September 12, 2015
After fleeing the surprise winds at Sawa-i-Lau, we ended up going to an anchorage on the west side of Yasawa Island: Namataya Bay. The anchorage is formed by a long peninsula that reaches out from the southwest tip of the island, its northerly angle creating a huge bay. The area along shore is reef-strewn, but in between the reefs are a few spots where a boat might anchor and get some protection. In today’s winds, it took going all the way to the very innermost corner to get out of them.
We dropped our anchor into pretty blue water with a sand bottom, just far enough away from a finger of reef to be safe, yet close enough we could swim over and snorkel. This area looked familiar, like some of the places we visited in the Sea of Cortez in Mexico. The hills were so dry I’d pretty much call this a desert, and it has that same remote Baja feeling. There were a several beaches amid the headlands, but many had coral shelves, making them hard to reach.
We settled in and had some lunch, then planned to go snorkeling at the promising-looking reef nearby. Then the winds picked up more, putting some chop in the water, and the idea lost its appeal. In fact listening to the wind blowing through the rigging in this large desert bay made the place feel so remote that I felt a little uncomfortable. I imagine other people would love it for exactly this remoteness, but it made me uneasy.
We got a call from our friends on Bright Angel saying Malakati Bay (on Nacula Island just south of us) was absolutely beautiful with blinding white beaches, palm trees, bright blue water, and so well protected there was almost no wind. It sounded a lot more appealing than where we were, but the wind was blowing a good 20 knots; so we figured we’d stay put for the night. Then Linda e-mailed us a picture. We both said to each other, “Well, we could leave now . . . ” It didn’t take long before we were pulling up our anchor and heading away.
At the entrance to Namataya Bay we passed a small island (Vawa Island) that was on fire, adding to the strange (and for me almost creepy) feeling of this place. I could see all the way up the long, dry and windswept coastline of Yasawa, and I lost all interest in exploring this island further. With just this anchorage, we had already gone further north in the Yasawas than most cruisers ever go. There didn’t seem to be much reason to go further. –Cyndi
