Tag Archives: caldera

Cobia Caldera, Ringgold Isles, Fiji

The Bewitching Beauty of Cobia

Nestled in Fiji’s Ringgold Isles is the uncorrupted beauty of Cobia (also known as Thombia) Island is nestled in Fiji’s Ringgold Isles.  It’s captivating crescent moon shape is the result of ancient volcanic eruptions, relentless winds, crashing waves, and vibrant coral growth.

Located on the NE corner of the Ringgold Isles.  It is truly one of the most stunning places we’ve ever seen!  

Cobia is a relatively small island with a land area covering 69.29 hectares.  The highest elevation is located on the western side of the island at 525′.  The stunning geological formations and beach forests of the island contribute to its natural significance.

Cobia Island is one of the main reasons we wanted to visit the Ringgold Isles.  It is a volcanic island with a pristine lagoon exposed on the northeast side.  The sunken volcanic crater has filled with sea water forming a beautiful blue lagoon.

Dinghies (and very small boats) are able to cross over the reef at high tide.  Otherwise the lagoon is inaccessible.

The Navionic image below is upside down to match the photo we took.  Normally, the opening faces north.

The Caldera’s Lagoon

We took our dinghy from Yavu Island to Cobia along with our friends on Wainani (Jaqui and Tony) and Geniet Lewe (Shane and Wendy).  It was a long, bumpy 3.5nm dinghy ride which took us about 35 minutes.

We decided to explore the lagoon first since it was close to high tide.  The water was so clear and beautiful.   Tony (sv Wainani) flew his drone over the lagoon and captured some great photos of us. 

The lagoon has rich coral reefs and abundant marine life. It is regarded as the clearest ocean waters in the world; the visibility often exceeds 120 feet (36 meters).

We explored the nooks and crannies in between the mangroves.  Finding little pools of untouched waters and lush vegetation.

The Caldera’s Ridge

During low tide, there are four beautiful white sand beaches. The path to the highest point is off one of these beaches.

We were all itching to hike to the top of the ridge on Cobia Island.  No Foreign Land states that trail was about 15-20 minutes to the top.  However, the starting point of that hike was off a  beach that was not accessible by dinghy.  So, we started from a different beach with the hopes of finding a new trail to the ridge top.

Like most adventures, the boys made their own path.  It was through thick bushes, trees, and up a steep slope.  But we eventually found the trail.  

We continued heading North along the ridge and found 3 lookout points.  The first lookout had a gorgeous view of the caldera and lagoon.  Matt almost slipped off the rock…..kidding he posed for the lower photo.

The Top of the Cobia Caldera

We made it after 50 minutes ascending to the top. 

The vegetation was so tall that you couldn’t see through it or over it. Thus, making the view not as good as the 1st and 3rd lookout.

However, Tony got the drone out again and captured some more amazing photos.

These photos just take my breath away. 

I can’t believe we got to see this in person and feel the enormity of this place.

On the way back, Matt wandered down a random route and found a third lookout.  

This was a once in a lifetime experience.  To experience it with our friends was a true blessing. This was a once in a lifetime experience.  

We headed over to Geniet Lewe for some cold beverages before making the 3.5 mile trek back in the dinghy.

Our blog posts run 6-8 weeks behind actual live events.  We visited Cobia at the end of May 2025.

Find Cobia on No Foreign Land: https://www.noforeignland.com/place/6755338971799499

Cobia lagoon in the Ringgold Isle, FIji

The Alluring Ringgold Isles

Matt and I have dreamed of visiting the flawless Ringgold Isles for years.  However, we could not make it do to poor weather conditions during our last two visits to Fiji.  Our luck was about to change as we had super light winds and calm conditions, which were perfect for the trip to the Ringgold Isles.

The Ringgold Isle is located on the North Eastern fringe of the Fiji Islands.  Civilization and developments have yet to touch this area. 

The orange dots are possible anchorages for us based on different wind directions.  

There is only one village in the Ringgold Isle and it is located on the east side of Yanuca Island.

The Ringgold Isle

The Ringgold Isle

The Ringgold Isles

7 islands, several islets, and 3 reefs (Budd Reef, Nukusemanu Reef, and Heemskercq Reef) make up the Ringgold Isle.

This group of islands lie to the North of the main Fijian islands and are largely uninhabited.  They are known for their beautiful coral reefs, rich marine biodiversity, and pristine natural beauty.

Most of the islands are volcanic in origin and are generally small, with lush vegetation.  The islands are surrounded by crystal-clear, turquoise waters.

There is not much information about the Ringgold islands. 

Several sources list the names of the 7 islands as Naqelelevu, Vetau’ua, Nukubasaga, Nukupureti, Nukusemanu, Tainibeka and Tauraria

However, those names do not match the names on Navionics, No Foreign Land, Noonsite, or even google maps.

Our sailing resources and charts list the Ringgold Islands as:

Yavu, Yanuca, Cobia, Maqewa, Beka, Tovuka, Raranitqa.  For ease of understanding, we will use the names listed on our charts.

Photo courtesy of www.tropicalislands.net

Photo courtesy of www.tropicalislands.net

Yanuca serves as the main island and is the only one that is inhabited.  Roughly 60-100 people call this island home.

There is one village located on the east side of the island.  Yet, the school is located on the north side of the island. 

The kids either walk 30-minutes to school or take a 5 minute boat bus ride over the reef.

