Rainbow Reef
Interesting facts
- The reef lies at about 179.9 degrees east, just short of the 180th meridian, which runs straight across neighbouring Taveuni.
- The snowy glow of the Great White Wall comes from Dendronephthya soft corals, whose polyps open fully only when the current is running.
- Another site in the strait, the Purple Wall, is draped in dense purple soft coral trees, whip corals and sea fans.
- At Annie's Bommies several large coral heads rise from the reef, each hung with soft coral gardens and patrolled by zebra sharks.
- Jerry's Jelly is a drift dive that starts at about 18 metres over sand inhabited by colonies of garden eels.
- Open-water hunters such as Spanish mackerel, kingfish and dogtooth tuna hunt along the reef in the strait.
- Fiji lists the reef on its Preliminary Register of Sites of National Significance, part of the national biodiversity strategy.
Why it is worth it
Rainbow Reef earns its name honestly. In the Somosomo Strait, the channel between the Fijian islands of Taveuni and Vanua Levu, strong tidal currents pour nutrient-rich water over the reef, and the soft corals that feed on it grow in extraordinary density and colour — orange, pink, purple, red, waving open when the current runs. Fiji calls itself the soft coral capital of the world, and this reef is the main reason why: it is one of the most celebrated dive areas in the South Pacific.
The reef is not a single site but a long system of walls, pinnacles and channels divided into some two dozen dive sites. Its most famous section is the Great White Wall. Divers enter through a tubular swim-through at around fifteen metres and emerge at about twenty-five metres onto an almost vertical wall blanketed in pale soft coral, white near the top and turning a luminous lavender deeper down, with splashes of orange, green and red. The coral extends from about 15 to 65 metres, and the impression is of a snowfield hanging in blue water.
Around the coral the reef is full of life: clouds of small orange anthias, anemonefish, clown triggerfish, nudibranchs, feather stars and Christmas tree worms, with barracudas, whitetip reef sharks and leopard sharks patrolling the edges, and Napoleon wrasse and seasonal manta rays among the bigger visitors. The currents that make the reef so lush are normally a factor on every dive, and they are part of the experience.
The reef is also recognised as nationally significant in Fiji's biodiversity planning, a reminder that its beauty depends on the health of the whole strait.
Getting there
The reef lies in the Somosomo Strait between Taveuni and Vanua Levu. The nearest larger town is Labasa on Vanua Levu, about 72 km away, but the practical base is Taveuni: its Matei Airport (TVU), at the northern end of the island, has domestic flights from Nadi and Suva. Dive boats from resorts and dive centres on Taveuni run out to the reef.
On these lists
From the encyclopaedia
The Rainbow Reef is a reef in the Somosomo Strait between the Fijian islands of Taveuni and Vanua Levu. It is one of the most famous dive sites in the South Pacific. The Great White Wall is a popular scuba diving site. It is named because of the white coral inhabiting the area at depths between 15 and 65 metres.
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