Fangakima (Port Maurelle)
26 August 2014 | Kapa Island, Tonga
Colin
Our first day out of Neiafu we headed down to Port Maurelle a few miles to the south. This is a pristine and well protected cove named for the Spanish navigator that was first to make landfall here in 1781. I imagine this little cove still looks much like it did when they arrived (see pic). This proved to be a great base for dinghy exploration, so we stayed 4 days. We first went out to Swallows Cave, which is a largish sea cave that you can explore by dinghy. If you go in the late afternoon, the sun shines through the small opening and makes the water shine a beautiful aquamarine that lights up the cave interior (pics in the gallery). We also went over to A'a island to snorkel on a reef that had a lot of coral and some neat drop-offs and walls. There were a pair of humpback whales nearby and while snorkeling we could clearly hear their singing. I kept looking over my shoulder thinking they were swimming up behind us. Later we explored Nuku island and it's untouched sand beach. We got so comfortable here in Port Maurelle that it was hard to pull away for our next anchorageat Vaka'eitu island.