Conservation

Fiji includes the Ringgold Isles in its efforts to protect marine and island ecosystems. Thus, hoping to preserve their unique biodiversity and natural beauty.

A 218-hectare (540-acre) area covering the archipelago is the Ringgold Islands Important Bird Area.

This area supports globally and regionally significant populations of marine turtleshumpback whalesseabirds and semi-nomadic reef fish. The Ringgold Isle may even hold concentrations of cold-water corals

Fiji Tourism has a great shot of Cobia – click here.

Our blog posts run 6-8 weeks behind actual live events. 

We visited the Ringgold Isle toward the end of May 2025.

We show off the beauty of the Paradise Resort in our last blog post.
 
Find the Ringgolds on No Foreign Land: https://www.noforeignland.com/place/6755338971799310

Ambae a Volcanic Island

Ambae, also known as Aoba is an active volcanic island.  Ambae is an exceptionally beautiful island and is known for its legendary disappearing act.  On rare days, you can see the beautiful island rising from the ocean in the early morning light.  But as the sun climbs higher, the island quickly disappears behind a glare of sea haze.

Ambae Island is home to one of the seven active volcanoes in Vanuatu, Lake Manaro Volcano. The level 2 active Lake Manaro summit and volcano is about 3000 – 4000 feet above sea level. 

There is an anchorage at the northern tip of the island called Lolowai Bay which is actually an old caldera.  We can only enter this beautiful bay at high tide as we have to cross over the submerged northern wall of the caldera.  Once inside we are blessed with truly beautiful conditions and gorgeous, clear turquoise waters.  The surrounding cliffs are rich in colors as they jet from the water up to the sky.

Even though this is a fairly calm anchorage it was not super peaceful.  We arrived on Friday later afternoon and ended up leaving on Sunday early morning.  As it would happen, four different supply ships were dropping off and picking up during our short 2 day visit.  Not surprising as this is the business center of the province, but a little disappointing as the locals zipped around the anchorage most of the day and night.

Manaro Volcano

The Manaro volcano is pretty active and constantly monitored by a live web cam and seismological charts. The summit is 1,496 metres (4,908 ft) above sea level and about 3,900m (12,800 ft) above the sea floor.    

According to indigenous custom Chief Virenaliu Paul Vuhu, the summit’s valley and lakes are considered `the “sacred place and paradise” where they believe after death, their spirits go to live happily ever after.

The entire population of 11,000 residents were evacuated during its last eruption which started in September 2017 and had after effects well into September 2018.

There are several “lakes” on Ambae which were formed by volcanic cones and filled with fresh water.  We happened to anchor inside one and fairly close next to 2 of them on shore.  So, Matt and I decided we needed to go check them out.

In the bottom right photo, you will see the anchorage is one caldera, the lake on the right is another and then there is a cluster of lakes that make up a third caldera.

A 8.1 mile Loop 

The plan was to walk from the anchorage, which is between 3 and 4 (closer to three) clockwise to the airport and back around.  It looked like there was a road on maps.me so it should not be “too difficult.”  We could have cut it short at Lovatumemea but we were feeling “jiggy” and continued on.

We were enjoying the beautiful views so much that we actually missed the turn off for the first lake. Unfortunately, we did not realize it until we were already several miles past it.  We opted not to backtrack since this was already going to be a long walk.

But the views were lovely and the breeze was so appreciated as it was a really hot day.

At the very tip of the island we came to these beautiful cliffs.  We heard some chatter and decided to carefully look below.  To our surprise, there were two young boys trying to bring up a tire.  What the heck?  Where are there parents?  Yikes.  It doesn’t look that scary in the photo, but let me tell you it was no place for children.

We made it to the airport and followed the dirt trail that ran parallel to the runway.  We toyed with the idea of walking on the runway (I know, not legal, but still thrilling).  Our thinking was that there is only one flight per week that comes here and both airlines were operating on limited flights (one fighting bankruptcy and the other recovering from a fatal plane crash).

Thank goodness we did not do that as a few minutes later we heard the roar of an airplane.  What are the odds? Seriously?

In the end, we walked over 8.1 miles or 13 kilometers around the northern tip of Ambae.  It was a little longer than we both anticipated. I had one small bottle of water and no food.  We enjoyed a well deserved rest once we got back to the boat.

Intruder Alert

It has been a very, very long time since we had intruders onboard.  We try to be very vigilant by locking all hatches and doors and stowing our belongings.  We try not to leave anything in the cockpit or on the life lines that might provide an “opportunity” for thieves.

However, we noticed footprints in our cockpit when we returned from our long walk around Ambae.  Normally our boat is pretty clean so seeing footprints in the cockpit leading up to the bow is not normal.  We later checked our security camera and found out that two teenage boys boarded Sugar Shack uninvited.  Lucky for us they did not take anything but it still was a violation.

The irritating thing was that we saw these two boys on shore as they were trying to pull their white canoe into the water.  We waived and said “hello” just as they were heading out to illegally board our boat.

The camera captured one kid’s face and the body of the other. We left early the next morning so we did not get a chance to report it to the police or the chief.  Not that they would have done anything about it but I would have liked to scare the pants off these kids.

This is the 6th incident that we know of here in Vanuatu this year.  Of course there are many others that we don’t know about.  But we were lucky as nothing was missing or stolen.  Just a reminder to stay aware of your surroundings, take all precautions, and lock everything up.

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  This blog post on Ambae occurred in early September.  Visit the scintillating island of Santo in our last blog post.