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AS Tui Tai
A unique holiday experience, the Tui Tai Adventure Cruise is designed for active travellers wanting to escape the well-trodden tourist path and experience Fiji liveaboard diving and a whole lot more. The safari combines scuba with sports activities and a chance to immerse yourself in local island culture. The Tui Tai has been selected by Conde Nast as 1 of 8 handpicked Love Boats - The World's Sexiest Cruises, and was named by National Geographic as one of the Best Adventure Travel Companies on Earth.
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Length: 42 metres / 140 foot Beam: 10 metres / 33 foot Cruise: 9 knots Divers: 24  Customer Reviews |
Whether sexy or not, the 5 and 7 night trips (Wednesday and Monday departures) mean that the Tui Tai is the top choice for those without a great deal of time flexibility or if your availability doesn't stretch to a full week's Fiji liveaboard trip. In fact the safari is more of an adventure than a mere diving cruise. During the adventure you will kayak, hike through rainforests and waterfalls, go mountain biking, snorkel vibrant coral reefs, dive a number of world-class sites, and visit some Fijian villages!
Following an extensive refurbishment in 2006 during which an onboard spa and en-suite cabin facilities were installed, the 42 metre steel hull AS Tui Tai now has the comfort to match the exceptional experience provided. Cruises visit Natewa Bay in Taveuni, Kioa and Rabi Islands, as well as the Ringgold Atolls. So for adventure and some purer Fijian magic, look no further than the Tui Tai.
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Cruise price per person includes: Cabin accommodation with air-conditioning, breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, drinking water, hot drinks, land tours and local ceremonies, transfers to the boat from the airport and hotels, dives (as detailed in the trips above), experienced English-speaking divemaster(s), tanks, weights and weightbelts, diving equipment, torches, mountain biking, stand-up paddleboarding, Fiji government tax.
Cruise price per person excludes (mandatory, unless customer provides own): None. (cash only).
Optional extras: Soft drinks, alcoholic drinks, massage and spa treatments, yoga. Unless otherwise stated, all the listed items need to be paid on arrival.
How to get there: Tui Tai transfers depart from Savusavu Bay, Vanua Levu every Monday to the boat departure point at Natewa Bay for both 7 and 5 night safaris. Alternative 5 night tours depart every Wednesday from Taveuni. Transfers from airports and local Savusavu/Taveuni resorts are also included. For more information see our travel information section. The last dive of the trip will be at around 2.00 pm on the second last day of the trip. Please wait at least 18 hours before flying after diving.
Non-diver rate: US$ 639 off the 5 night published price and US$ 895 off the 7 night published price.
Single supplement (if you do not want to share accommodation): This is optional - single travellers may choose to share a cabin or pay a supplement of (approximately) 50% of the published price. Please check with us
Dive clubs and group discounts: Half boat charters (upper deck or lower deck) are available on request. Please contact us for more details.
Whole boat charter rate (per night): US$ 8,400.
Add-on package: If this is your only planned visit to Fiji then we strongly recommend that you consider a 2 night add-on stay at Pacific Harbour on Viti Levu, to allow you to witness the not-to-be-missed shark feed diving. This option is also convenient as it is located close to both the international gateway airports in Fiji - Nadi and Suva.
All the cabins have:
- Air conditioning with individual controls
- Private en-suite bathroom with hot shower
- Antiglare ocean-view windows
- Towels and bedding
- Nightly 'turn-down' service
- Hairdryer
- Mirror
- 240V Mains outlet
- Australian style electrical wall sockets
- Life jackets and fire extinguishers
- Cruise Director
- 1 Divemaster and 1 Rescue Diver
- Captain
- 1 Cook and 1 Cleaner
- 2 Hostesses and 1 Masseuse
- 3 Deck Hands
PADI scuba certification courses are also available.
