Tag Archives: waterfall

Waterfalls of Kadavu

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We find two beautiful waterfalls on Kadavu Island.  One was pretty exhausting to get to and one was pretty darn easy.

There is a very remote, private waterfall rarely seen by tourists located near 2 hours past the Niudua village on the eastern side of Kadavu.  Our goal is to find it and enjoy its pristine setting.

We head to Jioma Village from our beautiful, secluded Ucuinaqaralevu anchorage. The village is about 2nm away across a fairly flat lagoon.  Next, we take the dinghy down the river lined with beautiful mangroves.  About 1-1.5nm down the river we find Jioma village.

We do sevusevu in this village and receive a guide who takes us to Niudua village.  

Niudua Village

To get to the next village we cross a rickety bridge and follow the nice concrete path for about 1.5 miles.  We do sevusevu with this 2nd village and are assigned 5 guides to take the 9 of us to the waterfall.

We are adventuring with our friends on SeaGlub (Chris), Beleza (Chris and Michelle), and Hudson (Jeunuse, Dale, Willow, and Hazel).

Everyone hiked through lush fields, up and down muddy mountains, over wet, slimy boulders, and across the river many times.  It had rained 2 days prior so the track was still pretty muddy.  The mud tried desperately to suck our shoes off.

And finally, we boulder for 45 minutes prior to arriving at the falls.  It was a careful balance between the mud, the slime, and the river.  The slimy rocks wanting nothing more than toppling us over into the cold river.

Everyone was exhausted before we even got to the falls.

We enjoy lots of frolicking in the refreshing waterfall pool.  The sun was right over the top of the falls so most of the photos did not turn out so well.  

It was a nice swim to the bottom of the falls.  Lots of ledges to sit upon as the falls pound your head.

A bunch of frolicking.  The Kadavu locals have as much fun as the tourists.

Then it was time to warm up in the sun.

The total hike was not very far. 

We hiked about 4.5 miles with a max elevation 495ft. 

We had about10,000 steps and were moving for 5 hours moving time, elapsed 8 hrs.

After we were well rested, we headed back.  

Village Celebration

To our surprise, the Niudua village had a celebration waiting for us upon our return. 

We had a traditional sevusevu with kava and then they brought out juice and huge plates of food. 

What a delightful surprise.  There was singing, dancing and drinking grog!

And yet another surprise for us. 

The village performed a traditional honoring of the guests.  They wiped baby powder down our cheeks and flowers in our hair. 

Made a bit of a mess, but when in Rome…

Bill and I in the top left photo.  Matt, Michelle and Chris (Beleza) top right.

I was completely knockered by the time we got back to the boat.  We ate, showered and went to bed!

Easier Hike to a 2nd Kadavu Waterfall

In our new anchorage of Yauravu Bay we discovered a 2nd waterfall.  Luckily this was much easier to get to.

We enjoyed a very leisurely dinghy ride through the gorgeous, canopied, mangroves.  It took us about 7-8 minutes to get to the end which deposited us at the “main road.”  We left our dinghies here and headed off on foot.

The hike is only about 12-15 minutes.  The first part is a small, dirt path amongst the tall grass and swaying trees.

The trail ends at the river and then the bouldering begins. 

Luckily there is only about 1/8 of a mile of bouldering.  However, there are some monstrous boulders to climb.

You are rewarded with a pristine waterfall and a small, shallow pool.

Our blog post runs 8-10 weeks behind actual live events.  We did this waterfall hike in early August 2025.

Check out some of the beautiful spots we anchored around Kadavu in our last blog post.

Ovalau and Rukuruku Bay

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Ovalau island is an extinct volcano which has a oval shape. The island has a rugged mountainous interior and a coastal ring around the edges.

We anchor in Rukuruku Bay which is on the north western side of the island.

The hillsides are lush and green reminding us of the Marquesas in French Polynesia. The highest peak is 626 meters above sea level.

Over 8,000 people call Ovalau home.  And of that 8,000 over 25% live in the old capital of Levuka and 10% live in Rukuruku Bay.

There is one road that makes a circumnavigation around the entire island (50km or 30 miles).  This road connects most of the villages which are located along the coast including Fiji’s first capital, Levuka.

Rukuruku Bay

Our first stop on the island of Ovalau is Rukuruku Bay.  We stop in to do sevusevu and are immediately welcomed into the community.  Our host family, Joe and Kara invite us to church the next day.

