Beds of yellow sea fans can be found at the Ha’apai Islands along with extensive anemones and their associated clown fish. In places the reef wall is riddled with lobster filled caves, some containing air bubbles in the roof large enough to surface into. During winter and spring, divers can be assured to at least hear, if not see, humpback whales that make the clear waters their calving and mating grounds from July to October each year.
The reefs and shallows of the Ha’apai Group offer amazing underwater scenery. Walls, caves, channels, tunnels, drifts, drop-offs and coral gardens, with hard and soft coral and hundreds of fish species, make for a great variety of dives. With outstanding visibility up to 25 meters to 30 meters in summer up to 70 meters in winter, and with very comfortable water temperatures of 23 degrees to 29 degrees to create a magnificent conditions for diving. Some of the best diving in Ha’apai is found around the island of 'Ofolanga.
Night diving is very special. Slipper lobsters abound, juvenile Lion Fish with their beautiful livery are found nestled in the coral, and the shy Flashlight Fish with their luminous light organ below the eye.
Happy Ha’apai Diving
Happy Ha’apai divers run from April to the end of November, and provide expert lessons for beginners and also cater for the experienced divers. Many of the dive sites are within the shelter of the islands and barrier reef but there are also a number of dives that are in more open water providing opportunities for pelagic animal encounters including sharks, tuna, trevally and barracuda etc. Turtles are encountered on many dives as well as eagle rays, sea snakes and myriad tropical reef fish.
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Sandy Beach Resort is designed for nature lovers who enjoy life's little luxuries, with its fine sand beaches stretching as far as the eye can see; the beach has actually been nominated as a world heritage site.
