Snorkeling and a Nice Boat Ride

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Geo: -18.6046, -174.012

Vava'u is situated in the northern group of islands in the Kingdom of Tonga. Offering pristine beaches, untouched islands and all year round activities like diving, sailing, fishing and whale swimming, it's the travel destination for those looking to ‘get off the beaten trail'. Well, today we're getting off the beaten trail with 1300 other passengers. Today we snorkel at several sites around the islands making up Vava'u. It's a short day for us as all aboard is at 2:30pm.

Following our usual minimal breakfast, we rendezvous in the sports bar with the 6 others on our excursion. We're the first ones there, followed by Melinda (Betty) and her husband, Tad, with the others in tow. Then Dale (Kiwi Skiers) shows up with #2 tender tickets for all so we're in the first boat out to the port. On the tender, Betty tells us that her husband put the wrong back on his GoPro camera the other day, the one used for cycling and sports activities performed out of water. It's not waterproof so now his camera is toast. He bought a temporary underwater camera for now.

At the port, a small flea market atmosphere prevails with everything from beads to T-shirts and carvings. No time for Mom to gawk as our group rolls through it and down to the small private boat dock where our tour guides await. It's a small pontoon boat and the operator looks like the skipper on "Gilligan's Island". There's a lady aboard too that will snorkel with us and offer aid to anybody in need. As we board, Mom decides to enter from the side, steps on the seat and somehow falls to the deck. Oh boy. But wait. She's up and OK. The deck has padded carpet which breaks her fall. So we all settle down in our seats as the skipper takes us out across the water to a different island. We pass our anchored ship on the way and Mom enjoys the nice ride. The water is flat, blue-green and turquoise in color and the pontoon vessel glides across the surface at a comfortable and relaxing pace. Our destination, a popular dive location called "The Swallows".

Once there, everyone gears up and, one by one, slips off the side into the refreshing, clear water. This dive spot has a cave that you can swim into. Mom is in the water and we swim together for awhile but she won't go near the cave. In fact, she drifts off a little too far from the boat and while I yell to her to move closer to the boat, the lady in her wetsuit and fins shoots over and helps her back. She offers to escort Mom inside the cave but that's not happening and she hangs near the boat while I'm trying out the GoPro on coral and fish in the area. I enter the cave but it's too dark to film inside so I return to the outside and scan for shellfish, eels, anything of interest. After at least an hour in the water, we board our boat and head to another location for our second snorkel dive.

This time none of the women join us, just the men go in. We're here for about an hour but the fish are fewer. There is more coral and the sea floor is quite interesting. I try to dive below the surface but find it difficult, as if I need a weight belt. The skipper tells us that the salt content of the sea water in this area is 3 times that of the Pacific Coast of California. OK. That explains the buoyancy problem. Next we go to a very private beach area where we are treated to a picnic lunch including sandwiches, fruit, banana bread, chips and wine. Delicious. From the beach, two sailboats can be seen anchored in the cove but that's it. We only have time for one more stop so the skipper suggest "King's Beach". It's close by and a great place to just hang out on the sand and wade in the water while chatting. Ah, the life.

Today, it's "all aboard" by 2:30pm, earlier than normal so, with our available time cut short, it's best we return to the port town and catch the tender for the ship. We enjoy a nice pleasant ride on the patio boat back to the pier, arriving at 2pm, one half hour before the last tender to the ship departs. As we arrive, we see that the tender brigade has moved over to the small boat dock and a huge line of possibly 300 or more passengers has formed. Our skipper, being a resourceful salt, finds another spot in the yacht harbor and we all literally climb out of the boat, even Karen. It works and, after saying goodbye to all, we head toward the tender line. Unfortunately, there's not enough time to return to the area where the vendors were located earlier for Mom to shop. Maybe they gave up with all the potential customers now on the other side of the harbor.

While Karen wants to stand in line so we don't get left behind, I persuade her to join me at a patio bar for an ice cold beer. Note that the line must pass by us while we sit sharing our bottle of local brew. We sit on our stools and chat with the passengers as they file by. We find out later that the crew moved the operation from the main dock because low tide had created a 3' differential between the dock and the tender entry point, too great a disparity for them to readily compensate for. Most of the guests have trouble even when it's level because of the wave action. The smaller dock had provision to adapt for different water levels.

With the line length minimal, I polish off the beer and join in the wait. We're soon on the tender for the 15 minute ride. Back on the Amsterdam, I get a hot dog and fries and Mom a salad poolside. Then it's back to our room so I can work on the blog and Karen takes a nap. She's a bit dizzy from the day's activities. On TV, the movie, "Castaway", starring Tom Hanks runs in the background.

For dinner, I had the flank steak and Mom, the tortellini with spinach. We go to the 8pm show to see Adrian Dean, magician & juggler. He's not all that, hard to understand with his Australian accent and funky jokes. For assistance, he looks to the audience and picks the only mentally challenged person aboard. The guy screws the trick up and he can't recover. It makes us appreciate the better entertainers. Anyway, off to bed. Tomorrow is a tour around Alofi, Niue.

Note: Unfortunately, while I've been taking pictures and movies under the water with the GoPro waterproof camera, I have been unable to post any to the blog. I can't download directly to the IPad but must first interface with the laptop, then email to the IPad. While possible, it consumes precious minutes of Internet time which I have decided better suited for tasks more easily completed. I will add them possibly on our sea days returning home or wait until I get home and enter them at that time. I'm sure Boomer could do it. He sure comes in handy sometimes. ☺️

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