When I turned 12, my father—a PADI Instructor—got me started on my scuba diving journey in the cold waters of Laguna Beach, California. After receiving my PADI Junior Open Water certification, I only dove a couple of times at Catalina Island, but as my dad and I got older, my life got busy with high school and extracurricular activities, my dad became less interested in diving in cold water and ultimately, I never became a frequent diver.

When my dad shared the news we were headed on a family trip to Beqa Lagoon Resort, Fiji, you can imagine how excited I was. And nervous, having never dived anywhere but California and in nothing but a 7 mm wetsuit with gloves and boots and a hood. My sister, perhaps with a bit of FOMO (fear of missing out), decided to join the family hobby and she completed her PADI Open Water Scuba certification in Key Largo, Florida, four months before the trip.

Turns out I didn’t need to be nervous at all. Yeah, my dive buddy (dad) has more than 2,000 dives, so I have the comfort of knowing he’s next to me, but diving in bathtub-warm water with 100-foot visibility and countless animals to see was the perfect introduction to diving overseas. Honestly, 10 reasons aren’t enough to describe how fulfilling it was to experience diving in Fiji as a family, as this magical country and its waters reinvigorated my love of scuba diving.

10. Friendly for New Divers

Diving in Fiji is perfect for new divers due to the great visibility, mild currents and amazing wildlife. My mom (80-plus dives) and dad were at peace underwater, and while my sister and I only had six logged dives each going into the trip, we were never scared or anxious: When there was current, we went with the flow; when there were waves topside, we adapted.

9. Dives as Unique as Snowflakes

Looking back at my logged entries of every dive from this trip, I notice that each had its own unique features. A new marine encounter on every dive made me excited to go out and explore more. Even shore dives at Beqa Lagoon Resort, in the same shallow waters, had something new to see every time; especially at night, when the reef came alive with colorful crabs and nudibranchs, a resident octopus and lobsters!

Related Reading: Finding Family-Friendly Diving in Fiji

8. Many Anemone(fish)

Several sites had reefs bursting with anemones and playful anemonefish playing peekaboo. My favorite sites around Beqa Island to experience “Finding Nemo” in real life were Circus Circus, ET, Three Sisters, and Galaxy. Each anemone had its own flair—whether the dark reds of tomato anemones or the bright pinks and greens of the Fiji anemones—and I similarly enjoyed the variety of anemonefish.

7. Warm Waters

For the entire trip in August I wore just a 2 mm wetsuit top with a bikini bottom. That’s it. My six dives pre-Fiji were either in Catalina or Laguna Beach, both with water temps around 52 degrees Fahrenheit. Compared to California, it felt like I was diving in a jacuzzi. Apparently, it doesn’t vary much either—it can reach low 80s in the summer months (November through April) and drop to the low to mid-70s from May through October.

6. Topside Treasures

There were countless activities to help us pass the time when we weren’t underwater. Whether it’s learning to cook kokoda (Fijian ceviche), watching fire walkers brave the scorching stone and fire dancers twirling their flaming batons, painting a bark cloth, experiencing the relaxing effects of kava in a ceremony or visiting a local school, we were never bored and looked forward to the diving downtime almost as much as the dives! More than anything, this made Fiji perfect for families with kid divers who may tire out from too much diving or families with nondivers.

5. Soft Coral Heaven

I was mesmerized the first time I saw a brilliantly colored wall of soft coral gently swaying with the current. Many dive sites in Fiji have soft corals everywhere you look—a simple Google search will show it’s considered the Soft Coral Capital of the World—and now that I know soft corals are less common for many diving locations around the world, I understand what a privilege it was to see so many in Fiji. Photos don’t do them justice, they are beautiful.

4. Traveling as Smooth as Butter

Our flight was just 10 ½ hours from Los Angeles International Airport. The direct, red-eye flight allowed us to sleep as soon as we were wheels up in Los Angeles and wake up early the next morning in Nadi, on Viti Levu’s west coast. Over the next few days we had practically no jet lag because it was so easy for our bodies to adjust to the time difference—Fiji is 19 hours ahead of the U.S. West Coast.

Related Reading: 8 Best Places for Shark Encounters

3. Sharks, Sharks, Sharks

Though Fiji has several shark dive sites, we dived Beqa Lagoon Resort’s Cathedral. I would describe the two dives as “organized chaos.” There are shark feeders and shark minders—trained dive guides who station themselves behind every two divers, each “armed” with a long metal stick with a rounded end to push away any sharks that might get too excited. And, of course, lots and lots of sharks. For the first dive, there were sharks everywhere: bull sharks circled above while nurse sharks and lemon sharks inspected the bait box; at the end of that 20-minute dive, we saw our first tiger shark, which came in and got a tuna head for its efforts.

After a surface interval, we went down for seconds and most of the other sharks had scattered, with just bulls on the periphery. Instead, it was tiger after tiger, each bigger than the next, coming from all directions, with clouds of reef fish trying to snap up the scraps. I was as relaxed as can be, knowing I had the divemasters behind me ready to gently guide the sharks away if they got too close and my hyper-excited dad next to me hooting and hollering with every pass. It was an experience I’ll never forget.

2. Food for Fuel

I love food, especially after a good day of diving. In Fiji, we ate spectacular local dishes, typically including some variety of locally caught fish. My favorite meals were the traditional dishes like kokoda (see above) and ika vakalolo (fish cooked in coconut cream).

1. Welcoming Faces

In Fiji, we never felt like strangers. Seeing genuine smiles and hearing a hearty bula (hello) from every Fijian we met made us feel at home. Fiji is a place we never wanted to leave and an experience we will cherish forever.

Of course there were tons of photos that made our Instagram: perfect palm trees, clear waters, sandy beaches going for miles. However, those photos and videos couldn’t capture the countless memories and feelings our family made off-screen: the nervous excitement on the boat ride out to Cathedral, or the sleepy feeling I got after drinking kava at the kava ceremony; the serene silence during surface breaks, reminiscing of the world below our boat that awaited our exploration. These are the moments I want to experience again with my scuba diving family, whether different parts in Fiji or other destinations like the Philippines, Bonaire, or the Galapagos. These are the moments that will be shared with my friends back at home. These are the moments that, although they’ll never be caught as a memory in a photo, will remain as a memory forever in my mind.