Snorkeling in Tonga!

John pops up in Swallows Cave, Vava'u, Tonga 

After five days meeting, drinking and hanging out with other cruisers, we leave the safety net of Nieafu harbor to explore the outer islands of the Vava’u group. There are over forty numbered anchorages to visit.  A sailor's paradise! We follow the instructions of a cruising guide to spots that sound interesting.

Anchorage # 7 is Port Maurelle a calm bay in Vava'u

Our first stop is Anchorage #6, Mala Island, and we anchor in front of a charming little resort called the Reef Resort.  We see from the boat an inviting patio with several people gathering.  This bay is sheltered on some winds, but today it’s blowing from the NE and not very comfortable on the boat, so we decide to go in to shore. The Reef Resort is owned by a couple of ex-cruisers from Switzerland, who landed here in the Vava’u islands thirteen years ago.  They offer bungalow accommodations with views over the Mala Island on a private beach... check out www.reefresortvavau.com

Picture moment at Reef Resort in Vava'u

Dinner is by reservation only and they have to prepare and plan in advance for quests.   They offer breakfast, but they have no bacon…we see pigs roaming freely on the beach and comment that there is plenty of bacon wandering around. The Tongans roast a lot of pig, but no one processes the meat for bacon or sausages. We enjoyed a few beers on the deck and marveled at how resorts survive in the middle of nowhere!

Clown fish guarding their nests!

Crab shell is colorful!

Next day, we motor around to Anchor #7 – Port Maurelle, a beautiful calm bay with turquoise waters and many yachts already at anchor.  This is one of the most popular spots in the Vava’u group.  It’s like anchoring with fifty of your “closest friends”! There are many chartered catamarans, a large power boat and a huge sailboat, over 100 ft. We snorkel the coast. The water is clear and there are lots of fish. This is a limestone island group so the formations are craggy and holey with colorful coral heads.  We discovered a cave and John dove down and under and back up…I watch…still not quite comfortable going into a cave.

Dinghy ride into Swallow's Cave

Snorkeling the reef near  Swallow's Cave

Swallow's Cave with decorated with swallows, bats and graffiti; some old some new.

We spent the evening at the Aquaruium Cafe, the popular gathering spot for cruisers because of free Internet, good food and service.  The place was crowed  for the "happy hour"on Friday night.  We were invited to sit down with several .  Cruisers are a mixed lot joined by the common thread od living and traveling by boat..  Age and nationalities blurr as people become friends sharing adventures together .  But at the end of the evening it is the young ( thirty yr olds) who hold up and continue on into the night with whatever ;  while us "old farts" (over thirty) retire back to our quiet boats.  The 8:00pm time is "cruisers midnight".  Old farts are the "Old Smarts" as we reteat back to the boat!

The other day, we hired one of the local tour boats to go whale-watching.  Tonga is a favorite birthing grounds destination for the humpback whales coming up from Antarctic seeking warmer climates around these island groups.  One of the main  tourist attractions offered in Vava'u  is to " swim with the whales".  Only three places in the world still allow divers to get into the water near whales and Vava'u is one.  The whale guides are careful not to get too close to a mother and calk, so the percentage of actually getting to swim near these giant creatures is about 80 %. We were In this  unlucky group. We saw many whales from the surface and followed them several miles out.  We jumped in near a male singing out ...the underwater echos was awesome as the sound reverberated through  the water and our chests!  The males sound to announce to other males their territory or to attract females. That was pretty cool.  The dive boat continued long into the day chasing blow spouts.  It's a challenging games to capture nature where and when you want a view!  But, in the end we spotted a mother and newborn claf to slide into the water with. the baby was not bigger than a large dolfin and just learning to breach.  We watched several breaches, then as a group dropped quietly over the side of the boat...we swam hard to get the underwater view, but just barely saw them as they glided at a distance.  Mother was a bit protective with her newborn of two weeks.  We learned that as the whales are curious creatures who will seek out the dive boats for a closer look!  That was our hope this tour, but it didnt happen this day. We gave up the whale chase at about 4:30 pm as the daylight was waning.  It was getting hard to see the whales.