Beqa Lagoon Resort was the venue forour fifth annual Fijian Scubaexpedition, and I was tour leader for a

group of 32 staff, students, families andfriends from The Peninsula School, MountEliza, on Melbourne’s MorningtonPeninsula. Some of the students hadcompleted their Open Water Course priorto leaving Melbourne and had spent the firstdays of the expedition gaining in-waterexperience, completing shore dives andboat dives and building up their hours.Another half dozen had been in the poolunder the watchful eyes of Delana andJoeli, the resort’s friendly and patient PADIinstructors.

For the course candidates the days wore on– gear assembly followed by pool practicalsthen shore dives and de-briefing sessions.Endless evenings watching PADI courseDVDs and poring over text books while weold hands looked on sympathetically, vainly

trying to remember how those damned decotables actually worked. And then there werequestions, lots of them - repetitive groups;surface intervals and ascent rates werediscussed as the students nervouslyprepared for the dreaded theory exam. Kidsalways hate homework over the schoolholidays, but this was very different.

They all passed the theory and prac. withflying colours and looked very comfortablein the water, so I had a quiet word withJoeli and Delana one balmy evening. “So...are they up to the shark dive?” I askedcautiously. We discussed each kid’s skillsand competencies and decided that fourwould be good to go after another coupleof days of successful boat dives, while theothers needed a few additional hours undertheir weight belts. The decision was notmade lightly, and I discussed the dive withtheir parents, phoning them and askingthem to consider the issues carefully and

give an answer the next evening. I wascarefully outlined the risks and theopportunities this remarkable dive offered.All agreed, if a little nervously. Taken out ofcontext it must have seemed a strangerequest! Lachlan Shaw’s mum was fine withit – her older son had done the same divethree years earlier on our first Beqaexpedition and returned intact.

One evening we showed the earlier sharkfeed DVD so the group had an idea of whatto expect. The drill was to descend fairlyquickly, hit the bottom in one group andkneel behind the rope line separating usfrom the feeding station a few metres away.Their excitement was almost palpable as weheaded towards Pacific Harbour to meetwith Brendan from Aquatrek who managesthe shark feed.

Gearing up in a light chop at ‘The Bistro’,Sam joked “Are we on the menu?”. Iexplained how to recognise each of theeight varieties of shark they were likely tosee. The slate-grey bulls would cruise inslowly from the shadows hugging thebottom while the silvertips would nervouslyflash in from overhead in a smash and grab

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WHAT KIND OF TEACHERDELIBERATELY TAKES HIS SCHOOLSTUDENTS DIVING WITH ABUNCH OF MEAN-LOOKINGSHARKS? CRAZY...IRRESPONSIBLE... FOOLHARDY...STUPID... OR JUST PLAIN LUCKY?RIGHT NOW, I FEEL PRETTYLUCKY. I’VE JUST SHARED ANINCREDIBLE EXPERIENCE WITHMY OWN FAMILY, AS WELL AS‘THE PENINSULA SCHOOL BEQALAGOON OPEN WATERGRADUATING CLASS’ AND AGORGEOUS FIVE METRE TIGERSHARK CALLED ‘PRINCESS’!

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d e s t i n a t i o n r e p o r t | f i j i

THE SHARK KIDS ALAN WIGGS © 2013

Left to right: The shark kids prop in the gentle current at the safety zone wreck - we hada-one-to-one adult to student ratio and all divers displayed a confident and calmmanner.How close is too close? As she wheeled overhead I breathed in deeply, rose off thebottom and managed to catch her toothy smile.Olivia Langdon, year 12 Peninsula School student, up close and personal with one ofthe tawny nurse sharks, closely supervised by Joeli, the fijian shark wrangler.

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raid. The lemon sharks swim slowly instraight lines and their ragged-toothed jawswould be flanked by a flotilla of pilottrevally on each side. The tawny nursesharks tend to rummage greedily around thefood bin, while the grey reefies andblacktips will circle at a distance inmidwater waiting for an easy snack to driftpast. But one shark needed no introduction– they’d know the tiger if they saw it. Itcommands the midwater – and the othersharks back off. I’d done the shark divesthree times previously and seen the tigeronly once, so was not overly optimistic of arepeat.

With a few of the diveguides down belowstanding guard, Joeli declared “The pool is

open” and course graduate Sam Glenn-Smith, keen as mustard was first in. Withinmoments, Sam was yelling through the chop“Hey Wiggsy, there’s a tiger shark downthere”. “Yeah right... whatever Sam! Keepya reg in and ya mask on,” I replied,dismissing him as another noisy beginner. Imust admit we geared up a lot quicker –maybe he was right! My 15 year olddaughter Hannah and I were next in, andas we first looked down onto the reef, thereshe was, gliding through a tornado offusiliers and trevally – a large female tigershark as fat as a cow. Our pulse rate took ahit as she left the bottom and circled inbehind us, the contrast in size betweenHannah and the tiger was obvious. I hadn’texpected her to come in so soon - I didn’tquite have all the camera functions set, sothat photo op of a lifetime passed by inseconds. Damn!

