Known as the soft coral capital, Fiji also boasts enchanting drift dives, mountainous hard coral, prolific pelagic life, and what might just be the best shark diving in the world. So I knew I had to be on the very first plane of Americans landing from LAX on December 2 when I discovered that, after being closed to international tourists for nearly two years, this diver’s paradise is once again ready to welcome guests back to its warm shores.

Requirements for Entry

As of now, Fiji is only open to fully vaccinated international travelers and their accompanying minors from Fiji's list of pre-approved countries, which includes the United States. (Astra-Zeneca, Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson are accepted).

To board a plane to Fiji, all foreign nationals must also present the following:

• Proof of insurance for COVID-19 coverage. You can purchase this online through FijiCare if it’s not included in your own travel insurance plan.
• Proof of a minimum three-night hotel booking and a transfer booking from the airport to your hotel through businesses that have been confirmed as COVID-safe by a government program called the Care Fiji Commitment (CFC). (You can find an official list here).
• All travelers who are 12 years of age and older must also provide a negative PCR test taken no more than two calendar days prior to the scheduled day of departure.

While these rules don’t differ from destination to destination and hopping to any of Fiji’s 100-plus inhabited islands doesn’t require quarantining or tests, make sure you always have your vaccination card and mask handy for domestic flights.

##What It’s Like to Travel Internationally to Fiji Right Now

With a vaccination rate greater than 90 percent and ample social distancing outdoors, traveling in Fiji currently felt safer than many parts of the US. Having been on several long-distance trips during COVID-19, including to Mexico and Hawaii, this was the first time I found it easy to completely disconnect. In Fiji, life seems “normal”—actually, scratch that, better than normal. It’s not like everyday life involves diving vibrant reefs, gorging yourself on freshly-caught seafood, and lounging on a secluded beach, coconut water in hand.

What’s more, Fijians were equally happy to see me. As almost 40 percent of the GDP and one in eight jobs are related to tourism, many dive operators and resorts have struggled over the past two years, turning to food service to stay afloat, cutting staff, and closing temporarily. A trip to Fiji right now marks a joyful reunion on both sides.

That said, like anywhere, there are rules you must follow to do your part to help keep this isolated island nation healthy. All travelers need to take a rapid antigen test at their resort 48 hours after they arrive. This process was a cinch at the Marriott Momi Bay where I spent the first couple days of my trip acclimating to the 18-hour time difference. Thankfully, this period isn’t a quarantine—you’re free to explore as long as you use CFC-approved operators. For example, I took a relaxing day trip out to the idyllic Mamanuca islands with South Sea Cruises, sailing to Malolo sandbar and snorkeling Nuku reef on their brand-new catamaran, Sabre.

Note that tourists also must mask up when entering public indoor places, refresh with hand sanitizer often, and use the careFiji contract tracing app to check in and out of hotels, airports, and businesses.

What It’s Like to Dive Right Now

Ask five people the best place to dive in Fiji and you’ll get five different answers. During my getaway, I had the chance to visit three standout sites—and will undoubtedly return for more as soon as I can.

Beqa Lagoon

While Beqa Lagoon off Viti Levu is best known for the Colosseum, a shark dive, the newly-reopened dive operators unfortunately weren’t yet back in the swing of their daily feeding excursions when I visited. Instead, my resort, Nanuku—a tranquil, intimate retreat found mere minutes away from the main action of Pacific Harbor—kindly arranged a last minute two-tank coral reef dive with the infectiously enthusiastic Alike Schroeder, co-owner of Coral Coast Divers.

The day before, Schroeder and her team had spotted a remarkable 90-plus sharks, including 35 bulls and two tigers at the Colosseum. Still, it was hard to be too disappointed once I witnessed Beqa’s less famous, but no less magnificent splendors at Caesar's Rock and E.T. where we found white tip reef sharks, titan triggerfish, magic coral, chromodoris, a fully inflated blowfish, and a “baby” giant clam—an oxymoron considering its substantial size. For me, the highlight was a mesmerizing swimthrough at Caesar's Rock. Covered in the lightest imaginable pastel leather coral, it can only be described as nature’s answer to Surrealism. The finale: a tunnel of gorgonian seafans.

The Great Astrolabe Reef
With an extremely remote location off of Kadavu Island in the South West of Fiji, the Great Astrolabe Reef offers pristine hard and soft coral, as well as diverse marine life including sharks, manta rays, turtles and massive fish. Many divers come here on liveaboards, but I was lucky (okay, very lucky) to stay at the ultra-luxurious Kokomo Private Island, which offers direct access to 30 unique sites on the reef. Kokomo caters to divers with an expert team of professionals, including two marine biologists, and the poshest dive center and boats I’ve ever experienced. (Tea sandwiches and hot chocolate during my surface interval time? Yes, please).

Substance matches style here. My dive instructor, Eunice Valentine, led me along two magnificent drift dives at Side Street and Kelekele (Anchor). We cruised along the sweeping slopes, pausing to admire a vivid clown triggerfish, a shimmering school of fusilier, curious white tips, and a tremendous Napoleon wrasse wriggling down into the deep. When I ask how COVID-19 has changed diving here, the answer is a heartening one: Commercial fishing has been banned during much of the pandemic, allowing for marine life to thrive. Around the Great Astrolabe Reef and other places in Fiji, divers are noticing a modest boom in sharks, manta rays, and other animals.

Taveuni
Perhaps that’s the explanation behind a new dive site off the coast of Taveuni, Civa Pearl Farm. While harvesting his pearls in October 2020, owner Claude Michel Prevost discovered that a school of about 30 endangered scalloped hammerhead sharks would regularly “visit” with him in the water. As only the second diver to meet Prevost’s shy, toothy friends, I felt privileged to get up close with such reclusive creatures. During the dive, a couple hammerheads buzzed close to us while the rest of the shiver hung back, watching in the distance. We also saw two spotted eagle rays, a school of batfish, and an immense barracuda that rivaled the size of the sharks. As tourism ramps up, Prevost plans to offer the dive more widely along with his farm tour.

Dive instructor and fifth-generation Fijian Nigel Douglas, who introduced me to Prevost and whose family owns the nearby Matangi Private Island Resort where I was staying, told me about his plans to invest in Matangi’s dive program in the coming months as more guests return. Soon the resort will offer day trips to Somosomo Strait—one of the world’s most stunning dive locations featuring Fiji’s Rainbow Reef and Great White Wall. But on this trip, as a bubbles-deprived New Yorker who still gets giddy every time I don my gear, I was content to float around the serene, closer reefs like Cakau Tivoli. In Fiji, particularly after years away, every adventure underwater feels like a gift.