Tag Archives: fiji

Manta Ray Escapades

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One of the main reasons we wanted to come to the Astrolabe Reef was to see the manta rays.  We had heard that there is a “cleaning station” and a good area where they feed near Vurolevu island.  This is a mere 1.5nm from Yabu where we are anchored.  

What is a “cleaning station”? A Manta Ray Cleaning Station is a location where fish, sharks, and mantas gather to get a regular hygiene check by parasitic copepods and a variety of small cleaner wrasse. Mantas spend some hours of the day here to get their gills, and skin cleaned.

Vurolevu Island and the Manta Rays

The next morning we head to Vurolevu island with the hopes of finding a few mantas.  As we approach the northern tip and slow the dinghy down, we immediately spot a large manta in the water.  Sweet.  In I go!

There is a nice current here with the water flow delivering delicious plankton into the mouths of these gentle giants.  I enjoy the alone time with 2 medium sized mantas (wing span of about 2-2.5 meters).

Within 15 minutes I am joined by 3 other tourists and decide to head to where Matt is which is about 300 yards from me.  SCORE!  He found the cleaning station.  Check out all the little fish having a field day with these mantas!  They swim around, under, and inside the mantas.  Yes, they swim inside their mouth and come out their gills!  Silly or brave, not sure which?

Manta Rays will jump out of the water to rid themselves of parasites (if they are not near a cleaning station).  They also jump out of the water when they want to impress a lady and or to simply play.

A Cleaning Station

There was no current over where we were swimming, so we could literally just hang out and admire these beauties!  Even though these animals are ginormous, they are not dangerous.  Some of the manta rays that we saw here had a wing span of 4.5-5 meters!  We are talking really, really huge!

But, mantas are harmless and can’t hurt swimmers.  We have found them to be very curious creatures and will often swim up next to and below you if you stay calm and still enough.  They really are delicate animals with no aggressive behaviors and are known to not be predatory in nature.

What do manta rays eat?

Mantas are filter feeders feeding on microscopic plankton near the surface of the water.  They glide back and forth high current areas gathering plankton. A manta ray eats 19,200,000 pieces of plankton every week – that’s a lot of plankton!

Did you know that the closest relative to a manta ray is a shark?  Unlike sharks, mantas don’t have teeth.  They sieve plankton out of the water using a row of tiny plates in their mouth, which they funnel in as they swim. 

One manta came so close to me that I actually saw him looking at me – honestly, he was checking me out!

I wanted to show you how very large these creatures were, but Matt was so far away that it is hard to get a perspective.  And, he happened to go below with a juvenile, not a full size manta.

Hurt Mantas

The natural predators for manta rays are sharks and whales.  Despite their large size and fast speeds, they do get hurt.

We saw several mantas with broken wings and bites out of their tail area.  Their wings naturally flow seamlessly to a fine point, but two of the mantas had their wing tips bent down.  It did not seem to slow them down.  Another two mantas had semi circle bites out of their left tail area.

Did you know?

  • Manta rays have the largest brain to size ratio of any cold-blooded fish?  
  • They have huge brains – the biggest of any fish! 
  • Believed to be as smart and highly cognitive as dolphins, primates, and elephants.
  • Studies have found that their brains are especially developed for learning, problem solving and communicating.
  • Some scientist believe that mantas can recognize their reflection, a sign of self-awareness.

The events from this blog occurred in early September 2022.  Our blog posts run 6-8 weeks behind actual events.  We visit many island near the Astrolabe reef in our last blog post.

Foil Boarding: Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks

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Matt has been “eye-balling” kite and foil board gear for years and years.  In fact, when we lived in Austin, Matt bought a training kite to learn to kite in 2014.  As you might recall, Matt has been a water bunny for decades.  He was a water-skier, knee boarder, in high school, then jumped to wakeboarding, bought a ski boat in 1993 and continued doing all sorts of crazy tricks and stunts on the wake board. He moved on to surfing behind the ski boat in around 2004/5 when it became evident that the falls were taking longer to recover from.

