October 20, 2015
We just dropped anchor at Monuriki, otherwise known as “Tom Hanks Island” because Castaway was filmed here.
Below, a gallery of photos from our time at Monuriki Island. Click to enlarge and scroll through photos.
This may not be the best anchorage in the world, but it is so worth the effort. The views of steep, tropical islands on all sides are spectacular. The bottom is also a bit steep. We dropped our hook in 75 feet and hung back into less than 20 feet of water in yesterday’s light northerlies. -Rich
Note from Cyndi: What I loved most about this anchorage was the feeling of being surrounded by islands and the view of our spectacular neighbor, Monu island (featured in some of the photos above). It was also a thrill to look for spots we might recognize on Monuriki from the movie Castaway (such as “Help Me” spelled out in rocks). The snorkeling here was pretty but not special, but it felt great to spend this very hot afternoon swimming in the water. We’d highly recommend coming here to anyone (Castaway fan or not), but we’d also caution that it’s a fair weather anchorage.
Below is our route from Vuda. The last waypoint is where our anchor is lying.
monuriki 1
