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Published: September 21st 2010
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Today rather than “just” spending time on the (gorgeous) beach where I’m staying, I signed up for one of the resort’s tours. Soon after breakfast, myself and three other guests boarded the resort’s small motorboat and headed out across the stunning sparkling blue water.
Sawa-i-Lau is a small island, one of the most Northern islands in the Yasawas. The Yasawa islands are made from volcanic rock, but Sawai-i-Lau is limestone. On the island is a cave system that you can swim in and that’s where we headed.
It was about half an hour by boat from our resort on Nacula to the beach at Sawa-i-Lau. The views along the way were beautiful but the sea is pretty choppy today so the ride was rough. From the beach, we took a set of concrete steps up, then turned the corner to the cave entrance. You have to duck your head and ease yourself down into the cave entrance. There’s a small landing to leave your shoes and bag and then a small ladder to jump off of into the cave. I was the first one of our group in the water. Though I’d been warned the water would be cold,
it felt great. The sun is fierce out here! Some other tour groups were already in the cave swimming around and giving countdowns to their guides who would climb up the sides of the cave and jump ten, twenty feet down to the pool.
The dome-shaped cave is lit because it opens on the one side to the daylight. The water varies in depth - ten to twenty feet in various places - and it is a mix of fresh and salt water. According to our guide, the water is too cold for the fish to survive. I had my snorkel with me and looked occasionally down in the water. It was dark and shady in the water below. It seemed mysterious to me.
Our guide led us to the far side of the cave to a little spot in the wall. He said that we would hold our breath and swim under the wall to another cave. I’d read about the caves, so I knew about this part. From what I’d read, it was a passage to get through to the other side and I was a bit nervous about doing this. But then I could see
that it wasn’t really a passage at all, just a little spot. In fact, I could see through an opening into the other side, it just wasn’t a big enough opening to keep your head above water to pass under. So I decided I would be fine to go under. And I did. And it really wasn’t bad, maybe five seconds total under the water to swim well clear of the wall.
However, what I didn’t realize from what I’d read or from the guide’s explanation, was that the second chamber did not open to the outside so it was pitch black! Our guide had a flashlight, but still, it was only one light for the five of us! We swam through the cave, winding our way through it to the far side. It was more than a little bit creepy! One of the girls kept saying something about horror movies. I don’t watch them - thankfully! - but I was plenty nervous without movie images.
We reached the other end of the cave where there was a ledge at the side that we could sit and rest on. As we sat there, our guide had us yell
to hear the echo in the cave. He pointed out a spot in the ceiling that far up above opens to the sky. He called it the spitting hole - though I’m not sure why. He said that it’s not possible to climb on the top of the island and get into the caves; you can only swim in. He also spoke about how hundreds of years ago, when Fijians were cannibals (it was very shameful to an enemy tribe if you ate them) that this cave was the one place that the island’s tribe could hide from the enemy. I said that I didn’t know what was scarier to think about - how creepy it was in the pitch black of the cave or cannibals waiting for you outside!
We swam our way back through the dark chamber. As we swam it occurred to me how grateful I am that I’m a good swimmer! I can’t imagine being in that dark chamber and now confident in the water too. Once again I’m so happy I’m travelling while I’m young and fit and healthy so I can do the things I do.
Out in the main chamber we
swam a bit and I took pictures. The lighting was tricky though so I didn’t get nearly as many good photos as I tried taking! However, once again I’m so thrilled to have my waterproof camera. So many things I wouldn’t be able to take images back with me if I didn’t have it!
On the boat ride back, we stopped briefly at one of the outer reefs. The guide told us it is a sanctuary and protected area. The water was such an incredible colour of blue, I wish I could have put my face (with the snorkel) in the water just to take a quick look! We also passed by “honeymoon island” which is uninhabited but apparently the resort will drop people off there to spend the day alone before coming back to the resort.
We returned just in time for lunch. Then I spent the afternoon lying on the beach and going in the water. Again, it is so hot!!! I did some more snorkeling today, this time going to the other end of the beach. Lots more fish. I’d heard that you can see clown fish down there so I was hoping to spot
some. At one point I came across some orange fish with white stripes. I snapped lots of photos. I thought I’d found Nemo! But later, back at the lodge, I was looking at a chart of tropical fish and now I don’t think the orange and white fish I saw is actually a clown fish, but is a closely related one (the number of stripes and the tail fin are different). So now I don’t know if there are clownfish out there or if everyone is mistaken! Regardless, it was pretty awesome out there once again. I saw some really really big fish and a few more huge schools. At one point I’m also pretty sure I saw some sort of an eel. It was underneath a large rock. It’s shape was much more eel than fish like, but it never came entirely out of it’s hiding spot so I didn’t know for sure.
Now after another beautiful sunset and good dinner, I am relaxing and nursing my sunburn! I put on sunscreen honestly about five times today, but apparently every time I missed a couple spots because I am sore! Tomorrow I have one more day to spend
on this beautiful beach, but I have a feeling I’ll spend most of it hiding in the shade!
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