Fast forward to today.  Matt tried foiling last year but did not have much success.  The board and foil were set up for experts and he was just beginning.  But he had fun trying and was not dissuaded!

Foiling

Foiling is a challenging and dangerous sport.  You have to be able to surf, then foil, then fly using the wing. There is the board, usually between 4’.5”-5’.5’, the mast that connects the foil to the board, the back wing which is called the stabilizer and the front wing which is called the foil”.  The piece between the foil and stabilizer is called a fuselage.  And of course, you have the actual “wing” that helps you fly.  This is just for show, I pulled it off the internet 🙂

Step 1: Getting up and Staying Up

We hook up with our friend Chris on Sea Glub who has a foil board. Matt and Chris talk about getting up, going slow, learning the motion of the board and just moving forward (all before foiling).  We use “Sweetie” to pull Matt.  Getting up is easy for Matt as it is similar to surfing behind a boat.  First, he is on his knees, then is slowly stands, and then he is off – surfing on a small board with the foil underwater.

After a few rises, we switch to let Chris have a go at it and then Matt is back in the water.  This time he is confronted with a few waves from passing boats.

Step 2: Tapping

Matt starts to play with the foil by tapping the water.  He goes up a wee bit, then down, up, then down, rinse and repeat.  He is testing the foil, finding the sweet spot and trying to get a feel for the center of balance when the board is up on the foil.  You can see in the below photos that the board is starting to come off the water exposing the mast of the foil.

Step 3: Foiling

Just as the sun starts to set, we get some good photos of Matt foiling.  It was long and it wasn’t always pretty (bad form), but he was up and foiling on day 1!

All in all, it was an outstanding first go!  Matt is hooked and eager to try again soon. 

With all that said, don’t get me wrong, this was difficult even for Matt.  He had some epic falls that qualified for the adjective “Christine’d it!”  You have to be very careful when you fall as the wings on the foil are ridiculously sharp and can do some major damage.  They are so sharp that kiters call them underwater knives!

Adding the Wing

The next step, which was very premature, but worth a try, is to add the wing kite.  Our friend Chris brought it out to the beach to give it a try.  We did not add it to the foiling as it was much too windy day for the combination.  You can see how strong it is as it lifts Matt off the ground with ease.

Practice with the Kite (wing)

The wing is unpacked and ready to play! Matt blows up his new kite and places with it on the bow to get a feel for how he needs to use the wing to propel himself while on the water.

After Matt practiced using our friend Chris’s wing on the beach, he decided to take his new wing out for a spin using his SUP.  Why do you ask did he try the SUP over the new foil board?  Stability.  The SUP is much bigger, wider, and far more stable than the foil board.

It was a light wind day which gave Matt an opportunity to try to propel himself side to the wind.  (The first try he went dead down which is the easiest, but he is learning).  I think part of the difficulty was that he was on his knees and he could not properly turn the kite without getting it in the water…but what do I know?

A week or two later Matt got the foil board out.  He wanted to try to stand on it using a SUP paddle. But it was just too unstable.  He went upwind to get some space from the boat and tried to balancing on his knees first.  

That is when another foiler came by showing off….

Big Purchase From the States

Matt decided to pull the trigger and purchase a foil kite package from Kiteboarding.com.  After much discussion with many other kiters he decided to purchase the following:

  • A demo North 2022 Seek Foil board
  • North 2022 Nova-Wing Size 5 kite
  • North 2022 sonar carbo Eidition (CF85)
  • Sonar Reflect Front Wing 1850R
  • Sonar Medium Aspect Front Wing (MA1200)
  • Mystic 2022 Start wing foil board bag
  • Helmet
  • Life vest
  • Tow rope (to practice towing behind the dinghy)

We had it all shipped to Fiji Freight along with some other items that we thought we “needed to have.”  Wow, Fiji Freight provides excellent customer service! They are super knowledgeable and very reasonably priced.  We had 5 packages sent and the arrived, cleared customs and were delivered to us in Port Denarau within 5 days!

