The Moments I Love While Cruising Fiji Aren’t Big Ones
SV Snow White anchored at Navandra Island in the Mamanuca Group, Fiji
Saltwater Journal is reader supported.
When you buy through our links we may earn an affiliate commission (at no extra cost to you)
The moments I love while cruising aren’t big. Which is funny when I consider just how huge the effort is to actually cross an ocean like the Pacific, from New Zealand to Fiji, and arrive slap bang into a completely new culture.
Leaving land on a small boat and sailing across a huge ocean is definitely a big deal (prepping with the right off-shore gear, and learning sea survival skills are a large part of that as crew).
Arrival in Fiji
On arrival, there’s still a surprising amount to do before you can actually go cruising about and enjoying yourself. Most often there are repairs to be made to the boat from the crossing, with stress over broken bits, who to use as a reliable contractor, how much the cost will be, and when they can do the job. Sometimes there is uncertainty about weather and waiting for the right wind direction to explore further. Even crew delays or the clearing in process through customs and biosecurity can be challenging — especially when it’s all new.
After an ocean passage there are sighs of relief as you can finally anchor or tie up in a marina somewhere safe. But there’s also an overwhelming tiredness from the entire process of departing a country, and sailing for days/weeks. Your body and brain can finally sleep properly, without constantly adjusting to a wind-fuelled boat charging through the ocean. Nobody needs to be on watch. A proper meal can be made. Or you can get off the boat and finally satisfy whatever food craving you’ve been talking about for the last three days with great anticipation! A big juicy burger, hot salty fries and a cold Fiji Gold!
Once all the cruising-permit-ducks are in a row, you can head out into the local islands and enjoy settling into a cruising routine.
When I think about the last couple of months sailing around Fiji, it’s all the small parts of cruising that add up and really make the whole experience so worthwhile (Acknowledging that for plenty of cruisers, the three B’s — breakages, bills and bureaucracy — carry on).
Here are some of the small moments I've loved most while cruising through Fiji's Yasawa and Mamanuca islands.
Meeting Local Village Kids
Above and below — the great kids of Nalauwaki Bay village proudly welcome us ashore and show us around
At Nalauwaki Bay on the north end of Waya Island in the Yasawa Group, some young kids were swimming when we approached in the dinghy outside their village. They immediately splashed out through the shallows to greet us, grabbing the dinghy handles and enthusiastically pulling us into shore, calling “hello!” and “bula!” as we all dragged it up the beach — mostly with far more helpers than the dinghy actually required.
Then an older girl approached and showed us who to meet with for our Sevusevu gift. In Fiji's villages, visitors are expected to seek formal permission from the Chief before spending time there — particularly when you've arrived by yacht and want to swim, snorkel, walk ashore or explore the surrounding area. Sevusevu is the customary way of doing that: you take a traditional gift of kava (or sometimes alternative gifts), which is presented to the chief or village representative on your behalf, and you are then welcomed into the village.
It can feel slightly daunting the first time, even though we had some great instructions as part of the Island Cruising Rally. But each time we’ve done Sevusevu, we’ve been warmly welcomed, had a chat about where we’ve sailed from and learned a little more about the village we’re anchored beside.
Once the ceremony is finished — the kids show up immediately with big smiles, keen to show us around. In this particular village, we hung around for a game of volleyball (minus the net), and a fellow cruiser pulled out a frisbee gift. There’s a harder side to these encounters too. Some of the little kids we’ve met have badly decayed baby teeth, something that’s particularly difficult to see when they’re standing there with these enormous smiles. We’ve also noticed just how readily available sugary drinks are, even in remote villages. A reminder that life here isn’t the tropical-island idyll it can look like from a yacht anchored out in the bay.
These local interactions — the playful ones and the more confronting ones — have been some of my memorable parts of being here.
Just Floating Around (What I Like to Call Snorkelling)
Love this feeling!
I did this for hours. I’m a good floater. And I’m David-Attenborough-patient when it comes to waiting for wildlife — both good skills for enjoying the underwater world.
I’ve already written about the Fiji snorkel spots I haven’t stopped thinking about, but honestly, I’m just as happy floating over any half-decent patch of reef watching what’s going on below. Mask on, snorkel in mouth, face down, floating around in ridiculously clear blue water following fish like it’s the first time I’ve ever seen one. Because most of these tropical species are new to me. Watching life on the reef beats any Netflix drama.
