Niue

Anastasia
Phil May and Andrea Twigg
Sat 2 Jun 2012 04:56
19:0.0S 169:55.0W
 
Niue is just a big rock in the middle of the Pacific, but it is a another useful stopping place after Suwarrow, if you don't want to do the trip from Bora Bora to Tonga in one go.  The island is a raised coral atoll, where layers of reef are pushed up by volcanic activity.  This makes for impressive cliffs with caves and crevices along the coast.
 
Niue is also home of the Niue Yacht Club, which has the distinction of being a yacht club where none of the members owns a yacht.  This is because Niue does not have a harbour.  They have some mooring buoys on the western side of the island which you can use when the wind is blowing from the east.  We had to keep an eye on the weather with a view to leaving the island quickly if the wind started blowing from the west.  The absence of local yachts does mean that the yacht club can focus on entertaining visiting yachts and we spent a couple of evenings at the club, for a barbecue and for an evening of local dancing and feasting.
Because there is no natural harbour there is also no safe place to land a dinghy, so Niue has a crane which you use to lift your tender out of the water, which Bertie (and I) thought was really cool.
There are some beautiful rock pools where you can swim in the crystal clear water.  Niue has the clearest water we have seen anywhere because there are no rivers running sediment into the sea, rainwater filters down through the coral. 
There are many caves you can visit.
We rented a car and drove over to the east of the island to see some more caves.  The eastern side is exposed to the weather, not somewhere you would want to try landing in a boat (although there was a canoe launching spot next to where we took this photo).
Some of the coral formations are spectacular.  This area had a field of tall spires with chasms in between. 
One of the popular places to visit, a sandy enclosure surrounded by cliffs...
 
... with a cave leading out to the open sea.  Here is a wave breaking at the entrance.  We didn't go any closer than this.
On our final evening the locals arranged dinner and Niuean dancing performed by the local troupe.