Cruising with Mike and Allison – Sawa-I-Lau Island, Fiji

August 14 –  15, 2014

16 50.825 S 177 28.059 E

http://maps.google.com/?z=7&t=k&q=loc:16%2050.825S%20177%2028.059E

Posting by Barb:

Sawa-I-Lau was the most northerly anchorage for this trip. The main attraction was the caves which had been a film location for the 1980’s movie the  ‘Blue Lagoon’, with Brooke Shields and Christopher Atkins. I confess, Denny and I did watch the simply awful movie to appreciate the Blue Lagoon scenery and the caves that we would visit in Fiji. Not something I would recommend anybody do as it is a painful 2 hours of movie time. We did our first and only Sevu Sevu. We went to the town closest to the caves but it turned that it was not the town that administers the caves. It was Mike’s and Allison’s first and only Sevu Sevu and it was a disappointment. The chief,  who was lying down on his mat, barely sat up to greet us, clapped once and  then told us we were welcome and that we could go. He wasn’t even interested or bothered with some cordial small talk. It is definitely a tradition that is dying. We walked around a little and took pictures of the interesting limestone formations.

Early in the morning we got ready to visit the caves. We waited for the hoardes of tourist boats to leave and then headed in when it was a little quieter. It cost $100 Fijian for the four of us to enter the  caves and get a guided tour. The first cave had lots of light and we took pictures of ourselves of the rock ledge where the ‘sexually explicit’ Blue Lagoon scene was filmed! The second cave required a 10 – 20 second snorkel under water to the next cave that had no natural light. So that represents two things that give me anxiety, dark tight spaces and an underwater snorkel without being able to pop up for air at a whim. Thanks to Ally, Mike and Denny’s encouragement I faced my apprehension and did the short underwater journey to the adjacent cave. A guide was there at both ends and all I had to do was follow the light at the other end. It was worth it to swim in the dark, eerie cave that has never seen sunlight. Another snorkeling experience for all of us!!