Yasawa Island, Fiji

We joined the organized excursion this morning to Sawa-i-Lau Island, to swim in the limestone cavern popularized by the 1980's movie The Blue Lagoon.

It was another excursion heavily discussed about what to wear / bring. The resort suggested masks and fins. From what I had researched the main cavern was accessed via stairs, and then you could swim through and underwater tunnel to the second (dark) cavern. The second cavern didn’t have any appeal for us so we just took our masks and water shoes. Once again we chose wisely :)

We had another beautiful sunny day with minimal wind. Cause we were sunscreened up and had on our water shoes, we walked along the beach to the activities bure instead of calling for a ride.

Over half the guests had signed up for the excursion, 14 of us in total. We split into two groups for the 30 minute boat ride around the south end of the Yasawa Island to Sawa-i-Lau Island.

It’s a very scenic ride, passing by several beaches that the resort drops folks off for a private beach lunch, one of the signature excursions here. (The idea of being on a hot beach with minimal shade and no way home except waiting for the boat also had no appeal for us. To each their own though).

We arrived on the beach near the cavern. There was a group from another resort already there so we browsed the craft stalls on the beach for ten minutes or so until it was our turn.

The first cavern was okay, it’s cool as an excursion but I wouldn’t plan a trip to Yasawa just to see it. We didn’t bother with the second (dark) cave. Obviously there’s nothing to see there; I think people like the excitement of swimming through a 10’ tunnel, which was about 2’ below sea level based on the tides when we were there.

The water was still smooth for the boat ride back. We’ve been extremely lucky with lack of waves whenever we’ve been in boats so far this trip.

Got back around noon; showered and then had lunch. It was another hot sunny day so we didn’t do much the rest of the day.

Overall we were glad we came to Yasawa Island resort. The main attraction for us was the white sandy beaches and the isolation - there’s only the one resort on the island. The bures were a bit rustic, the food so-so, but it’s a great place to just watch the waves :)