Tag Archives: sandy spit

Unwinding on Sugar Shack

We love having guests on our boat.  However, after 5 weeks of entertaining, it was time for us to unwind. You might think, “Really, you don’t work and you live on a boat in paradise. What do you do differently to relax?”  Well, for starters, we don’t move the boat.

We needed some time to just “be.”  We ended up staying in the Port Denarau Marina for five days, which is really unusual for us.  But they had heavy duty laundry machines, hot showers, easy access to restaurants and a quiet mooring.  We did a massive cleaning on the boat, 6 loads of laundry, re-provisioning, and refueling. We ate out a bit more than usual as we both were tired of baking and cooking.  It was glorious. 

Sandy Spit

We did not move far once we decided to leave the marina.  We motored the 2-hours over to Malolo Island’s sandy spit.  It is far from the island and marina, but super pretty. This sandy spit is only visible during mid to low tide.  We have it all to ourselves from 3:00pm-10:30am.  However, during the peak time (10:30a-3:00p) the sandy spit is covered with tourists and people enjoying and unwinding at this little piece of heaven.  The first photo is our sandy spit waiting for the crowds. The second photo shows the first tourist boats arriving and the last photo is the giant cat that comes daily with a between 20-50 people.

We also get glorious and unencumbered sunsets from here.

Many nights were spent at the Island Bar where Sherry made me tasty frozen mojitos.

Enjoying many walks along the various beaches.

A few fabulous hikes around Malolo gave us super pretty views.

We even got beautiful sunsets from shore over the anchorage.

And just because sunsets help me unwind, here are a few more for you to enjoy

And another of the anchorages.

Sugar Shack happy at sunset

Cloud 9 Celebration

Chris on “Sea Glub” invited us to a party on Cloud 9.  They were celebrating the launch of a new ferry and hired dancers, singers, and a DJ.  So, off we went to the gorgeous waters of Cloud 9. Our friend Lewis on Sailing Q2 took this amazing photo for us.

The singers were fabulous and had such gorgeous voices!

The dancers were so much fun and had lovely spirits! 

Sugar Shack was anchored right in front of this floating bar. Lucky for us the music didn’t bother us because we were there dancing with the crowds.

Another beautiful photo captured by Lewis on Quixotic 2.

We met Barry in Curacao, then again in Columbia, Panama, French Polynesia, and now in Fiji!  We’ve seen him in 5 countries!  

We had a few more happy hours on shore and ended up meeting with Barry on White Shadow (you remember he has a popular YouTube Channel “Adventures of an Old Seadog”)

Happy hour at The Island Bar near Musket Cove on Malolo Island. Complete with coin operated BBQ grills, full restaurant menu and tons of frothy drinks.

We also had many dinners onboard other cruiser boats including Sea Jay, Anima, and Vavea!

Fred, Matt, me, Chris on Sea Jay

Fred, Matt, me, Chris on Sea Jay

Our friend, Jean Marc on Va’vea is a professional baker and he would stop by early in the mornings to drop off fresh baked warm bread!  This is his daughter Axcel.

To help you unwind some more…another sunset

And just because we finally found ourselves unwound, a sunrise photo.

This is our anchorage at the sandy spit near Malolo Island.  You can see why we had a hard time leaving as it is really pretty.  Isolated yet close enough to a small town and activities.

The events from this blog occurred in mid-August 2022.  Our blog posts run 6-8 weeks behind actual events.  Did you catch our last blot post where we zip the Konis family through 4 islands?

Ile Kouaku – The Sandy Spit

We land at Ile Kouaku after scouting out and passing on two other anchorages.  After we left Ile Makaroa we swung by two other small islands to see if we could find another “new to us” anchorage.  Ile Kamaka was the first stop.  This is supposedly the best anchoring spot in the “rocks.”  The rocks are made up of three islands (Ile Makaroa, Ile Kamaka and Ile Manui).  However, by the time we got the floats and anchor up we noticed two other boats heading in that direction.  Drat, people!

We did a drive by and did not feel comfortable squeezing our large catamaran between two monohulls in this small anchoring area.  We will have to return as it looked like a lovely spot to spend a few days.  Next, we passed by Ile Manui and could not see any suitable anchoring areas.  So, we continued onward.  Next, we looked at  is a small island called Ile Kouaku.

Ile Kouaku is located in the far southeast corner of the Gambier archipelago.  It is actually pretty close to one of the three passes that allow cruisers (like us) to enter into the archipelago.  Not many cruisers visit this island because it is so remote and distant from the main island of Mangareva.

Kouaku

Kouaku

Kouaku’s Sandy Spit

Kouaku is a small sandy spit surrounded by a reef inside a reef.  We maneuvered around several bommies and found a lovely sandy spot between two huge coral bommies.  This is a shot of Kouaku that we took from the top of the mountain at Akamaru.

I jumped in the water to check the distance between our boat and the tallest point of the coral heads.  The waves create murky water, however it was still beautiful. The coral right in front of the beautiful island of Kouaku is extremely healthy .

The water is stunning and Kouaku actually has beautiful, soft sand on the beach (as opposed to broken coral and shells).

Exploring Ile Kouaku Onshore

Matt and I took the paddle boards to shore to explore this little island.  Gorgeous, soft sand covers the leeward side (the lagoon side).  It is a rare treat to have sand on the shores as most islands. Broken corals, shells, and rocks cover most motus.  On the windward side there are large rocks which make it super challenging to walk on. 

Ile Kouaku has lots of beautiful birds and has become a bird refuge.  White Terns, Red Foot Boobies and Herald Petrel nest here.  Not sure they were wild about us visiting their home.

This island provided a bounty of beautiful photo opportunities

I went snorkeling with our friends on Pitufa near the south side of the island.  Again, surprised at the healthy coral all around us.

Here are some beautiful rainbow shots that I captured after a squall.  They were too pretty to lump into a collage.