sunlight.
\nImage ID: 31490<\/a>
\nLocation: Vatu I Ra Passage<\/a>, Bligh Waters<\/a>, Viti Levu Island<\/a>, Fiji<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Staghorn<\/a><\/p>\n

Staghorn coral Acropora palifera on pristine Fijian coral reef
\nImage ID: 31514<\/a>
\nSpecies: Staghorn Coral<\/a>, Acropora palifera<\/i><\/a>
\nLocation: Vatu I Ra Passage<\/a>, Bligh Waters<\/a>, Viti Levu Island<\/a>, Fiji<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Green<\/a><\/p>\n

Green fan coral, extending into ocean currents where tiny polyps gather passing plankton, Fiji
\nImage ID: 31687<\/a>
\nSpecies: Black Sun Coral<\/a>, Tubastrea micrantha<\/i><\/a>
\nLocation: Vatu I Ra Passage<\/a>, Bligh Waters<\/a>, Viti Levu Island<\/a>, Fiji<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

See also: Photos of Fiji’s Beautiful Coral Reefs The ocean waters between Fiji’s Viti Levu and Vanua Levu islands are called the Bligh Waters after Captain William Bligh and his flight from mutineers. The Bligh Waters are famous among divers as they are home to some of the most spectacular…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8290,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72,111,123,127],"tags":[230,240,330,333],"class_list":{"0":"post-7490","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fiji","8":"category-seascapes","9":"category-underwater-photography","10":"category-vatu-i-ra-passage","11":"tag-coral-reefscapes","12":"tag-fiji","13":"tag-underwater","14":"tag-vatu-i-ra-passage"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oceanlight.com\/log\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oceanlight.com\/log\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oceanlight.com\/log\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oceanlight.com\/log\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oceanlight.com\/log\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7490"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.oceanlight.com\/log\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7490\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oceanlight.com\/log\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oceanlight.com\/log\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oceanlight.com\/log\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oceanlight.com\/log\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}