Fiji: The Yasawa Islands

We were meant to spend a day at Lautoka, exploring the town and provisioning for our trip up the Yasawa Islands.  Unfortunately, the morning we woke up in Lautoka the wind had come up, blowing right into the anchorage, making it uncomfortable and unsafe.  After holding all night, the anchor suddenly dragged, taking us in the direction of other boats.  It was time to get out of there.

We attempted to find shelter behind Bekana Island, but after three attempts, the anchor just wouldn't hold.  We tried the small bay on the other side of the commercial wharf, but after four attempts, we just kept on dragging.  So off we went to Vuda Point, hoping to get a spot at the marina.  After several attempts on the radio, phone and email, we finally got hold of the marina, only to be told it was full.  Vuda Point has a large bay next to it, which was sheltered against the wind and shallow enough to anchor, although not an official anchorage.  In an attempt to hold, we put out 45 metres of our heavy 12.5mm chain in only 5 metres of water.  We dragged another eight times that afternoon before it finally held.  A whole day wasted.

The next morning we made a quick trip into the marina by dinghy to pick up the bare essentials at the marina store.  Then we were on our way!

The Yasawa Islands are notoriously badly charted.  None of the charts match up to each other, with some having imaginary rocks and others missing obvious ones.  Some of the time our GPS chart plotter tells us we are on land in the middle of an island, when we are clearly not.    We take our time, look out constantly and mark the reefs and rocks off as we pass them.

We aimed for the little anchorage between Waya and Wayasewa Islands on the eastern side.    We arrived about 2pm, and while the anchorage is sheltered in the northerly breeze, we didn't find anywhere that was shallow enough for us to anchor without hitting coral.  Perhaps we were a bit too hesitant given our previous days experience.

Anchorage between Wayasewa and Waya Islands Fiji

 We continued on to Nalauwaki Bay on the north of Waya Island.  The wind was meant to be swinging more westerly, so we crossed our fingers and hoped it would already be sheltered. It wasn't.  At 3.30pm we headed for Plan C, the anchorage between Drawaqa Island and Nanuya Balavu Island.  We arrived at 4.30pm and anchor in the wonderfully sheltered channel, right outside the Mantaray Resort.  The anchor set nicely and we headed in for a pizza on the beach.

Joy at our wonderful anchoring spot turned to misery in the middle of the night when the tide turned.  The current through the channel held us at odds to the waves and we rolled about all night and listened to the whack of the waves smashing the underside of the transom.  Not exactly wide eyed and bushy tailed, we headed off up the chain to Blue Lagoon the next morning.

Mantaray Resort

Channel between Drawaqa Island and Nanuya Balavu Island
from the south-eastern side (by Mantaray Resort)

 Our electronic charts told us there was no entrance to Blue Lagoon from the south-east, but our paper charts said there was.  We preferred the route taking us through a channel in the eastern reef just off Naviti and Yaqeta islands, then back through the reef using the Kubo Pass on our paper chart, right into Blue Lagoon. The first reef pass was a bit nail biting, with the channel not exactly meeting up with our electronic GPS and the water being so clear that visual estimates of depth were difficult.  We made it through seeing 7 metres depth at the shallowest part.  Entering Blue Lagoon over what our electronic chart plotter says is reef, was actually less daunting because the pass is quite obvious visually.  We dropped the anchor just off the Blue Lagoon Resort, thankful to be in a calm and sheltered anchorage. 

Village opposite the Blue Lagoon Resort

Toodles at Blue Lagoon

Blue Lagoon Resort

We spent a couple of days in the Lagoon, watching punters come and go from the resort by ferry and sea plane.   We wandered the beach, obeying the strict rules set out on the sign - No access to beach if a cruise ship is in, and only below high tide mark if a cruise ship isn't in.  We even spotted a Nemo (Clown) Fish in the coral.  Gary took every opportunity he could to go fishing in the dinghy, but thankfully caught nothing.

We headed back down the Yasawas to the western side of Mantaray Resort, to meet up with our friends on Helena May and attempt to swim with the Manta Rays.   After drinks aboard Helena May, we headed into the resort for dinner.  This time, we thought we would splash out and eat at the restaurant on the hill, rather than the bar on the beach.  The spread was amazing and we chatted away to the resort visitors who sat alongside us at the long tables.

The western anchorage, away from the current in the channel, proved a much quieter night.  The next morning, we headed out in the dinghy with Tim and Cathy from Henena May, to find the Manta Rays.  We spied a tourist boat from one of the resorts and tagged along with them and their professional Manta Ray spotter.  We swam with a Manta Ray, but also a hoard of tourists who kept on getting their white bottoms in every shot.  The water visibility wasn't great, so this video was the best we could do.

 We continue to head back down the Yasawa Islands, but first the Mamanuca Islands.