We descended to the feeding area where avortex of rainbow runner and surgeon fishwere already churning up the bottom.Elbow to elbow, we kneeled in position, myeyes on the newbies who’s bouyancy andbreathing control belying their experiencelevel. The tiger sliced in effortlessly, suckingin a tuna head as the blizzard of movementand life continued – it proved almostimpossible to frame a shot as the water wasso thick with fish. Video is the best mediumhere as only it can capture such chaoticmovement. A spectacular lemon sharkwheeled overhead and it was easy toignore the moray eels and the slightly

confused trumpetfish nosing around ourknees. I remember thinking, I’ve done over2000 dives and seen a tiger shark twice,and yet for Hannah this was only dive 10!How would she handle it? The big tigersoon moved on and then it was time for thebulls to approach, their beady eyeswatching our every move.

Their powerful build and large size helpsexplain why they’re statistically the world’s

most dangerous shark. And yet, this dive isso well managed that we only feltexcitement and awe – fear isn’t really partof the deal – the sharks seem too well fedand well behaved for that. Hannah wasapprehensive, the size of the beast wasrather confronting, but she stayed close toher sister Georgia and watched with eyesas big as saucers.

Joeli invited Olivia and Katover the rope to get a littlemore up close and personalwith the tawny nurses, whodidn’t mind a quick pat on theflanks – which didn’t interrupttheir feeding at all. Kat’s turnwas cut short as a three metrebull approached. All too soona steady metallic rappingindicated it was all was overand reluctant divers graduallyleft The Bistro and ascended tothe safety zone on the reeftop.Here a small upturned wreck

provided a welcome base for the exhaustedremoras dislodged by the commotion. It wasfun to watch them glide in then casually flipover to land on the back of their head! Thegroup assembled, eyes wide, still watchingthe sharks below as we completed a longand entertaining safety stop.

Back on the boat, the students struggled toprocess what they’d just seen. Their firstshark dive and they get not only bulls, >

This page top to bottom: Tawny nurse sharksare the greedy pigs of the shark feed andtypically immerse themselves fully in the feedbins.We enjoyed the great visibility at "BlueWall". Pictured from left are Lachlan Shaw,Olivia Langdon, Rod and Sam Glenn-Smith.Lachlan Shaw and Sam Glenn-Smith enjoytheir first wreck dive at Carpet Cove, anentry level dive site at Beqa.

VITI LEVU

Kadavu

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SUVA

Vatulele

NADI

Pacific Harbour

Sigatoka

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BEQA

Lautoka

Tavua

Facing page: A spectacular lemon sharkwheels over the heads of the student divers.The flotilla of pilot trevally seem to onlyassociate with this particular species (atleast at this site).A small upturned wreck provided awelcome resting base for the exhaustedremoras dislodged by all the commotion. Itwas fun to watch them glide in then casuallyflip over to land on the back of their head!A gorgeous female tiger shark cruisesoverhead at The Bistro.The Peninsula School Beqa Lagoon PADIOpen Water graduating class. Pictured fromleft to right are Peter Langdon, Sam Glenn-Smith, Lachlan Shaw; Lyall Clarke, OliviaLangdon and Kat Crow.

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BEQA ISLAND FACT FILECLIMATE: Beqa is 18 degrees southof the equator. Summer (Oct-Mar)has days up to 35 degrees andhumid nights. Winter (Apr-Sept)brings warm fine days up to 28degrees with cool nights. We had27° water temperatures (in July noless!)DIVING FACILITIES: Beqa has threehuge diesel powered ex-cray boatsthat easily take up to 20 diverseach. Head; sun deck; and camerastorage in the lounge area. A goodrange of hire equipment isavailable, as are all PADI divecourses. A full service facility – youwon’t lift a tank and can expect tobe spoilt.POWER: 240 volt Australian-styleplugs. The generator runs 24/7.PASSPORT – Current passport – novisa required.OTHER ACTIVITIES: Diving is themainstay of the resort. Snorkellinggear and sea kayaks are available.Village tours, jungle walks andwaterfall treks are all part of the

package. Firewalking, warriordances, Fijian bands and choirshelp to fill in the evenings. The pool,resort grounds and the main diningroom are all quite impressive. Thewonderful new spa facility offersmassages and beauty treatments.GETTING THERE – Ex Nadi; then viacoach for the two hour trip to PacificHarbour. Dive boats then transferguests.WHAT TO BRING – Apart fromdiving and snorkelling requisites,sunscreen is a must. Also bring asmall gift for the village kids –crayons; coloured pencils or a t-shirtare warmly received.FINAL TIP: Try to organise the SharkDive early in your trip to allow aback-up day should the weatherblow up (unlikely – but it happenedto us back in 2006!).Ian Lockwood from Allways DiveExpeditions (9885 8863) handledall our travel arrangements and asusual the trip went off without ahitch.

lemons, silvertips and reef sharks, but a well behaved,seemingly gentle tiger shark. This is not only a greatdive, but a chance to study the different characteristicsand behaviours of up to eight species of sharks. It was apretty steep learning curve for the course graduates anda very early peak in their diving careers. Monday in thepool – Sunday diving with sharks!

When they weren't hanging around the pool or under-water, the Shark Kids often visited Ravi Ravi village toplay volleyball or rugby. Some epic struggles ensued –we lost!.

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