Author: cruisingrunner

Manta Ray Resort is on the northeast tip of the island of Nanuyabalavu, and most cruisers when visiting the area anchor off the west side of Drawaqa Island, and we fell in line with everyone else. Lumbaz, Breeze, and Field Trip were all there already, along with a few other boats, so it wasn’t easy to find a good spot to anchor. The anchorage is steep to, so it’s difficult to find the sweet spot between having enough scope out and having enough swing radius. It’s also littered with coral heads, so the shifting current makes it difficult to keep your chain from wrapping. Our first time there we had to reanchor in order to put out more scope, and our second time there we had to reanchor because we wrapped a bombie. We were lucky that both times we were there, conditions were mild, because it’s really not a spot you’d want to be if there’s any sort of weather.

The resort is low key, nothing big like Port Denareau or Musket Cove. Our first evening there we took advantage of the restaurant and had a relaxing pizza dinner on shore. We ordered a couple pizzas at a time and just kept them coming until we’d had enough. Alex and Brenden were enjoying being back with their kid boat posse, and I was enjoying being back with some of my sailing sisters.

As the name might imply, the main reason people visit this location is to swim with the manta rays. At the right tidal conditions, the mantas feed in the waters between the islands of Drawaqa and Naviti. We would pay attention to the boat traffic from the resort, because they would send a scout boat out at about the right time to make sure the mantas were there, and then they’d load up a bunch of guests to go swim with them. When we saw the tourists heading out, we started gathering our gear and suiting up.

Swimming with the mantas was absolutely phenomenal, unreal almost. They are so big and majestic, and they really take very little notice of you. The bunch of tourists cleared out shortly after we got there, since they weren’t wearing wetsuits, and their stamina was much lower. Then we had the mantas all to ourselves. I enjoyed the mantas very much because they just swim around you without caring that you are there, kind of like the whale sharks in Mexico. Much better than the sting rays in Moorea that mob you because they want you to feed them. I think all of the kids could have swum with them forever, but eventually, the mantas headed off until the next feeding time. These manta photos were taken by our friends on Breeze.

We knew that we’d want to stay a couple days on the main island of Viti Levu for mom to catch her flight back, so I inquired on one of the SSB radio nets if it was possible to anchor at Port Denarau. The answer that came back was no, and it’s a busy marina so it’s best to make a reservation in advance. Via SSB email I managed to secure a reservation, but since they didn’t have any moorings available, we had to shell out the big bucks for a spot at the dock. It turns out that you can, in fact, anchor out at Denarau, but you’re a ways out, so I guess technically the answer to my question was correct, I just asked the wrong question. Anyway, no harm done, because it’s nice to be at the dock every once in a while to be able to step right off the boat without having to dinghy back and forth.

Port Denarau is a full on tourist spot. Right next to the marina is a shopping mall and then there are resorts all over the place. Oh, and golf courses. Can you imagine going to Fiji on vacation to go golfing? Clearly, I can’t.

We had a leisurely dinner at one of the mall restaurants with mom before she left, and then we had a whirlwind day and a half at the dock. I took the bus to immigration to extend our visas and also hit the New World grocery store near the Nadi airport. Tim fixed the port saildrive (yes, again!) and the boys rinsed and brite boy’d all the stainless steel on Exodus. Our final morning we took a family bus ride into Nadi to go to the market for some fresh fruit and veggies. Then we hit the fuel dock and were off to the Yasawas.

Exodus on the dock at Port Denarau

Provisioning. There is a small grocery mart at the mall right at Denarau which has a decent assortment of things but at high prices. I did the bulk of our provisioning at the New World grocery store near the Nadi airport. I had taken a bus to the airport to visit immigration, then I took a taxi from the airport to the New World. I had my taxi driver wait while I shopped, since I didn’t know how easy it would be to flag down another taxi out there.

It certainly wasn’t like the New World back in Kerikeri, New Zealand, but it was OK. I loaded up one cart with as much stuff as would fit and called it a day. I don’t remember exactly what the taxi cost, but it wasn’t expensive at all, in fact I remember being surprised how cheap it was at the time.

