Diving At Uepi

Uepi offers the unique opportunity to dive first-class sites that are only minutes away from the dive shop; conveniently located either off the edge of the island or just a short boat trip away. Diving is based on multi-level planning, beginning at 30 metres or less and ascending slowly throughout the dive, so Dive Computers are required. It is common for divers to stay in the water for an hour or so on each dive because the top 5-10 metres have endless species to discover, allowing a diver to get maximum value from each dive. Rarely will you view such diverse concentrations of marine-life in such a varied environment, ranging from lagoon coral gardens to vertical drop-offs into 2000 metres of ocean (The Slot), mostly within the confines of a three kilometre stretch of reef.
The same basic dive rate applies to shore dives, night dives and boat dives on Uepi Island sites (see excursion dives later). The majority of expense for diving at Uepi relates to the cost of maintaining the reef and environs, as well as providing dive guides and a dive facility in such an isolated area.
Because of the location of Uepi Island, waters may be very clear with visibility in excess of 30m or visibility may be less. Tidal current interchanging to & from the Marovo Lagoon and The Slot makes the deep water passage immediately adjacent to the resort a prime habitat for a colourful population of filter feeders such as corals & sponges as well as for reef-fish, sedentary animals and pelagics.
Our aim at Uepi is to provide the chance to enjoy the fabulous Marovo environment, in particular the marine environment. With that in mind our dive supervision is aimed at achieving this in a sustainable and safe manner. We certainly welcome divers of any background, certification and experience level who want to explore, discover and share a rich and diverse marine environment. We will do our best for you.
So all dives have a dive leader and a dive plan. Divers at the very least are expected to dive within their qualifications and experience. As we get to know individual divers we can relax and be suitably flexible about the dive plans, so to cater for the wide variety of divers we attract.
To help maximize divers enjoyment we try to have small groups of compatible divers. We appreciate that divers come a long way to dive with us so longish bottom times are the accepted norm, sometimes limited by other reasonable considerations.
Uepi is remote so a serious medical evacuation is at times a little complex and undoubtedly expensive (see Insurance).
Protection of the reefs is of paramount importance to us so there are a few commonsense restrictions in place, things like not over diving sites, total "no take", care with fins.
We do not have Nitrox at Uepi.