October 28, 2013
Even with the time change it was fairly light by 5:30 AM, which meant we were up and headed out to enjoy our coffee in the cockpit. The morning was beautiful, the water glassy and still and under sunrise-pink clouds. Swallows made themselves at home on our bow railing. Off to the west we could see thunderheads building up, probably a daily occurrence at this time of year. This place, in spite of some strange aspects, definitely had its magic. (Click to enlarge/scroll through any photo galleries below.)
Unfortunately, it also had heat. As soon as the sun came up we headed below, and there was no way I wanted to use the stove to cook breakfast (yogurt it was!). Rich got onto the radio net we’d formed and probably for the first time this season, there was no one there. Aside from the heat, this was another sign of the changing season: people were switching out of cruising mode and getting into passage mode. Some people were already heading off, while another group hoped to leave in the coming days. It seemed no one felt like chatting, and our Bula net was coming to an end.
Later, when we headed out to go snorkeling again, I noticed the line of thunderheads across the way seemed bigger and closer than yesterday. Maybe we’d get some rain after all. We anchored the dinghy and jumped in. Very soon we saw another giant humphead wrasse, very exciting. We also saw a couple of white tip sharks, also exciting (but not in a pleasant way), and thankfully they swam by and disappeared into the distance. Once the unwanted visitors left, we circled through this amazing world of coral, fish, and canyons. We next headed over to the bombie with the butterfly fish, then headed on to check out the area our new friends had told us about.
As we neared the area, I was once again astonished as we went over giant bombie after giant bombie. They were separated by the sandy coral scrub bottom between them, so each bombie had its own contained world of coral and fish. The water was so clear we could get a look at these places as we rode over them. This area of these bombies was so vast it felt like we were riding over the surface of an alien planet. A person could probably spend months here exploring all these snorkeling sites!
How to pick? We just finally picked one at random and went in for yet another amazing snorkel, our last before heading back to the boat. So now we know: the snorkeling at Koro island is fantastic, but you have to know where to look. (Approximate waypoints: 17 16.882S, 179 20.964E). The biggest surprise was that there wasn’t a major dive resort here.
(Note: I’d normally put in a video of the snorkeling area, but our footage has gone missing. We have one last shot of finding it but will need to wait on a friend to send an old backup drive. Fingers crossed for finding it! If we do, we’ll do a future post. For now, you’ll just have to take our word on the loveliness of this underwater world.)
Our plan at this point was to stay here for another day, waiting for predicted northerly winds that would assist our trip to the next destination. That changed after we got back to the boat and the afternoon heat intensified. It was 35 degrees celsius (95 fahrenheit), the hottest day we’d yet seen. We’d had enough and decided to leave the next morning, hoping our next jump south would mean cooler temps.
Meanwhile, Rich thought instead of happy hour ashore we’d invite our new friends, Alicia and Alfredo from On Verra, over for drinks here. I looked at him and said, “Too hot!” Alicia soon paddled by and said they’d thought about inviting us over for evening drinks, but it was too hot. So we’d meet for happy hour at the resort. (Kind of sad when it’s too hot to have friends over to the boat.) And so we headed in for happy hour.
It turned out the group tonight was much bigger than the previous evening and it was much more festive. We had a terrific time, although we felt a little sad to tell our new friends we’d be leaving in the morning. We hate to be wusses, but what can I say, we’re just not built to survive in the heat.
(Note from Rich: It’s no secret that I “adjust” our photos in Photoshop to make them look more like what we experienced in real life (Develop your Digital Images Post). The six photos above are a very rare exception – they were perfect straight out of the camera, with no adjustment needed. Sometimes the camera gets it right!)
Back at the boat, showering off mosquito spray and sweat, I looked out at the clouds. I predicted we’d get a show tonight and sure enough, we soon started to hear distant thunder. Not long after, lightening flashed through the big clouds making quite a show. Magnificent! –Cyndi