There are two churches in this small village.  One is Catholic and one is Methodist.  The Catholic church does not have a priest so they do not have services.  So, we attend the Methodist church.

It is a rather large building with amazing acoustics.  They start the service with beating of the Laili (Fijian drum).  The church interior is very simple and only about 25 people are in attendance.  It was a rather long service of over 2 hours but the singing was beautiful.

Walk Around Town

Our host family told us we could walk to the top of the ridge to see beautiful views of the anchorage.  So, we went exploring after church with a few guides.  

The majority part of the walk was on the main dirt road. 

The road is surrounded by beautiful scenery, towering mountains, and lush hillsides.

The kids decided to take us off the main road to a small waterfall. 

Probably not the best timing as we were still in our church clothes, but off we go.

The boys had a blast showing off.  They leapt off trees and cliffs into the clear water below. 

The three photos below show one of the boys doing an impressive flip into the water.

Our blog posts run 6-8 weeks behind actual live events.  We were in Ovalau toward the end of July 2025.

We explore the exclusive private island of Wakaya in our last blog post.

The Mysteries of Maewo Island

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Maewo is famously called the Waterfall Island because it has the highest rainfall out of any island in Vanuatu.  It is fun to count the shear number of waterfalls as you sail up and down the coast.  Maewo is the home of the tallest waterfall Naone Waterfall and the most waterfalls of any island.

We did not get to Naone Bay on this visit, but we hope to see it on our way out of Vanuatu.  We did enjoy lots of waterfalls and the beautifully lush hillsides covered in trees and vines that look like curtains falling down the side.

Our stop first in Asanvari Bay first which is the southern most anchorage on the island.  We anchor between the reefs near the waterfall that falls a mere meter or two from the boat.

We head to shore where we meet Carl, a nice local who offers to show us around the village and take us on a tour up and around the waterfall.   The village is really beautiful with brightly colored houses, well groomed grounds, huge banyan trees everywhere and views of the ocean.

The first swimming pool is easily accessed from the beach.  Like I said it is almost flowing into the anchorage it is so close.  We hike up the muddy trail to get to the top of the first part of the waterfall and it is really pretty.

Matt and I both jump in to the refreshing water.

And we have some pretty views of the anchorage.

The sunset glow across the island was simply beautiful.

Mbenavui Point 

There are two caves that we wanted to see at Mbenavui Point which is mid-way up Maewo island.  We found a beautiful anchor spot in the middle of two giant reefs and right below another waterfall.

Cave of the Moon Myth

The Cave of the Moon helps locals share their belief of creation, and in particular, the way it is influenced by the direction of the sun and the moon as they travel across the sky. 

A very long time ago the moon lived inside this cave and its brilliant light did not shine beyond the walls.  Tagaro, the god of sea  saw this and thought it was not good.  He threw the moon out to the south.  But then Targaro noticed that the people in the north did not have any light.  So, he took it and threw it north, but then the people in the south had no light. 

Unhappy with that, he took the moon and threw it to the west where its light shone on all the people in Maewo.  This made Tagaro very happy.

Tagaro created three enormous holes into the cave each time he through the moon into the sky.  

The Vast Hole Left by the Moon

Just a few miles up the coast of Maewo you come to the Sanasom anchorage.  This is where we hope to find the Cave of the Moon and the petroglyph cavern. 

Only accessible by boat, the Cave of the Moon is spacious and lit with rays of sunlight that strike the water and create an iridescent yet eerie glow. 

The three canals of water, are the places where the moon passed when it was thrown. 

Once you jump in the crystal clear waters you see lots of giant boulders, fish, and beautiful sea life.

Petroglyphs 

Just next to the Cave of the Moon is the Malangauliuli cavern with “ancient rock etchings, petroglyphs”.  Both the cavern and the cave are within a conservation area and require a guide which can be provided by the village chief.  However, our anchorage was not near the Sanasom village so we went on our own.  I am sure the woven tales about each cave would have been spectacular.  What we found were pretty worn out, hard to read, and certainly hard to discern – a guide would have been useful.

A cave important to their kastom beliefs.  They place stones on top of each other and over time they form stalagmite like formations.  

The curtains are just starting to form and take shape…

The island of Maewo is certainly full of lots of mystery and wonder.  It was a pleasure to visit the “waterfall island” and see some of its beauty.  We hope to come back on our way out of Vanuatu to see the Naone Waterfall.

Find Maewo Island on No Foreign Land.

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  This blog post occurred in early July.  We share with you a little bit about life on the island of Pentecost in our last blog post.