Coconut Grove’s House Reef
These are the three main reasons that guests say they chose this slice of paradise:
- The soft sand beach
- The fact that we are located directly on some really beautiful reefs.
- The privacy !
In addition to being the lone resort under $500 that is located on the only soft sand beach on Taveuni, we are fortunate to be the top rated house reef on the island!
Our coral cover is 20% higher than the average Fiji reef (ours is 66% coral, average is 45%).
You will love being able to swim a lazy 10-12 minutes right from the beach to over a dozen beautiful snorkel reefs. If you prefer to use the kayak it will just take you 8 or 10 minutes. Either way you’re in for an incredible excursion.
When you arrive you will notice a basic map in the folder in your bure. It highlights some of my favorite snorkel spots. I try to update this every few months as my priorities change! But it will give you a good idea which way to head out.
Many guests spend 3 or 4 hours out there exploring! And some guests come here just for our snorkeling.
In 29 years of living here I must say I always see something new.
We have all the gear that you will need right here for you. The staff will set you up for your journey but we ask you to not go out 1.5 hours either side of low tide. We want to protect you as well as our fragile reefs
A Soft Coral Snorkel Kayak at Coconut Grove
by author & photographer Simon Mustoe
We were delighted to find out about ‘Honeymoon Island’ after reading about it on the Coconut Grove website. Coconut Grove has kayaks with which we could paddle out to one of the most beautiful places we visited during our month stay.
The island is part of a chain of rocks you can see easily from shore. It’s the fourth out of five and about 2km away. It only took us about half an hour to get out, despite battling some head wind on the way (the paddle home was nice and easy though). The first thing that strikes you are the soft corals. Following Cyclone Winston it took a number of years to recover but this luscious leathery floral kingdom has bounced back. Not only that, there’s such an abundance of fish and even colourful nudibranchs, we were in our element. One visit was not enough so we went back a second time a few days later.
The images speak for themselves and we’d love to have spent even longer. For most visitors it’s too late by the time they discover these places. So, we have described this and other amazing snorkel spots in our guidebook A Beginners Guide to Snorkelling Fiji’s Northern Division.
We’re most grateful to the staff at Coconut Grove for their hospitality and help. We look forward to returning one day.
Simon Mustoe is author of Wildlife in the Balance: Why Animals are Humanity’s Best Hope and you can read his blog here. You can also purchase A Beginners Guide to Snorkelling Fiji’s Northern Division from his website here or find it on Amazon.
From Helen Sykes, Fiji’s Marine Biologist:
During a snorkel on the shallow reef between Coconut Grove and Honeymoon Island in August 2017, I recorded large amounts of new coral settlement, and some fascinating changes from hard to soft corals. I hope you enjoy the following photos and that during your snorkeling and diving experiences here you will look closely, and see how many new corals you can find. It’s an amazing time to watch the reef literally “re-cover” itself.
Diving The Rainbow Reef
The top Dive & Snorkel shop on the island is Taveuni Ocean Sports.
Please contact Julie at [email protected]
They fill up early so contact them sooner than later!
