Blue Lagoon (29th July)

Mustang Sally Cruising
Mark Lawrence & Dianne Jackson
Thu 28 Jul 2016 21:19

Current position is in the Blue Lagoon anchorage off the Nanuya Resort on Nanuya Sewa Island

16:56.557S 177:22.008E

 

 

We ended up spending three nights anchored off the Manta Ray Pass – we did go looking for the Manta Rays but with the windy weather and not quite sure when to go we never did get to see them however, we will keep trying as we have been told by many that they are definitely there!!!!

 

                                                                         YASAWA FLYER

 

We left Manta Ray Pass on the morning of the 21st July and headed up to Natuvalo Bay on the Western Side of Naviti Island.  This anchorage has two cruiser friendly resorts.  We found out that the local rating system for resorts is based on coconuts with 1 the lowest and three the highest.  Apparently we are anchored off a one coconut and a two coconut resort.  

You quickly find that this is a high tide beach only as the fringing reef is high and dry at anything below half tide so timing is critical.  

We found a couple of good snorkelling spots so all is good in the world.    

We had lunch in at the two coconut resort on the 22nd and met a lovely Aussie couple who are out here travelling and were happy for our company as it is very much a back packer type of establishment with a much younger demographic.    During our stop we also enjoyed sunset drinks aboard Matiriki III which is a 68’ Oyster from NZ.  Paul, Chris and Karen made us very welcome. 

 

On the 26th we were on the move again this time our destination is the very famous ‘Blue Lagoon’ which strangely enough is where they made the film.

It turned out to be a pretty windy day so we were happy that we decided to travel up the western or lee side of the islands however, we did find the whole experience quite stressful dodging and weaving between reefs that are either not charted or if they are charted their position bears no relationship to our GPS location.  It is also made more challenging as we are currently heading north so that we are always looking into the sun so visibility into the water is not great.  We were given an excellent tip off by one of our fellow cruisers out here who suggested we try Motion X which plots your GPS position onto a satellite image such as Google earth which at least shows where the reefs actually are so have found it fantastic for keeping out of trouble.  We have been putting tracks everywhere so we are hoping our future trips us this way will be a whole lot less stressful.

 

Blue Lagoon is a busy place and there are plenty of other cruising boats here.  It seems like a popular spot to stop as it is a great anchorage with plenty of coverage from most directions.  The Nanuya Boathouse is also very cruiser friendly and has a yachties bar where most of the crews gather for happy hour each day.  There is a small shop which provides the basics including bread so Mark is happy.  You can also get laundry done and have a hot shower too so all bases are covered. 

 

 

When we arrived we figured we had made it to the right spot as the  Blue Lagoon Cruise boat was anchored up.  Apparently it is here every Wednesday night.

This is also the turnaround spot for the Yasawa Flyer, which is a high speed cat which services all the resorts in the Yasawa chain.  As there are many resorts in this area it is always bedlam at the back of the boat when they arrive and just to add a bit more chaos the sea plane drop in at least once a day picking up or dropping off guests.

 

                                                         BLUE LAGOON ANCHORAGE

 

                                                                               LO’S TEA HOUSE

 

Yesterday (which is think was Thursday) we headed out on a walk over to the other side of the island to Lo’s Tea House.

The walk takes you up the hill through the amazing fruit and vegetable gardens around the resort, past the managers house where they have installed two huge arrays of solar panels, across the island and down to the tea house.  Lo is quite a character and with her recommendation we tried the lemon tea and chocolate cake which were both delicious.

By the time we got back to the boat we were pretty hot a sweaty so as is becoming a bit of a routine jumped in for a pre-lunch swim J

 

 

 

As we quite enjoy our snorkelling we are always on the lookout for good spots and the cruising guide mentioned a reef that is just behind the anchorage so after lunch we went out for a look and very pleased we did as it is the best snorkelling spot we have found so far in Fiji and we saw more Nemo’s than you can imagine – the reef was just festooned with soft corals and hundreds of Clown Fish families.  As well as the Nemo’s there was also plenty of other coral and fishies to see so a great day was had.

 

As the wind is down a bit today we are planning a dinghy trip this morning to the gardens on Matacawa Levu Island which from all accounts is a great place to stock up on some fresh fruit and veges as we are pretty much out in fact we are getting pretty low on a lot of supplies so will no doubt be planning our trip back to Denaurau in the next week to stock up although I think we have a few more stops north first!!