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| The islands of Waya and Wayasewa in the Yasawa group are connected by a sand bar. The Sunset Resort is on the Waya side. The swimming here is quite nice. When the winds make the water a little rough for swimming on one side of the sand bar, you can just walk to the other, where it is probably calmer. The resort was basic, with no electricity, but it was great being so close to the villages, which changes the tone of the staff and the visitors. The resorts on the tiny sandy islands too small for human habitation are high-maintenance and require daily shipments of supplies (and staff) from Viti Levu. The resorts on the large islands with villages are closely linked to communities and you will see the families and friends of the staff. You can take the opportunity to see what normal life on the islands is like. |
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| For example, the guests of the Wayalailai Resort were invited to go to the other side of the island (Wayasewa Island) to spend Christmas Day in Naboro Village. After a morning church service (featuring good choral singing), we had a bit of kava before having our large meal. The food was cooked lovo style, underground. I really liked the huge tub of cassava and breadfruit, which these women were cutting up. The food was first laid out for the guests from the resort. The women soon joined us. Many of the men ate later because they were still drinking kava. |
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| Kava plays a central role in the social lives of Fijian men. It is a beverage made from the powdered dried root of the Yaqona plant. The powder is placed in a thin cloth bag and wrung in a wooden bowl (tanoa) full of water to make kava. The resulting chalky drink is mildly narcotic and numbs the mouth. Kava drinking always began formally, with varying degrees of ceremony, but became less formal after the first round of drinks. |
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| Yaqona root (waka) is sold in markets, whole or powdered. |
| I spent a lot of time snorkeling. It didn't take long to swim to the fish and coral from Sunset Resort. |
| I went scuba diving with Dive Trek on Wayasewa. I used a disposable Kodak Max Water and Sport camera. It worked at 17 meters, but there was no flash so the photos turned out dark and blue-green. I wish I had taken photos of the fan corals on our wall dive. At least I got to verify that both my watch and flashlight really are waterproof. |
I got more colorful photos just snorkeling off Beachcomber Island Resort in the Mamanuca group. Beachcomber is a tiny island with lots of young travelers and loud music. It is strange being on an island that is so small that you can walk around it in 20 minutes, but it still manages to maintain a large gift shop and a well-stocked bar.
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 scissortail sergeants |  staghorn coral |