Mana and Monuriki Islands
22 October 2014 | Fiji
Colin and Wendy
With a gentle 10kt northerly forecasted, we left Musket Cove by the south channel and motored over to a popular surf spot called Cloudbreak. Although I am not a surfer, Gavin informs me this is a premier wave, so I was curious to see it. Even without the surfing skills to appreciate it, this is a beautiful wave. We were told it can break over 25 ft high! In fact there are 3 different waves, 2 lefts and one right. Something for everyone I guess. By now, the wind was back up to 20 kts - so much for the forecast, so we motored up to Mana island seeking refuge from the wind. This is a fine anchorage with good protection from the north, but there is a torturous passage through the coral to get in. This island is a literal dichotomy of cultures with a huge, Japanese owned, high-end resort on one half of the island and a small native village with a few backpacker hostels on the other half. Sadly the two halves are separated by a tall chain link fence and numerous "keep out" signs facing the village side. There is a guard at the gate who lets the tourists out to wander the village, but scrutinizes everyone passing the other way. We did another sevu-sevu in the village square which was quite popular and we were told by the chief that very few people still acknowledge their Fijian culture and customs. Wendy however stole the show with her grab bag of goodies. She had candy for the children, a soccer ball for the school, beauty supplies for the ladies, and a few of my old sailing caps for the men. After that, we had the run of the place with children guiding us wherever we wanted to go.
It turns out that Survivor Fiji was filmed on the other side of Mana island and there was supposed to be a geocache in the ruins of the set. With that goal drawing us along, we hiked the short distance over the island and down onto the Survivor beach. It was a beautiful spot, we can see why they picked it for the TV show. We found the old set, but it was badly overgrown by the jungle and we were unable to find the geocache. We spent 2 days on Mana enjoying the hospitality of the village and sneaking into the resort to see how the other half lived. We did meet a very nice New Zealand family who were sneaking out of the resort to eat in the village. They seemed quite interested in our adventures and even invited us to look them up in NZ. I'm tellin' ya, the kindness of strangers is amazing. While at Mana we did several more hikes around the island and beaches, and explored the outer reefs by dinghy.
While the weather held fair, the wind backed to the SE so we decided to make the run back up to Monuriki, best known for the Tom Hanks movie, Castaway. This time the weather cooperated and we were able to set the anchor right off the beach. This was a gorgeous spot and looked just like in the movie. Well, except for the jetskis, snorkelers and tour boats. We went ashore to take some pictures and found that someone had spelled out "Help Me" with coconuts in the sand. We were able to take a picture of a local Fijian guide and "Wilson", shots of the infamous peak, and some other great shots as we hiked a portion of the Island. The water was absolutely beautiful and dozens of shades of blue. We continued part way around the Island by Dinghy until we turned the corner and got into open water and some pretty good waves, so it was time to head back to the mother ship. We waved good bye to the Jet Skis and other tourists and had a few minute to ourselves to enjoy this magical spot before an old fashion schooner arrived with dozens of people onboard. With their arrival, we decided to head back to spend the evening on the west side of Molololailai and be closer to cross back to Viti Levu and Denarau Marina Monday morning.