The slower I go, the more I see. Tiny fish start popping back out of their hidey holes in the coral. Encounters between fish — one chasing another, someone else defending territory, a colourful school swimming by. Crabs build things. Sea cucumbers poop sand. Little details of marine life start moving that I hadn't noticed when I first swam over.
If I float there being still enough to look pretty dead, the fish seem to decide I’m no longer a weird-looking predator and get on with whatever they were doing before I arrived. It’s like being dunked into a tropical fishtank without the glass enclosure.
I love the weightlessness of it too. And listening to my steady breath through the snorkel, clearing salty water sharply from it every now and then, with the sound of the ocean over the reef.
Sunset Sundowners
Golden light hits Sawa-i-Lau Island as we settle in for an evening by the fire
I have watched a lot of sunsets. More sunsets than sunrises to be honest, given my propensity to hit snooze a bajillion times. And while cruising, typically I fall asleep when it cools down (relatively speaking) in the wee hours of the morning — so then I find it harder to jump out of bed at sparrow fart.
Sunsets though — cost nothing, and I’m there for them.
Sometimes it’s from the cockpit. Sometimes it’s from a beach. Always with a sundowner in hand.
Just that half hour of intense colour firing up the horizon with golds and reds and pinks is beautiful to witness. A Fijian sunset farewelling the end of another day and welcoming a night full of stars.
Drinking From a Sweet Green Coconut on a Hot Day
While I like to think I’ve got this tree climbing malarkey sorted — it’s more like the photos below: a collective effort (and spot the teen up the palm!)
I harbour a bit of a survivor ego thinking I’d be totally fine washing up on a deserted island. Sometimes I tell my husband about it — who just rolls his eyes. He’s heard it all before. My plans for building a hut, finding fresh water, and a regular food supply. My three-pronged spear hand-fashioned from tree and vine. (One of my favourite books also happens to be Tom Neale’s memoir ‘An Island to Oneself’). There is something extremely satisfying about drinking a coconut that you’ve just knocked off a tree. Or in reality — that a local village kid has scooted up the tree to forage for you, quicker than you can say here’s five Fijian dollars, vinaka!
It’s just the best hydration around on a hot day. And definitely feels like I’m fending for myself, except our boat is anchored just offshore and has cold drinks in the fridge.
Still counts right?!
Fresh Outside Shower at the End of the Day
A freshwater rinse — one of life’s simplest pleasures!
Nothing beats a freshwater rinse after a humid day of ocean swimming, snorkelling, zinc sunscreen and sticky salt. Under the cover of darkness (necessary in a busy anchorage) I’ll stand on the back duckboard outside, with the stars overhead.
I so look forward to this at the end of each day. Rinse the salt out of my hair, put on my light cotton dressing gown wrap (best $7 Opshop purchase for this trip), and that's me happy. Body temperature brought down slightly before another hot night in my cabin, hoping there might be enough airflow for the fan to blow around.
Being nude outdoors in the breeze is delightful.
Going for a Slow Paddle
A gentle paddle at ‘the Swimming Pool’ on Monu Island, Mamanuca Group
My SUP has become my floating pontoon of joy. POJ if you will.
Most often I take it out with my snorkel gear tucked under the bungees and no real intention of going anywhere much. I’ll slowly paddle around the anchorage, stop to look at coral underneath me, sit down and dangle my feet in the water, watching the island palms blow or watching the boats swing in the anchorage.
If I get hot, I slide off.
If I spot something interesting underneath me, I put my mask on and have a look. And there always seemed to be plenty interesting!
Sometimes I just sit there taking in the moment.
Being on a paddleboard feels different from being on a boat. While still floating, you’re even closer to the water, and feeling the movement. And the paddling is meditative. Even in New Zealand on a grey winter’s day, jumping on the SUP and gliding through calm water on my board is one of my most peaceful moments.
In Summary
We crossed a very big ocean to get here. We’ve sailed between islands, navigated reefs, hidden from weather, fixed things and seen some genuinely spectacular places.
But when I think about how much I've loved being in Fiji, it’s not the usual holiday moments that spring to mind (even if waltzing up to fancy resorts for a drink was pretty good). Instead, it’s the feelings that come from living in the smaller daily moments that have made this cruising experience magic.
Showering under the stars.
Kids pulling the dinghy ashore.
Spending hours in the water.
A sweet coconut.
Paddling nowhere in particular.
That stuff has been very, very good.
Did you enjoy this article? Share it online and read more on the Journal…
