A veteran traveler’s packing list is a chronicle of hard-won lessons, which explains why Matava’s Director, Richard Akhtar has a story behind every item on this list. He’s traveled throughout Africa, the Pacific Islands, North America and Europe, as well as hiking around some of the most remote areas in these regions.
By learning the hard way and listening to the advice of fellow adventurers, Richard has compiled a list of essential traveler’s gear items that will make your adventure at Matava as trouble-free and well prepared as possible.
Packing list
Packing Checklist for Matava
Documents
| Items | Recommended by Richard |
| Airline Tickets and itinerary | Air Pacific is our prefered airline |
| Passport (valid for at least 6 months) | |
| Cash | |
| Credit Cards | VISA and MC accepted widely |
| Travel Insurance (covering diving?) | See our Fiji Adventure Travel Insurance page |
| Dive certification | |
| Dive Logbook | Scuba Diving Log Book – Red Cordura Diver Down Flag Three-Ring Binder |
| Photocopies of above | Carried separately in case of loss |
Essential Packing –Clothes
| Sport sandals (Teva’s) or flip flops | Teva Men’s Terra-Fi 2 Sandal |
| Comfortable hiking shoes | Merrell Men’s Chameleon Evo Gore-Tex XCR in Dark Grey |
| Shorts (quick drying) | Columbia Sandy River Water Cargo Short |
| T-shirts | Guy Harvey Pirate Shark T-Shirt |
| Lightweight shirt for sun protection | Columbia Men’s Bahama II Long Sleeve Shirt |
| Long sleeved sweatshirt | for cool winter evenings |
| Swimwear | |
| Beach towel | Aquis Adventure Microfiber Towel, Large (19 x 39-Inches) |
| Long trousers | lightweight –plane and transfers |
| Underwear | |
| Lightweight waterproof jacket | Mountain Hardwear Epic Jacket |
| Hat or cap for sun protection | Outdoor Research Seattle Sombrero Hat |
Essential Packing –Other than clothes
| Prescription glasses and spare | |
| Hard case for glasses | LARGE BLACK CLAMSHELL HARD EYE – SUNGLASSES CASE |
| Personal medications | |
| Something for motion sickness if you need it | Bonine Motion Sickness Protection, Raspberry Flavored Chewable Tablets |
| Head torch | Essential for the resort: Petzl Tikka Plus 4-LED Headlamp |
| Bring enough batteries | And be prepared to take them away with you as well! |
| Sunglasses | Good quality polarized is preferable: Maui Jim Cyclone Sunglasses |
| Sunglasses retaining strap | Pittsburgh Steelers Neoprene Sunglasses Strap (as worn by Adrian!) |
| Sun block | Waterproof SPF 15 minimum and probably higher: Hawaiian Tropic Kids Sunblock with Travel-Size Bottle |
| Toiletries | |
| Insect repellent | All Terrain Herbal Armor Kids Spray |
| Camera | A MUST for this adventure! Canon PowerShot D10 12.1 MP Waterproof Digital Camera |
| Camera charger / spare battery | We can charge batteries during the day on solar power –bring a spare so you have one charging and one in use. |
| Water bottle | For hikes and day trips: NALGENE Tritan OTG BPA-Free Water Bottle 24 Oz |
| Ziplok freezer bags | to keep things dry and organising gear: Ziploc Double Zipper Freezer Gallon Bags |
Other Useful Items
| Neck wallet / bum bag | Eagle Creek Travel Gear Neck Pouch |
| Binoculars | Nikon 8-24×25 Travelite V Zoom Binocular |
| Laptop computer | |
| iPod | Apple iPod nano 16 GB |
| Reading Material | Magazines we love to read after you: |
| Books | Can’t beat Amazon.com , even deliver to Fiji! |
| Notebook | Moleskine Ruled Notebook Pocket |
| Pen | Fisher Space Pen |
| Small first aid kit | Antiseptic cream, anti-itch cream, Imodium, band aids, tweezers etc with your toiletries Adventure Medical Kits UltraLight and Watertight |
Dive Gear
| Certification card | See PADI.com if you’ve lost it! |
| Log book | Scuba Diving Log Book |
| Insurance certificate/card | See our Fiji Adventure Travel Insurance page |
| Regulator | 1st stage, 2nd stage, alternate air source (essential) and SPG Mares V42 Proton Metal Dive Regulator |
| Dive Computer | Mares Nemo Excel Dive Computer Wrist Watch |
| Wetsuit | as a rough guide: January/March –3mm shortie; July/October – 3mm or 5mm long; Rest of year –3mm long 3/2mm Tilos Titanium Skin Chest Full Suit Jumpsuit Wetsuit |
| DIN to A-clamp adaptor if needed | Din to Yoke Converter Adapter |
| Booties | Mares Tropic Low Cut 2mm Scuba Dive Boot |
| Mask | Cressi Big Eyes Clear Skirt Mask |
| Snorkel | Oceanic Ultra Dry Snorkel |
| Fins | Mares Plana Avanti Quattro Open Heel Scuba Diving Fins |
| U/W torch and batteries (take batteries home) |
Underwater Kinetics Sunlight SL4 eLED Flashlight |
| Mesh Bag | Mesh Drawstring Snorkel Bag with Dive Flag Zip Pocket |
| Safety sausage | Safety Sausage |
| Whistle / Dive Alert | Dive Alert Plus – DA Plus 3 |
Underwater Photo Equipment
| Camera | Canon PowerShot G11 10MP Digital Camera |
| Camera housing | Canon WP-DC34 Underwater Housing for Canon PowerShot G11 Digital Camera |
| Ports | |
| Strobes | Ikelite Autoflash AF35 Kit |
| O-ring grease | |
| Lenses (and appropriate ports) | |
| Filters | |
| Spare media cards | Sandisk 8GB EXTREME III SDHC SD Card |
| Cables for downloading | |
| Batteries (+ spare set for all kit) | |
| Battery chargers |
Diving Spares
| Batteries | XS Scuba Save-A-Dive-Kit |
| Fin strap | |
| Mask / mask strap | |
| Camera/Housing O-rings |
For the Villages
Many of our past guests have asked us what they could bring to give as gifts to the remote island villages we visit.
The following is a short list of things that will really help.
| Books | Fijians love to read, but it’s difficut to get books on the outer islands |
| Reading glasses | as I said, they love to read! |
| Clothes | all kinds of clothes, especially kids and baby clothes |
| Shoes | any old running shoes, sandals, cleats |
| Medical supplies | Neosporin, band-aids, childrens Tylenol, aspirin, cough/cold medicine |
| Toys | any type of toys for the kids, preferably not plastic… |
| A picture of yourself | if you are going to give a gift, they’d really enjoy it more if you leave a picture of yourself so they can remember you and your kind gift |
Download the POacking List and our “Matava Start Your Adventure“
