Rainbow Reef

Rainbow Reef lies in the Somosomo Strait between the islands of Taveuni and Vanua Levu in Fiji, a channel known for strong tidal flows that sweep nutrients past its reef walls. It is one of the most recognized dive areas in Fiji, often visited via sites with names like the Great White Wall and Cabbage Patch, prized for dense soft coral growth that thrives on the current. The site reaches a maximum depth of around 30 metres over a reef bottom, and is rated an advanced dive due to the strong current running through the strait. Divers have reported barracuda, garden eels, grouper, manta rays, moray eels, octopus, and reef sharks here alongside the reef fish and anthias typical of the area. Because of the current, dives here are frequently drift dives, and the moving water is what draws in the occasional larger pelagic visitor.

Confirmed by our research team, reported by independent divers, or observed nearby via iNaturalist — each entry is labelled with its source.

• BarracudaBarracudaReported here · unconfirmed
• Reef sharkReef sharkReported here · unconfirmed
• Moray eelMoray eelReported here · unconfirmed
• GrouperGrouperReported here · unconfirmed
• OctopusOctopusReported here · unconfirmed
• Garden eelGarden eelReported here · unconfirmed
• Orangefin AnemonefishAmphiprion chrysopterusReported here · unconfirmed
• Regal AngelfishPygoplites diacanthusReported here · unconfirmed
• Bicolor AngelfishCentropyge bicolorReported here · unconfirmed
• Loch's ChromodorisChromodoris lochiReported here · unconfirmed
• Orangestripe TriggerfishBalistapus undulatusReported here · unconfirmed
• Blackspotted PufferArothron nigropunctatusReported here · unconfirmed
• Freckled HawkfishParacirrhites forsteriReported here · unconfirmed
• Longnose FilefishOxymonacanthus longirostrisReported here · unconfirmed
• Two-spined AngelfishCentropyge bispinosaReported here · unconfirmed
• Manta rayManta rayReported here · unconfirmed