Manta Island - Yasawa Islands

Day 1 - Manta Island, the Yasawa Islands

After B/f and a Fijian goodbye song we were again despatched from a small boat to the ferry and heading off to our next destination which was Manta island (in the Yasawa Islands), named after the Manta Rays you could swim with in the bay and was the reason why we chose it. As it was high season for Manta Rays, we were very much looking forward to it.

It was about a 2-3hr really enjoyable journey as we passed more islands and made drop off’s and pick ups. As we turned into the set of Islands called the Yasawas, we spotted a small dot on top of a high rock. As we got closer we could make out a small figure who was a Warrior conducting a formal welcome dance. This is how they greet you to the Yasawas. Did I tell you we love Fiji?

Again a transfer in a small boat, a welcome song and then check in. Here they explained that there was a drum beat to signify b/f, lunch and dinner, and also another drum (different beat) along the beach would sound when Manta’s were spotted. If you heard it, you had to grab your snorkelling gear and charge for the boat which would take you out to the bay. There were several spotted just that morning. How exciting. One of the dive masters also introduced himself to talk about the various local dives you could do.

We were then pointed in the direction of our accommodation which appeared to be a tree house up a hill, the furthest away from anything! Entering we found just a bed and another door to a small veranda. To Glenn’s dismay no bathroom therefore no loo for his midnight dash. I don’t like the way he was eyeing up potential possibilities of peeing over the top of the veranda though!

This was disturbed by the beating of a drum which signified lunch so we headed up to the large hut where we was greeted by an extensive al la carte menu with some Fijian choices, yes! No loo but the food will be an improvement. We both went for some Fijian fish and salad which was lovely.

Lunch done, we headed to the Dive shack to book our dives. We decided to do two dives the morning of the day we were leaving otherwise you just end up hanging around waiting for a lunchtime pickup.

That done, we went off to the Bula entertainment shack where we both registered to do the Manta swims. These weren’t free but you only paid if you saw them. Now it was time for a snorkel. We were told that the reef around the island had some of the best coral and fish in Fiji. You had to walk to the end of the island and then let the current drift you along, allowing you float as you took in the sights. Nothing major seen but we both agreed it was probably one of the best snorkel sights on our whole trip to date.

Worried that we would miss out on a manta sighting, we then just basically hung around near the manta drum, snorkels and fins at the ready. We got chatting to some fellow brit travellers, a lovely young couple called Guy and Tyler who were just at the end of their 3 month trip and heading home after Fiji. And Graham and Rob, who were just at the start of theirs. All of us hungry for our Manta ray experience.

We would have to stay hungry, no Manta’s today. As it was getting quite windy we headed back to the treehouse to put on warmer clothes before heading to the hut for another delicious dinner where we joined the brits to eat. Glenn and Guy both chose some local delicacy which ended up being bitter cold fish soup and was pretty inedible, shame! We had a couple of drinks after before heading back to the tree house on a VERY windy night. This could be interesting!

Day 2 - The Manta Mantra

After a very windy night and a slight swaying of the treehouse, which strangely lullabied me to sleep, only to be woken up by Glenn peeing over the veranda (it was a long drop) we enjoyed our b/f before heading to the beach.

We decided to go for a snorkel and myself, Glenn, Guy, Tyler and Graham headed out to the reef. Again more stunning wildlife, some amazingly colourful squid, we spent a good hour in the warm waters before heading across the current (which was pretty strong) to shore.

It then became a bit of a waiting game for the Mantas again. The boat only went out so often to look for them so after disappointment from the first search, we were told they would go again after lunch. Unfortunately nothing after lunch either. It seems the change in weather may mean we won’t see them on the trip L. Counting our losses and not wanting to lose a whole day, we headed off for another snorkel and went quite a bit further out to see if we could spot them by ourselves. No Manta but a lobster, a Travelli and someone thought they spotted a turtle which turned out to be a big rock.

After another delicious dinner we headed to the bar where we were told there was some entertainment. It turned out to be a bit of cultural singing and dancing by the local staff and culminating with myself and Guy being dragged up to do a traditional dance with one of the dancers.

Thank god it wasn’t Glenn who was dragged up, she must have spotted his two left feet. Everyone however was soon on their feet doing a sort of follow the leader snake dance around the bar, great fun.

Then it was time for bed, we were diving the next morning and after my nose bleed experience in the Philippines I still get a little nervous, so an early sober night it was.

Day 3 - Dive Dive Dive

Our ticket only offered us b/f on the final day so as we were getting up early for our dive, I arranged for us to miss b/f and have lunch on our return instead.

We checked out of our tree house and headed down to the dive shack where we were greeted by the dive master and introduced to two other girls we would be diving with. One a Dive Master herself and one who was still completing her open water Padi (who turned out to be super confident).

We kitted up and was soon on the boat heading to our first dive sight which was called Mystery Reef. After the briefing we all backward rolled into the water with our tanks and started our decent. As this is where I’m most likely to get a nose bleed its where I’m most cautious but it wasn’t long until we were soon at the bottom, my nerves forgotten.

