Matamanoa: The adults-only Fiji resort that will take you from zero to hero scuba diver

The distant growl of the waves breaking over the reef is drowned out only by the rustling of palm trees and the occasional thud of a coconut falling to the ground. A crescent of powdery white sand lines the volcanic island where a cone of greenery pushes up from the reef.

Like many of Fiji’s 330 islands, Matamanoa’s colours sit like a tricolour flag of a lush green top, a strip of white and a base of impossibly vibrant turquoise.

Bathing in a private plunge pool, I’m tucked away in my own little tropical sanctuary; a beachfront bure complete with outdoor shower, daybed, sun loungers and aforementioned private pool. Across the garden is direct access to a quiet beachfront where it feels like an imposition if you see someone else on the same stretch of sand.

Matamanoa is an incredible adults-only resort in the Mamanuca Islands with its own dive resort, Deep Blue Diving & Watersports. A little over an hour by boat from the main port of Denarau, this lush oasis has an intimate feel with just 47 rooms. The jewel is its infinity pool, which on a still day, provides a perfect mirror to the sun umbrellas lining the edge.

Guests gather in one main dining area for meals, and each night staff welcome and farewell travellers by name. Birthdays receive a special song, while those leaving the island the next day are treated to the chorus of staff harmonising through the traditional Fijian departure song, Isa Lei, a hauntingly beautiful tune which leaves many a wanderer wiping a tear from their eye.

That alone makes this resort an incredible getaway - but there’s something else that sets it apart. Matamanoa has its own PADI 5 Star dive resort on the island, the only dive centre in Fiji with an in-house PADI Course Director.

That means no matter your experience - from total beginners to experienced divers - there are courses available to start and progress your diving journey, all while on holiday in the coral reef marvels that make up the Mamanuca Islands.

For those who aren’t yet certified, travellers can complete the theory through PADI’s e-learning portal before their arrival in Fiji, putting it into practice in the open water once they land. The resort’s pool is deep enough for confined water training dives.

Or, if you’re already certified, like me, you can undertake other courses to further your scuba education. While the rest of my group is learning to dive for the first time on this trip, I start my journey to the Master Scuba Diver, a rating of recreational diving where you must have 50 logged dives, a Rescue Diver certification and five specialty courses. I start with my first two certifications: Boat Diver and Underwater Photography.

The dive centre is led by Emma and Trevor Neal and their team of experienced divemasters. While the beginner divers head off to undertake their first dives in the open water, it’s Emma who leads me through the skills required for my certifications. Ever so calm and measured, I know I’m in a safe pair of hands and Emma provides the reassurance and direction I need.

The Boat Diver is one of the easiest courses, with the bulk of the skills taking place on the boat. During the dives, I feel weightless as if I am floating in space, drifting along in the most blissful state of underwater meditation.

When diving, marine encounters are magical, humbling moments that are never taken for granted. Turtles still make me squeak underwater with excitement, and there are so many different shark species, it’s thrilling to tick off the shark bingo when you encounter one for the first time. So when a green turtle flapped by, and a leopard shark sat in the sandy bottom during my second dive, I felt like I’d hit the diving jackpot.

Leopard sharks are fairly docile animals towards humans and have incredible markings that can morph from stripes as juveniles to spots as they mature, like a leopard. Post dive, it was all any of us could talk about.

“Did you see the leopard shark?”

“I’ve never seen one in my life!”

“You’re so lucky to see one!”

My second day of training was underwater photography, a chance to capture these incredible rare encounters. I’m fairly familiar with a camera on dry land and always take a GoPro on dives, but learning to use an Olympus TG6, complete with underwater housing and strobes, was a whole new beast.

In dive photography, lighting is everything, as the deeper you go, the more colours you lose. Red is the first to disappear at depth, followed by orange and yellow. Without strobes, photos come out bland in green and blue tones. Lighting brings back the colour to your images - but positioning the strobes is often a case of trial and error.

Added to the challenge was the swell and conditions on my second dive - I was trying to get up as close as possible to marine life, stay in focus without knocking any precious coral, while trying to stay still as the ocean pushed me from side to side.

I had mixed results, so Emma and I decided on my second dive to head to the pool and practisephotographing inanimate objects underwater. That dedicated time in the pool was almost more valuable than any of the dives I had done previously as I had time to review each image and make adjustments as necessary. One thing’s for certain though – I have a lot to learn.

Learning to dive or furthering your education on holiday in a place like Fiji has many benefits. When I undertook my Open Water and Advanced courses in Auckland back in 2014 and 2015, I was one of a large group of beginner divers and I felt like just a number. My first open water dives were in the not-that-pretty deep waters of Lake Pupuke in Takapuna.

Heading to place like Matamanoa offers a more intimate learning setting, far better dive conditions, and the ability to connect with other holidaying divers from all over the world. When you’re all staying in the same resort, it’s easy to forge connections.

After four days at Matamanoa, our group felt like family, and I could feel my heart strings tugging when it was time to leave. As Isa Lei rang out one final time, I know I wasn’t the only one trying to sneakily wipe away a little droplet from my eye as both the song and the island slowly faded into the distance.

Fiji Airways flies direct to Nadi from Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch daily. See:

Beachfront pool bures at Matamanoa Island Resort, from FJ$1050 (NZ$765) per night, for two people. Breakfast included. See:

Two tank dive for certified divers: FJ$425. PADI courses available. See:

Flying generates carbon emissions. To reduce your impact, consider other ways of travelling, amalgamate your trips, and when you need to fly, consider offsetting emissions.