Nadi market. Taking the bus from Denarau to Nadi is quite easy and cheap and the buses run pretty regularly. The main bus hub in Nadi is right next to the market, so there was no trouble finding it. Tim went off to find a hardware store while I loaded down the boys with fresh fruit and veg. We have a system when we go to these markets. We start with the hearty, sturdy vegetables first, like carrots, cabbage, and ginger and as I buy things I put them in bags that the boys are carrying. When we’ve got several things then we stop and transfer all the sturdy stuff into the bottom of my backpack. Then we repeat that with the moderately sturdy stuff like eggplant and bell pepper. Then we load up the bags the boys are carrying with the more vulnerable items like lettuce and tomatoes. So, we end up making several laps around the entire market as we accomplish all this, and I only get one or two eyerolls from the boys as I drag them around the place. I will say that the vegetables I bought here at the Nadi market were the freshest and they lasted the longest of any that I bought anywhere else in Fiji. Perhaps it was just lucky timing, but it sure makes meal planning easier when all the vegetables aren’t spoiling on the same day.

While at the market two women approached me and told me there was another, better market to shop at and I should follow them. Even though this is Fiji, my warning sensors went off and I declined to follow someone away like that, plus we were supposed to meet Tim here at the main market, and I didn’t want to screw that up. I learned later that yes, there is another, smaller market of more locally grown items, so it would have been worth a visit, but I still stand by my decision making at the time.

Laundry. The marina has do-it-yourself laundry facilities with 2 washers and two dryers cramped in a very small space. But the showers are right next door making it easy to grab a shower while you’re waiting for your washing. You get the tokens from the marina office, and everything was in working order while we were there.

Fuel dock. We used the fuel dock at Denarau for diesel and gasoline. It’s a tight squeeze to maneuver into, so it was one of the many times we were happy to have a catarman with two engines, since you drive it like a tank and it spins on a dime (although heavy wind can make all of that not so easy!) It was also quite shallow, but our friends on another cat went before us and gave us depth intel, so we knew we would fit.

Visa Extension. Visitor visas in Fiji are good for only four months, but you can get a two month extension for a fee by visiting an immigration office. Any longer than that and the fees and effort level required go way up. Luckily we only needed the two month extension, and I was kicking myself for not taking care of it in Suva, since I walked past the immigration office there several times. Here at Denarau the closest immigration office was at the Nadi airport, which meant a 30 minute bus ride. No worries, though, I’m always up for an adventure on a local bus. The bus ride was long and hot, but largely uneventful. As usual, though, when riding a bus in unfamiliar territory I worried about missing my stop. Usually you can count on the the driver to remember, but I like to have a back up, so I enlist the locals around me to help make sure I don’t miss it. The first guy I asked either didn’t know where the airport was or didn’t understand me. But a woman with very good English heard me ask and assured me I still had a ways to go.

The bus doesn’t actually go up into the airport they just drop you on the main road. So, I walked the additional mile or so up to the airport, along the way asking at a security shack where I could find the immigration office: second floor of the international terminal. That was easy enough to find, but then I remembered that I had forgotten to take out money from the ATM at the mall before I left, so I asked someone where I could find an ATM. Turns out I would have to go over to the domestic terminal for that, so I gambled that I had enough money for the visa extensions and headed up the stairs to the immigration office.

There were several people sitting there waiting their turns, but there was no line, and no “pick a number” process. Everyone just seems to pay attention and know whose turn it is. When it was my turn I filled out a form and they told me how much it would cost, something like $96 Fijian per person. I panicked inside because I was pretty sure I didn’t have that much. I counted out all of my money including all of my coins and came up like 15 cents short. I told the lady who was helping me I didn’t quite have enough and that I could walk over to the ATM and come back. She let out a big sigh and then told me that would be fine, gave me my receipt, and told me I was all set. “What about stamps in the passports?” I asked. Oh, that, she said it takes a few days for the request to be approved and I need to come back to get the stamps. Well, that would be a problem since we were planning to leave Denarau the next day to go up the Yasawas and we weren’t coming back. So, I asked her if I could go to any immigration office, like maybe the one in Savusavu. She consulted in Fijian with one of her colleagues and they concluded that yes, that would be fine. I just had to be sure to save my receipt to show them in Savusavu that I paid.

I didn’t like having to leave the transaction without the passport stamps, but what could I do. Luckily, we still had a month before our original visas expired, so as long as we got to Savusavu by then it should be OK. (Spoiler alert: We arrived in Savusavu a couple days before they expired but the day I went to immigration I was informed that the lady who stamps passports was home sick so I would need to come back. So, I came back on the day they expired, and after a few phone calls, we did end up getting the passports stamped without issue.)

So, when I walked out of the immigration office at the airport in Nadi I had zero cash to catch a taxi back, so I headed over to the domestic terminal to take out money, and of course it gave me all $50 bills, which wouldn’t really work to pay a taxi driver. So, I hit the cafeteria, and since it was afternoon by this point I treated myself to an ice cold beer.

A Vonu at the Nadi airport cafeteria.