Yasawas: Waya (South)

Cruising the  YASAWAS

 That’s where the fun cruising in Fiji begins, along the extended chain of the Yasawa Group.  But we were still plagued with high winds and big seas, so our plans and routes altered daily.

WAYA island – South Harbor : Namata 

First order of the day: catch a fish. 

On the way to Waya Island, we exited the reef and started trolling.  It was a blessing that we caught a yellowfin tuna before the second cut in the reef:  JP and Zoe were green around the gills, thanks to 8’ beam seas and gusts at 27kts!  But we had our fish and we soon found the relative shelter of the reef.   The wind was still blowing around 25kt, but the seas were significantly smaller. 

The plan had been to anchor at Navadra.  But with the northerly blowing as it was, we were soon forced to seek shelter at the south end of Waya nd patiently wait for the weather to turn back to the normal E-SE trades.

The village of Namata welcomed us for Sevu-Sevu.  Not too reluctantly, the girls wrapped themselves in pareos, covered their shoulders, and experience the Fijian tradition of presenting Yagona (kava root) to the chief.  

But within minutes of our arrival, all the women had unpacked their craft, trying to sell us souvenir shells and tapas, and we obliged.  Our guide asked us if we’d like to see the village and buy fresh fruit and of course we obliged.  It’s only when we were back at the beach that the “guide” asked us for a $15 donation and an extra $10/person if we wanted to walk the hiking trails.  

We start to wonder what is the use of doing Sevu-Sevu and being accepted as one of the village if we have to pay a guide to walk around… 

We went snorkeling in front of the school instead, as the girls made the delight of a few young boys wading in the shallows (did I mention it was an all-boy school?)