Tongan Letters..#3

Euakafa Island

3-22-14
 After many days of rain and high winds that kept us inside our fale and island-bound, we finally get SE trade winds (starting early this season) to blow away the storms and beautiful puffy white clouds decorate the sky indicating stable weather.

The water is still a little confused by the winds, but we need to get out do something! So off we go for some exploring and snorkeling on the nearest island east of Kapa, Euakafa Island.  It is uninhabited and has pristine white beaches. Amazing! There is a reef that extends south/west for miles off this island.  There are many places to dive.  Yesterday, being just after some windy days, with a SW swell still running, the reef breaks violently into spectacular plums  of confused seas...John wants to snorkel this area and I say," NO WAY!"  Maybe later on a calmer day.  We find another spot and drop into a beautiful coral landscape.

Can't get enough of these warm waters and beach on Euakafa Island

Our ride waits...

 Reef breaks and confused seas off Euakafa Island

The coral comes in many colors...pink is pretty!

We look up what causes the different colors of coral? and discover its the shallow waters with sunlight and different algaes that attach and cause the colors...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algae

Always something to look at up close...

This coral group is Acropora formosa...looks like a pile of antlers!

3-23-14 Sunday Snorkeling

Out for a Sunday snorkel....

Sunday begins with beautiful puffy, white clouds, our signal that good weather is here for a few days...good weather means light to no winds, clear skies and mellow seas. We decide to go for Sunday Snorkel.  Out to the reefs east of Euakafa Island.  It is here we have discovered beautiful corals and drop offs to explore.  This day, the water is exceptionally clear!

Colorful coral shows through clear water breaking over the reef

Gliding through a shallow sandy patch of reef

Surprisingly, the water is not as clear as on top at the surface looking down...we drop into a slightly cloudy world with a cool upwelling temperature and particles (food) floating about making for milky visibility.  This is good feeding grounds and we see plenty of good sized fish...but, no sharks, this time!

Variety of coral...too bad the colors don't show

somebody is "mooning" me!

Fun reflection of John snorkeling

Out  in the middle of nowhere...sooo clear!

We zoom around in the dinghy  exploring different reefs...and we see a chartered sailboat anchored out off Tuanga Island...we decide to stop and say "Hello" to four biologists from Idaho snorkeling in the calm blue waters....get to talking and discover that I went to high school with one of the gals!  Can you believe it? We both went to Saratoga High, in northern bay area of California, she graduated in 1971 and I in 1972...what a small world!  We both lamented that we didn't know each other, but still...we knew we shared some of the same experiences at Saratoga High...anyway, just thought that was really funny!  They had never been to Tonga before, and just decided to charter on off season on a whim!  One is a Captain, so knows a little about handling a sailboat. All said how nice it is to be in these largely unpopulated, awesome diving/ sailing grounds of Tonga!  

We couldn't agree more!