Yanawai River Kayaking - The river itself is very calm and can have a slight current based on the tides. As you paddle up the river you will enter a quiet, tranquil region surrounded by the dense jungle and the rugged interior of Vanua Levu island. Your guide will point out some of the world's largest mangrove trees, as well as tropical birds, ducks, and occasionally fruit bats. Further up the river you are invited to stop and join villagers and their children who've come down to the shore to meet the visitors. Seeing the remoteness of this village, and its distance from any easy roads, Tui Tai guests quickly realize they are the only visitors these villagers ever meet.
Guided Snorkeling at The Lighthouse - Savusavu Bay is known for great snorkeling and this site lies just at the reef point facing the mouth of the bay. Expect good visibility, hard corals, colorful crinoids, lionfish, soldierfish and triggerfish.
Salia Village Visit - A guided tour of the only village on the island of Kioa. The people of this village are originally from the island nation of Tuvalu. They are a Polynesian people with a culture, language and heritage distinct from the rest of Fiji.
Bouma Heritage Park - Tavoro Falls - There are 3 sets of Tavoro Waterfalls in the park. Each set of waterfalls offers a refreshing swimming pool to cool off and get a closer look at the cascades. You'll enjoy amazing views of the sea and sweeping views of the rainforest that earned Taveuni the nickname 'The Garden Island of Fiji'. You can see parrots, lorikeets and other colourful birds.
Hike to Rara-Ni-Tiqa Island Summit - Rara-Ni-Tiqa Island is a volcanic and lush atoll. Tui Tai guests are the only Westerners allowed to set foot on the beautiful white-sand beach where it lands. The hike follows a path from a beautiful white sand beach through coconut trees. The final climb to the top involves a natural ladder made of mature, sturdy tree roots. The stunning view from the summit is worth the effort. In the old days, the island dome was used to send ritual messages to distant islands. Now it's a burial ground for a famous warrior. From here, you can see that the island itself is wrapped around an enormous deep-sea crater.
Kayaking the Ringgolds and Cobia Island Crater - The kayaks will put in near the south end of Cobia Island at the wide, sandy beach. Paddling over crystal clear waters that shimmer the colour of emeralds and sapphires, you'll follow the volcanic coastline of Cobia. Making your approach to the open end of the crater, you may want to jump in for a view of the pristine coral beds below the surface. Inside the crater, you will discover a surreal, calm lagoon of blue water so deep that it's never been measured.
- International and Fijian breakfast, lunch and dinner.
- Buffet-style service with 4 main meal dishes and salad in the saloon or BBQ on the main deck.
- Fresh-cook outdoor kitchen and bar area on the sun deck
- Brunch, lunch and dinner are also provided on the first day of the cruise.
- Coffee, tea, hot chocolate, water, fruit and biscuits are provided free of charge.
- Soft drinks, beer, wine and spirits are also available.
- Most dietary requirements can be catered for.
- The dining experience is generally very popular with guests.
- Built in year 1980, renovated in 2006
- Size - 42m x 10m
- Weight - 550 tonnes
- Top speed - 10 knots
- Cruising speed - 9 knots
- 2 x 450 HP Gardener engines
- 2 x 85 KVa Cummings generators
- 2 x dive tank compressor
- 12 litre aluminium tanks with international fittings - DIN adapters not available
- Electricity 240 Volts - 24 hours per day
- Water capacity - 25,000 litres
- Fuel capacity - 22,000 litres
- Icemaker
- Environmental waste storage tank
- 3 x RFD life rafts (65 pax)
- 1 x 3m motorised dinghy 160 CC
- SSB and VHF marine radios
- Global positioning system (GPS)
- Radar
- Sonic altmeter
- Sounder
- Plotter
- Loudhailer
- Mobile telephone
- 8,790 litres of oxygen
- Medic first aid box
- Life jackets throughout
- Fire extinguishers throughout
- Registered with Fiji Islands Marine Safety Administration (FIMSA)
- Customer diving insurance is not included - see our insurance programme for a competitive quotation
Customer reviews:
"If you're going to spend 15 hours in a plane flying halfway round the globe to a tropical wonderland like Fiji, you better be certain to go to places you could never go, do the things you could never do, and leave with the feeling that there's nothing better you could have done anywhere else. Such is a dive safari trip on the Tui Tai." - Tim Neville, USA ...