Nalova Bay

After 3 nights we were going to leave the Barefoot Manta resort on Drawaqa Island. Despite the worsening weather we've grown to like it here, mainly because of the sincere kindness of the staff. We had a relaxed morning and one employee told us the story of Fiji, as a thank you for the beach cleaning the previous day. Then part of the staff performed a farewell song for us. They are really good here in putting lots of emotions in songs. We were taken to the Yasawa Flyer and then we went up north to Nacula Island.

On arrival we were given a short briefing about the resort by the Australian owner and were taken to our dorm. No beach hut this time, but a simple airconditioned room. It was quite different here compared to the last resort. Airconditioning, a pool, proper huts with real walls, a beach bar with (loud) music etc. In a lot of way it's fancier here, including the food. But we grew to like the simplicity, quietness and especially the caring employees of the Barefoot Manta. To phrase it with the words of an Israeli we met: 'Here they told their employees to serve the guests. Back there they told them to host the guests.'

After lunch we wanted to try snorkeling. Machiel realised at this point that his water shoes were still at Barefoot Manta. After a few visits to the reception, they managed to contact them and request them to be sent over with the next shipment of tourists the following day. The only thing we were missing was a confirmation that they were found, so we were far from sure this was going to work.

Anyway, we borrowed an extra set of fins and went snorkeling. It was very much low tide which meant it was difficult to swim over the coral. Despite the limited options, we still saw quite some fishes. The coral however wasn't as nice as on the previous island. Less colorful and, if our limited knowledge is correct, also quite some dead or unhealthy coral. After a shower, we were tipped to walk up the hill behind the resort for sunset. We quickly put on our shoes and left, but unfortunately we were just a few minutes late. We enjoyed dinner talking to a US-Ukrainian couple, and further enjoyed the nice view.Read more