Month: October 2015

October 28, 2015

So sad to be leaving the beautiful bay off of Blue Lagoon Beach Resort. We’ve been here three or four nights (It’s always a good sign when we lose track of time!).

We’re going to slowly start heading south, back to Vuda and dentist appointments in Suva (Vuda to Suva via bus). But on the way, there are a few places we still need/want to check out.

-Rich

October 23, 2015

What’s the first thing to do when anchored in beautiful, clear, warm water?

Jump in, of course. And that’s just what we did after we dropped anchor off the Blue Lagoon Beach Resort (again).

No, it wasn’t raining… It’s just that it seems some of us can’t be trusted to not splash others!

I guess we should be cleaning the bottom, but then, Cyndi wouldn’t be smiling like this! -Rich

October 22, 2015

After we left Drawaqa Island (the anchorage near Mantaray Island Resort), we headed north about two miles to another bay we’d spent some time in earlier this season: the anchorage at Botaira Resort (which may or may not be called Vaga Bay). It’s a more protected and less crowded alternative to Drawaqa Island. It would even be possible, for those with fast dinghies, to leave the boat there and just dinghy down to the manta channel.

The anchorage itself is quite nice, although the large areas of coral shelf make it less roomy than it looks. The coral shelf also makes it impossible to get ashore in all but high tide. So while the beach looks nice and the resort does let yachties book dinner ashore, we never made it in. Still, it was a pleasant place to spend a few nights. –Cyndi

October 22, 2015

The theme of this particular round of cruising is second chances. The season is changing and soon we’ll need to head south, but for now we’re taking advantage of some nice weather to get out and see a few things we missed during the season.

Or in the case of Mantaray Island Resort, retake some photos. We stopped here early in the season, anchoring off Drawaqa island. We came in for lunch, but somehow lost those pictures in the transfer from camera to computer. Our plan: go ashore and take more photos of the resort, then hopefully get a second swim with the mantas (thankfully those pictures were on another camera).

Mantaray Island Resort is located in the middle of a string of small islands that spill off the south tip of larger Naviti island. The best anchorage is at little Drawaqa island, halfway between the channel where the mantas swim and Nanuya Balavu island, where Mantaray Island Resort is located. Everything is so close together it’s an easy dinghy ride to any given place.

The resort itself is a bit rustic, geared toward the young backpacker crowd. In the evening, they fire up their pizza oven at the bar and everyone is welcome to come in and enjoy a slice with their happy hour drinks. It’s not the most beautiful setting in Fiji: these islands are very dry, and the beach is a combination of sand and coral rubble. But it’s pretty festive and a popular destination for the party crowd.

As far as swimming with the mantas, it’s been a bit shrouded in mystery, but I think we’ve figured it out. (see blog post). The answer to “When are they here?” varies depending on who you ask. The resort will tell you they’re here until November, but I think the more honest answer comes from the Lonely Planet guide: “June thru August, but sometimes as early as May or as late as September.” We’d heard of people swimming with them in September this year, but we knew October was a long shot. When we got to the resort, they said they hadn’t seen them for two weeks. With no boats even scheduled to take people out, the writing was on the wall: they’re gone.

We thought about coming back for the pizza, but the anchorage was getting pretty rolly. We decided to head on to an anchorage a few miles north on Naviti Island. Above, a few photos of Mantaray Island Resort on Nanuya Balavu island just across the channel from us.–Cyndi

Note: our anchor waypoint can be found in our Western Fiji Routes and Waypoints on our Fiji Cruising info page.

October 23, 2015

Always practice safe computing!

I’ve always hated these things and never used them in my old land life. Now, I wouldn’t be without one. We’ve seen so many broken laptop keyboards out here, and also dead computers that probably resulted from water getting into the little electronical bits via the keyboard.

Even if it isn’t water getting in (and there’s a big chance of that on a small boat – who knew!?), the dust and dirt that enters through the keyboard is no friend of a computer’s secret inner workings.

I didn’t think I’d like typing on a keyboard with a cover. I don’t even notice it now. You can get them at Amazon, big box electronic stores, newegg online and lots of other places. Just search for keyboard cover. -Rich