This Crystal-Clear Island Destination In Fiji Was Named The World's Best Place To Dive With Sharks

Fiji is an island nation famed for its dreamy beaches, tropical sunshine, incredible walks and hiking trails, and crystalline waters filled with vibrant coral reefs. The country is heaven for snorkelers and divers, but there is one place in particular that stands above the rest when it comes to shark spotting.

A list by Boatmart, an online marketplace for buying and selling boats, has ranked the Beqa Lagoon as the top spot in the world for diving with sharks. It credits this to the fact that the lagoon is home to Fiji's Shark Reef National Marine Park, an area that has been officially protected since 2014. Here, divers can get up close and personal with seven shark species, particularly bull sharks, which are the most common and found all year round. Other commonly seen varieties include blacktip reef, tawny nurse, and lemon sharks; plus, silvertips and tiger sharks are occasionally spotted as well.

There are a few things you need to know about the Beqa Lagoon before you hop into the water with these often misunderstood creatures.

The sharks in Beqa Lagoon are native to the location, but to ensure that visitors have the best chance of seeing sharks on their dive, bait drums are used to attract sharks to specific feeding stations at depths between 10 and 98 feet. The Cathedral is one of the most popular dive sites used for baited tiger shark dives. Divers here are brought down while trained guides hand-feed tiger sharks.

Only two boats per day are allowed to visit the site, and divers are accompanied by safety guides and instructed to remain behind an artificial wall and not get too close to the animals. Despite what Hollywood tells us, shark attacks are extremely rare and are more likely to happen at the surface level with surfers and swimmers than divers under the water.

If you do see a shark approaching you while scuba diving, there are a few techniques you can use to divert its attention. The first thing to do is to give it plenty of space, but don't swim away in a panic. At Beqa Lagoon, divers are accompanied by professional guides who know their stuff, so be sure to pay close attention to safety instructions before you dive.

There are many things to know before planning your vacation to Fiji, but if you specifically want to see sharks and whale diving in the Beqa Lagoon, there is a little bit more to it. First of all, if you haven't gotten your scuba certification yet, know that you will need at least a PADI Open Water certificate (or an equivalent from another dive-accreditation company) to participate in the dives. If you haven't been certified yet, you can take a course in Fiji. Can you imagine a more epic first dive than one filled with sharks? The Beqa Lagoon Resort offers courses taught by experienced local instructors, as well as ample accommodation with suites and villas available on their 10-acre property.

The Beqa Lagoon Resort is located on Beqa Island and offers an additional transfer package that will take care of all the logistics to get you from the airport on the main island to your room. This includes a transfer from the airport to Pacific Harbour and a boat transfer to the island, which is just 6 miles offshore. If you stay at another resort, you can compare transportation options or try to arrange the transfer yourself by taxi and ferry.