Diving with sharks and the Mamanuca and Yasawa Islands

With our stores replenished we left Suva and headed for Beqa, the home of Firewalking, according to legend this special power was gifted to the Sawau Tribe some 500 years ago in exchange for the freedom of a captured God.  A fire pit was duly prepared - large rocks were covered with branches and leaves and set alight.  

With great ceremony, over the next hour or so  all burning matter was removed from the pit and the rocks carefully re arranged.

And then they really did walk on the rocks - the rocks were certainly still hot, it was an entertaining spectacle but maybe not quite ‘Firewalking’

Posing with the Firewalkers, Beqa 

Beqa is not only the home of Firewalking, but also of the Shark Reef Marine Reserve which was originally created to study the shark population and aid long term shark conservation worldwide. They offered diving with Apex predators - Tiger and Bull Sharks, we couldn’t resist: We were in a group of 20 divers plus 10 Dive Masters who were there to feed the sharks and look after us.  By far the largest group of divers we’ve ever been with but very well organised so we all descended to 28 metres and knelt behind a rock ‘wall’ whilst the sharks were fed Tuna heads from a large wheelie bin suspended overhead by one of the Dive Masters.  It was an incredible experience - luckily the sharks prefer dead tuna to live divers and it did feel strangely safe down there with 40 or so fully grown bull sharks!

After the excitement of the shark dive we headed on to the neighbouring island of Vatulele, one we had also visited last year.  We anchored off  the beach inside the lagoon - the wrecked small cruise ship is still on the beach much the same as last year, but the resort which closed in 2012 is in a far worse condition:  Previously one of the most exclusive resorts in the Pacific and employing  most of the islanders,  last year there was still a security guard on site and rumours of a $24million refurbishment - this year it really was a wreck, the security guard had gone and the place has been ransacked - furniture and fittings dragged outside and left to the mercy of the elements.

Vatulele Beach, with the abandoned cruise ship visible in the distance.

The remains of a once very high spec resort - now more of a rubbish tip.

We walked across the island with Bernt and Birgit, our sailing partners on the Yacht Rebell, to present Sevusevu, passing the now very disused airfield on the way.  Again, we had visited last year and been shown the foundations of the new church they were planning to build - this year there was a huge concrete base and major steel works erected for the walls and roof.  An absolutely vast construction for a small village which doesn’t even have running water.

The new church taking shape.  We’d met the Pastor last year but he, along with the Chief were away from the island when we visited.

In much the same way as Fulaga is known for it’s wood carvers, Vatulele is known for it’s Tapa cloth.  Initially used for clothing and bedding it is now purely ornamental, the women spend literally hours beating narrow slivers of mulberry bark with wooden sticks on a low bench whilst sitting on the floor.

Several layers of freshly beaten bark are layered together and dried on what ever is available before being sent on to the main islands to be decorated and sold to tourists and used in local ceremonies.

These two young girls showed us round the village, and behind them Tapa cloth is drying on a water butt.

Our route from Suva - first to Beqa then to Pacific Harbour where we did the shark dive, on to Vatulele and then via Denerau for supplies before meeting Clare and Jamie in the Mamanucas.

Clare and Jamie arrived in style, by sea plane.  We went to record the event, paparazzi style, before leaving them to enjoy the first part of their honeymoon in Paradise Cove, Naviti Island in the Yasawas.

Arrival by sea plane - apparently built in the 1960’s!!!  Diving with sharks might be safer ...

We spent a few days round Naviti, staying in Somosomo Bay where a local climbed a coconut palm to give us a drink.

There is a pass between the islands where Mantarays are known to regularly feed, we were lucky enough to see them whilst snorkelling.

Jamie trying to keep up to take a photo - they are very graceful and very fast.

We all dived the wreck of the Glory, sunk as a diving site in 2016 so no coral growth but a great dive.

Mother - Daughter time, underwater.

Clare and Jamie blowing bubbles.

Having been so impressed with our own shark dive we wanted Clare and Jamie to experience one as well - and discovered a dive centre in Waya island also offered Bull Shark Dives.  A smaller outfit this time, we were in a much smaller group of 11 divers.  The sharks were just as spectacular.

This one had just swallowed a tuna head.

Again they were so close you could have touched them.  We heard later that earlier this year a diver in Beqa ended up with their head in a tiger shark’s mouth, fortunately he only sustained minor injuries but I don’t think we will be going on another shark dive now!

Our time with Clare and Jamie was sadly coming to an end, we stopped for a couple of nights on Mana Island (where the American Survivor TV programme is filmed) and we hired a local boat driver to take us on a couple of dives on the outer reef and coral pinnacles then headed on back towards Denerau, stopping at Musket Cove and lunching at the Cloud 9 floating Pizza Restaurant in the crystal clear waters of the lagoon near the famous Cloud Break surf site.

We were joined by a pod of dolphins who came to play in our bow wave.

Cloud 9 Floating Pizza Restaurant on our last day with Clare and Jamie.

Our season in Fiji has now almost come to an end, we plan to head back up to the Mamanucas for a week or so before we head back to New Zealand for what we expect to be our final hurricane season there.