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Dear F&F, September 18th – 20th, 2011

We headed up the coast to Yasawa Island\’s Narara Beach. The anchorage was perfect. The water a calm cobalt blue to turquoise in color. We dove \”Paradise Point\” and the reef off Vawa Island. Paradise Point is also a surf spot, but was calm today and offered a great dive in both hard and soft corals.

New friend Gayle Van Leer even emailed me a Google Earth map shot of exactly where we were anchored and the dive spots. Thank you Gayle!

The beach here was gorgeous too and Joe said \”you ain\’t seen nothin\’ yet\”! The next day we traveled the 8 miles up to the most northerly of the main Yasawa group; Yasawairara Island. Yasawa in Fijian means, \”The Islands Over there\”. Yasawairara basically means, \”The end of the islands over there\”.

So we again had a beautiful anchorage and went ashore to do \”sevusevu\”. After which we got a lesson from Joe in all things coconut (photos not yet posted).

We had a lovely walk on \”8 month beach\” and saw a beautiful group of young kids coming from school. (photos soon!)

8 month beach is so called because of the sands. They are so fine (I kept some!), that the locals say if you get it in your hair (not my problem!…ha), it takes 8 months to get it all out. This was indeed the finest sand I\’ve ever felt. Silk comes to mind!

From here, we upped anchor and headed to Champaign Beach….. It was here the beach scenes from the movie \”Contact\” with Jody Foster were filmed. A stunning 1/2 mile of sand, one private home back in the trees and the anchorage all to ourselves. We did the view hike and walked the beach. It was quite melancholic for me as I\’m sure you can understand. This entire area was a \”Cindy experience\”. I needed some alone time, hiked up to the top of the hill and took some photos. (Posting soon!) The sands here were nearly as magical as those at 8 month beach. The experience of the water, the anchorage, the isolation and the beauty were priceless….

Tomorrow, we\’d be off back to Nanuya-Sewa for a last attempt at some dives and farewell to Joe before heading on to Vanuatu.

See Photo Gallery: 09-Western Fiji & Yasawa Group

Scott with Anja and Joe

Dear F&F, September 16th – 17th, 2011

Joe arrived on the noon Ferry from Denarau and we immediately upped anchor and headed to Nanuya-Sewa Island. This is a lovely spot (photos not yet posted) and we anchored next to Claudia and Joerg of s/v \”Dreamtime\”.

Joe, Anja and I immediately went for a dive at \”Tavarua Break\” which is also a nice right hand surf spot. The dive was nice and we were invited ashore by some locals who were putting on a \”lovo\” or earth oven feast. We all got together, had some wicked Kava and a great time.

The wind was blowing the next day, so we decided to head to Sawa-I-Lau island and en route stop and do a dive on the open ocean pinnacle, \”The Maze\”. The Maze is a series of underwater swim through\’s and caverns. The soft and hard corals were really in good shape. The most notable thing to us is that there are rarely \”big fish\” and this site was no exception. Fiji, like many of the Pacific Island nations is over fishing to the point of an ecological collapse. At least the humpbacks are coming back!

From The Maze, it was a short motor into the anchorage at Sawa-I-Lau. We again saw Mega Yacht \”TV\” here with lots of guests. The big attraction is the limestone caverns and underwater pools. Anja, Joe and I did part of the hike till it got to the point I thought I was entering Carlsbad Caverns. The knee high MUCK was the remembrance of the day!

After this, Joe and Anja swam in the pools, I chilled out. It was here in 1983 that my first wife Gaye and I traveled through these islands on a \”Blue Lagoon Cruise\”. We had done the swim way back then too.

Anja and Joe went to do \”sevusevu\” at the local village which gave us permission to anchor and dive off the local islands. (Photos not yet posted).

The next day we would head further up the coast in search of protected dive sites; the wind was still howling.

Stay tuned, Scott with Anja and Joe!

Dear F&F, September 13th – 15th, 2011

We motored up to Lautoka after a last marketing and fuel up. This is where Kate and I first anchored upon arrival. The check out with the boss was uneventful. They seem to be trying to smooth the paper work as well.

Instead of just leaving, the Northern Yasawa\’s were tempting and on our way. So we headed back to Manta Ray Bay Island and hoped to meet up with Joe Tui as a private dive guide. Joe is the guy with the blue \”camo\” wet suit petting \”Tiger Girl\” in our photo gallery.

We had a nice smooth uneventful trip and anchored in the pass. This is also the place where the geneker sail was torn to shreds and lost. The next morning I took Anja out to the Manta Ray site and she had about a 45 minute snorkeling experience with two mantas. She was jazzed. As I had done this many times with Cindy, I just did the spotting from the dinghy so she could geta nice experience. There was quite a bit of current in the pass, so someone really had to stay with the dinghy and be able to chase the other person drifting away. It\’s effortless for the Manta\’s of course; sleek and graceful. As they are plankton filter feeders, Anja got to see them with their large hula hoop size mouths open while filter feeding.

The tourist boats arrived and this was our cue to go home as once the overly excited jump in, the Manta\’s don\’t hang around very long or at least go deep.

We were supposed to meet Joe today, but he literally \”missed the boat\” (Ferry from Denarau) and we had to wait another night here to get him the next day.

The next morning, Anja got the same private experience with the Manta\’s again and even got to pet one! What a thrill…believe me. These Manta\’s are small compared to the ones Cindy and I experienced in Mexico, but this is a life experience. If you ever get the chance, don\’t miss it.

Scott and Anja

Dear F&F, September 13th – 15th, 2011

We motored up to Lautoka after a last marketing and fuel up. This is where Kate and I first anchored upon arrival. The check out with the boss was uneventful. They seem to be trying to smooth the paper work as well.

Instead of just leaving, the Northern Yasawa\’s were tempting and on our way. So we headed back to Manta Ray Bay Island and hoped to meet up with Joe Tui as a private dive guide. Joe is the guy with the blue \”camo\” wet suit petting \”Tiger Girl\” in our photo gallery.

We had a nice smooth uneventful trip and anchored in the pass. This is also the place where the geneker sail was torn to shreds and lost. The next morning I took Anja out to the Manta Ray site and she had about a 45 minute snorkeling experience with two mantas. She was jazzed. As I had done this many times with Cindy, I just did the spotting from the dinghy so she could geta nice experience. There was quite a bit of current in the pass, so someone really had to stay with the dinghy and be able to chase the other person drifting away. It\’s effortless for the Manta\’s of course; sleek and graceful. As they are plankton filter feeders, Anja got to see them with their large hula hoop size mouths open while filter feeding.

The tourist boats arrived and this was our cue to go home as once the overly excited jump in, the Manta\’s don\’t hang around very long or at least go deep.

We were supposed to meet Joe today, but he literally \”missed the boat\” (Ferry from Denarau) and we had to wait another night here to get him the next day.

The next morning, Anja got the same private experience with the Manta\’s again and even got to pet one! What a thrill…believe me. These Manta\’s are small compared to the ones Cindy and I experienced in Mexico, but this is a life experience. If you ever get the chance, don\’t miss it.

Scott and Anja