Once we got through the pass, we found ourselves in what appeared to be a huge bay, but looks were deceiving as this area’s divided by an underwater reef. From one side to the other, though, it’s a mile across, quite a large area.
We headed over to the east side of the bay. There were probably 15 boats in the entire bay, most of them on the east side because it’s a easier to anchor there. Not to say that it’s easy! Viani Bay has a lot of coral on the bottom and it’s challenging to get an anchor to hold.
Heading over to the east side of Viani Bay, FijiThis area on the east side of Viani Bay looked promising. (Fiji)
We motored over and found a spot we really liked: a corner formed by a protective arm of reef reaching out from the shore towards the small island of Yanuyanuwiri. We were lucky to get anchored on our first try.
Our corner on the east side of Viani Bay, Fiji.An arm of reef that provided nice protection for us (although all of Viani Bay is very well protected).A picture of Legacy in her spot at Viani Bay, Fiji.
Now it was time to sit in the cockpit with a glass of wine and take in the scenery. On the opposite side of the bay were golden grassy hills. The hills near us were greener, with some thick jungle growth and mangroves by the shoreline. At the head of the bay was a long narrow beach backed by palm trees.
No doubt about it, Viani Bay, Fiji, is beautiful. (Click to enlarge)A distant view of the beach along the shoreline in Viani Bay, Fiji.
Just outside of us was Yanuyanuwiri island, the view of which reminded me very much of the Corona beer Christmas commercial. From shore we could hear birds that sounded like howler monkeys and the chattering of fruit bats. Viani Bay was a beautiful place, very special, and we knew we’d enjoy staying here awhile.
Yanuyanuwiri Island in Viani Bay, Fiji.
No rest for the weary. Helena from Merilelu came by with the book for the PADI dive course. My assignment was to learn the first two chapters before my first dive lesson day after tomorrow. I finished my wine, made dinner, and started studying. –Cyndi
We woke up at dawn to glassy conditions in Fawn Harbor, looking like a great day to continue on to Viani Bay. We estimated it would take about 3 hours; so we weren’t in a big rush to leave. The other boats started to head off one by one through the very tranquil pass. (Below a gallery of early morning Fawn Harbor–click to enlarge photos.)
We took off and with very little wind it was rather hot as we motored along the south coast of Vanua Levu. We could see clouds off in the distance but they weren’t threatening. In fact, we would have welcomed a nice cooling tropical shower.
Heading out of the very tranquil pass at Fawn Harbor. (Vanua Levu, Fiji)Motoring towards Viani Bay. (Vanua Levu, Fiji)The South Coast of Vanua Levu. (Vanua Levu, Fiji)Enjoying sitting on deck as we motored along on calm seas. (Vanua Levu, Fiji)
Lady Bug, about 30 minutes ahead of us, came up on the radio: they had humpback whales cavorting around them! We looked over and could see the whales breaching right next to their boat! We wanted in on that action and headed that way. Meanwhile, though, the whales seemed to move on. We decided to go over there anyway to see if they might return, going to the spot where Lady Bug had been.
We sat and waited patiently, and our patience was rewarded when the whales appeared once again. This time, though, they weren’t playing. In fact they came to the surface and floated like logs, maybe worn out from all the jumping around. They were maybe 20 feet from us, their occasional breaths blowing mists of water into the air. They were head to head, a bigger and slightly smaller one. We sat and watched awhile, even considered getting in the water with them. They looked to be a courting pair, though, and we decided to give them some privacy. We turned and headed once again for Viani Bay. The whales, on the move again, seemed to join us for awhile before swimming off. This little adventure had cost us at least an hour, but it was so worth it!
By the time we got to Viani Bay, our friends had all gone in through the long winding pass. The distant clouds had gotten closer, the sky now steely gray, the water dark and opaque, and the wind picking up. Maybe we shouldn’t have stopped for those whales.
We talked to our friends on Gato Go, and they confirmed that the waypoints had been good; so we took a deep breath and headed in. I went up to the bow to keep watch, but mostly I was acting as a figurehead since I could see absolutely nothing in the water. Well, if we hit something at least I was up there trying to be helpful. Rich was impressively calm, even when it started to rain. Luckily the shower passed quickly.
Clouds and rain as we went through the pass into Viani Bay (Vanua Levu, Fiji)
It took us about an hour to get through the long pass, and about the time we were through the skies started to clear. I couldn’t decide if were incredibly brave or totally nuts going through that pass in those conditions, but having those waypoints confirmed by someone who had just used them made all the difference.
Little did we know this was just the beginning of Mother Nature’s long-running joke on Legacy: she loves to sneak over and rain on us whenever we go through a pass. For us, this joke is getting old, but Mother Nature apparently never tires of it. –Cyndi
We got word from Lady Bug II over the VHF radio that they saw whales on the way to Viani Bay. We were headed that way so we stopped to watch. Wow! We saw incredible breaching in the distance before we got there. They disappeared for a while but then came back, doing an wonderful floating-log impersonation. We think they were humpbacks but we’re not 100% sure. -Rich
