Sailing to the Sacred Islands

We woke on day four of our Blue Lagoon cruise at spectacular Wayalailai Beach, with a mountain backdrop reminiscent of a lush Hawaiian island.

The FIFA World Cup final was playing on the big screen in the dining room, so I ducked to a lower deck with a glass of juice and a muffin to gaze at the stunning views of Waya Island.

Photos from my phone don’t do it justice, but here’s a snap I took that gives you a hint of its magic …

After breakfast, I donned my whale shark onesie for a snorkelling trip to the nearby reef.

Visibility was fantastic and there were colourful fish everywhere. Unfortunately there were also lots of crown of thorns starfish, consuming the precious reef. There were still pockets of colour, but not as gorgeous as the previous day.

After our snorkelling trip, the anchor was raised and we sailed to the Sacred Islands, which looked so beautiful with vivid blue skies above. The water really was that remarkable colour.

Reef sharks circled the Yasawa Princess when we arrived and we did our best to photograph them, with Emily scoring the best shot.

The Sacred Islands are revered because they are deeply tied to local creation legends and are believed to be the birthplace of Fijian culture. According to ancient myths, the legendary canoe Kaunitoni—which carried the first Fijian ancestors and their gods to the islands—first landed in this beautiful archipelago.

After lunch, the three-night cruise passengers departed for the mainland and we climbed aboard a tender, which took us over to a sunny beach on Navadra Island.

We had a swim and stroll, then returned to the boat to rinse the salt and sand away before our second Captain’s dinner of the cruise to welcome passengers embarking for the four-night cruise.

A sensational sunset greeted us when we climbed the stairs to the rear deck, casting a soft glow over the craggy islands as we sailed past. It’s fascinating to think the island in the pic above was once an active volcano, with its cauldron-like caldera visible from the sea.

Another lazy day in paradise.

Song of the day: The Commodores “Easy”