It seems like every tropical arquipelago (that's Portuguese. I can't remember how to spell it in English) has a blue lagoon. This one is gorgeous, although with the winds blowing 15 kts it is a little bumpy, but not bad. The entrance to the lagoon is a narrow strip of deep water surrounded by reefs at all points of the compass. It is scary to come in with a boat the size of Mauliola. We had waypoints to guide us in but even then I was nervous. There are 2 small islands around it and one of them, Foeata, has a 6 cottages hotel owned by a super friendly German and his Tongan wife. With their 3 gorgeous sons and 1 daughter they manage it. We went ashore last evening for an "ifo aupito meal" (it means delicious. I am not sure of the spelling either). The snorkeling is not as good as the anchorage we stayed prior to coming here, Vakaietu, but there are so many reefs to explore and we were told that just 2 days ago a whale came into the lagoon with her baby. It is whale season here but we haven't seen any yet since we left Niuatoputapu. The water in Tonga is cooler than we expected, a little on the burr side of cool, really clear, more than we expected. There are lots of coral and for some reason it is an echinoderm (starfish, sea cucumbers and sea urchins group) heaven. There are so many starfish and sea cucumbers, some of these are at least 3 feet long. We haven't scuba dived yet because Jerry has a fungal infection in one ear. We have gone to the Dr. and he has medication for it but it is just not clearing out. This week James will go back to Costa Rica and we will be waiting for Calvin who will replace him along with his first mate Nicole. In the meantime we will be exploring the many enchanting Islands of Vava'u and working to keep up with Mauliola upkeep. It is a lot of work, but as someone wisely said, cruising is doing maintenance in exotic places. To that I will add: doing laundry and cooking. The good thing is that your clothes smell so good when dried by the sun. Aloha to all.