The coral here was pretty stunning and it wasn’t long before we were spotting Puffer Fish, Napoleon Wrasse, the usual nemo’s and other colourful fish. Suddenly the dive master made a loud noise on his tank to get our attention and when we turned he made the sign of a turtle, he had spotted one further ahead. There were actually 4 of them in total. Whilst we had seen quite a few now from above when we were snorkelling, this was our first experience from below and being able to scuba with them.

We continued our dive and swam through really cool coral archways and started to head up just under the hour for our safety stop when another Turtle was spotted. This one came right in close and swam along with the dive master, not daunted by us at all.

Elated, we were back on board and heading back to the island for a break and to pick up a couple more divers. On the way back we crossed the bay where the manta’s are and were told that if we spotted them, we would jump in for a snorkel with them as part of the trip but once again none were seen.

We met two more novice divers from Oz, one had a huge bubble camera thing specially made for underwater and was doing some try dives before he got his PADI. The camera bubble thing had all the bells and whistles including a go pro on top so he could take stills and record video at the same time. It was quite interesting for the first 5 minutes but when he kept going on about it for about 15, including how much it cost and blah blah blah it got a bit tedious. That was until we were joined by a 3^rd diver who came along with a super duper mines bigger, better, faster, pricier more fabulous than yours camera. It was a serious pro’s camera and I wish it could have taken a picture of the guy from Oz’s face as he quietly put his bubble away and stayed quiet for the rest of the trip. We likened it to the scene it Aliens when Sigourney Weaver comes out in the souped up giant robot thing to fight the Alien, magic!

Back on board, now with two more dive masters so we could split up into groups, we headed for no-mans land where we were told there was a chance of spotting shark! As the cleaning area where shark are sometimes spotted was close to 18 feet below, our guide told us we would keep to around 10 to save our air until we got there (the lower you go the faster you use up your air).

We started our dive and soon encountered a Moray Eel. The Dive Master got a bit too close for comfort, trying to entice it out of its cave. Id much prefer for it to stay in there thanks! We then saw our first shark, this was a white tip lying on the bottom in the sand, it was quite far away and you could just make out its shape before it spooked and took off across the sand. Still, we saw a shark!

Then we started to descend deeper and deeper until again the Dive Master made a loud noise to get our attention and made the sign for a shark again. No two sharks, no 3, 4, there’s at least 7 shark out there he signalled!

With a mixture of excitement and apprehension we made our way across to him and he told me to grab a rock to ground myself to watch. There they were, circling around, suddenly darting and looking bloody mean and evil. They were Grey Reef Shark around 1.5 meters and supposedly wouldn’t do you any harm buy I didn’t want to take chances!

Glenn and I exchanged excited looks through our goggles and a quick thumbs up as we settled down to watch. Well I say settle down but I was have difficulty with my buoyancy so was holding on to the rock for dear life as had visions of floating off in the distance and becoming fish food.

Glenn was much further forward than I so he grabbed my hand and pulled me closer so we could watch the spectacle together. Unfortunately the pics we took just don’t do the experience justice and don’t pick up the detail and how VERY close they actually were to us. I’m in two minds whether to post one on here as it will be a bit of an anti-climax but I’ll let Glenn decide. Clearly we need a   bubble camera!

We stayed as long as we could before we started to make our ascent to the safety stop where I spotted a sea snake, these are pretty much the most venomous snakes on earth so Glenn and I stayed a safe distance whilst the dive master went in for a closer look.

Back on the boat we spent quite a bit if time cruising around trying to spot the elusive Manta again without success. That’s two places we’ve been to with guaranteed sightings (the other in Indonesia) but the Manta doesn’t want to play. We weren’t disappointed though, best dives we’ve had to date!

Once back on shore we were both so elated from our dive, we forgot about the lunch and headed for the bar to tell our friends about our experience. We were hoping that they had spotted Manta whilst we were out but sadly no. Poor Guy was desperate to see them.

A goodbye song and we were soon back on the Ferry, the crossing was pretty choppy with the boat bouncing and swaying and waves lapping up high so we stayed inside and held on tight for the journey back to Nadi.

Landing, we collected our luggage, boarded the coach and was soon back to our hostel. I’d got a bit of a deal and managed to get a ‘deluxe’ room for the same price as the one we previously had. It turns out a deluxe room gives you a bathroom door, a full view of the sea and a kettle to make your own coffee.

As we had missed b/f and lunch we headed straight next door to the restaurant and was greeted by a waitress who recognised us from the first night. She asked us if we had managed to experience much Fijian food and when we said no she invited us to her place for lunch the following day (Fijians are unbelievably friendly). She gave us her number and we agreed to call her the next day to arrange a meeting point.

We were hoping to catch up with Tyler and Guy as they were staying there but when we reached our room there was a note posted under our door, we had missed them! Thanks for the note, you are a fab couple and it was lovely to spend time with you both.