Matt could not wait to assemble the board!  We got back to the boat and he started right away.

Stay tuned for more training adventures as Matt learns how to master this new sport!

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 2 out of 3 races in the Musket Cove Regatta 2022?

Mbengga aka Beqa

Mbengga: Say that 5 times fast!

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Mbengga is also known as Beqa but it is pronounced “menga.”  It is a mere 10 kilometers from the main land of Viti Levu and is surrounded by a large reef.  Once you enter the reef there are actually two islands in the lagoon including Yanuca and Mbengga.  So how did we get here?

We finally pulled up the anchor from our lovely sandy spit near Malolo Island.  We had been in the same spot for a little over 2 weeks and it was well beyond time we leave.  There was a distinct possibility that our anchor grew roots, but as it turned out, only our chain and bridle had growth.  Nothing a quick pressure wash and scrub won’t cure and she was shiny and clean again. As we headed out the pass we were joined by a beautiful pod of dolphins.  One in particular was having a ball doing twists and turns in tune to our music.  Look at the water clarity!

The dolphins gently guided us out of the Malolo pass near Cloud Break the world-famous surf spot.  We were going a little to fast to capture the surfers, but they seemed to be having a grand time.

What a great way to start our short passage.

Natadola Harbor

The winds were not cooperating, so we decided to make an overnight stop in a small bay called Natadola Harbor.  It is off the mainland of Viti Levu.  We did not arrive until late in the afternoon and planned to depart at dawn, so we did not go to shore to do sevusevu.  Sunset was gorgeous from here and we even saw the elusive green flash!

Next to the resort was a small community with very colorful houses.  Assume that is where the staff stayed, but I could be wrong.

The next morning, we planned to sail 80nm to Kadavu.  It would be a “stretch” as it is pretty far to go in day light hours and we were forecasted to have light winds.   In the end, we decided to make a game day decision on our destination once we got out at sea and could see the actual weather.

As it turned out, the wind was not strong enough for a sail that far.  We decided to head to Mbengga Reef which was only 40nm away – new place to explore since we had not been there before.

Yanuca Island

Inside the Mbengga reef is a small island called Yanuca Island.  We found a pretty anchorage just in front of a school and residence.  Really green hillsides and super quiet anchorage.  

It was a quick stop for us as we had grand plans to make it to Kadavu.  After one short overnight we left Yanuca for Mbengga.

Mbengga Island

We headed across the lagoon 12nm to the island of Mbengga.  There is a deep inlet that was calling to us!  Can you see the red arrow in the right photo?  That is Sugar Shack.

The entrance to the inlet is so darn pretty.  It really took our breath away with its vibrant green hillsides and smooth waters. Just screaming “come enjoy the beauty of Mbengga.”

At the mouth of the bay is a resort called Lalati Resort. You can barely see the hidden villas tucked amongst the trees on the beach front.

Just past the resort is a small school with a playground.

And deep into the bay we went – another 2nm to the deep recess of the inlet. We went as far as we could while keeping water under our keel.

This place is so beautiful and serene.  Matt got the drone out and captured some truly amazing photos.

Mbengga aka Beqa

Mbengga aka Beqa

Another view. The brownish areas are actually reefs full of little fishies and wild life.

Sunset was magnificent with the calm waters reflecting skies beautiful colors.

And we were treated to the song of the fruit bats as they left to hunt for food.  It’s hard to capture these little buggers as they zoom across the sky at dusk.

The next morning we left Mbengga and headed toward the Kadavu Reef.  It was a dewy morning that left the boat moist, but the seas were calm and the weather beautiful.

The events from this blog occurred in early September 2022.  Our blog posts run 6-8 weeks behind actual events. We unwind and relax after a busy 5 weeks showing guests around in our last blog?