Location: Kadavu, Fiji
Let me start off this blog by saying three years ago, I was here in Fiji on Argo, exploring places Argo had never been before. Finding dive sites, anchorages, and snorkel spots where mantas came every day. We had a day on board in the summer of 2021 where maximum efficiency was required to get everything on our sick plan of the day done in enough time, and so it came to be (thank you, Amanda Cole). Back when I was just a lil baby seamester staff in my second semester, I knew that one of my goals working here was to manage a program starting in Fiji and get to show students as much as possible of what is now my favorite place in the world. Fast forward three years, and I am in my 10th and last program, finally making that dream a reality. And today was our day that required maximum efficiency. Except this time, I didn’t tell the students that’s what we needed for this day to work. I just hoped that it would somehow happen, and my god did it.
We started our morning waking up in what we now call a tropical fjord off of Ono island in Kadavu. Before wake-ups for the students even began, Argo’s engine was warming up, getting ready to make our first move of the day. 7 am hit. I started playing banana pancakes up forward, and the anchor started coming up as all the students were waking up. We ate our lovely “Holiday Inn” breakfast (aka toast, eggs, beans, bacon, you know the deal) on our way up to Usborne Passage as our plan was to dive on The Great Astrolabe Reef, which the google tells me is the 4th largest barrier reef in the world, which is important and cool no matter what Gabe says. After breakfast cleanup, our first group of divers got their kits in the dinghy and headed over to the reef as Argo stood outside of the reef. We dropped in for our dive to crystal clear blue water and a massive wall beside us full of hard and soft coral, heaps of fish, and so much color. We meandered throughout the walls and canyons of the reef and even had a drive-by from a white-tip reef shark. After around 40 minutes, we reluctantly returned to the surface after quite the epic dive, and it was time for the second group to get going. A mere 40 minutes after I had surfaced from the first dive, we had gotten Group 1 back to Argo, swapped kits, reloaded the dinghy, and gotten Group 2 over to the reef and in the water, descending for their dive. Hello, maximum efficiency. Forty minutes later, they popped back up with big smiles and cheers of how sick their dive had been. Then, just as quickly as we came, we were back on Argo, moving again to our next stop of the day.
This time, we were headed down to an island called Vurolevu where, you guessed it, three years ago, we swam with mantas around the reef. I may or may not have planned a solid bit of days on this program around manta rays, one because they’re epic, but two because they’re my favorite. But I don’t see anyone complaining about that one, so I’m just going to keep going with it. Anyways, on our move, we enjoyed a delicious taco bowl lunch, did cleanup, and got all our dive gear rinsed and tucked away. We cruised past heaps of beautiful empty islands, one that had a gorgeous beach with five perfectly spaced palm trees that were just begging for someone to come string a hammock up between and take a nap. But alas, our sights were set a bit further south. Around 245, we dropped anchor just next to the northern tip of Vurolevu. Immediately following the main engine shut down, the ladder and Nopadon were in the water, and everyone started jumping off Argo, heading to the reef to look for mantas or to the beach to stretch their legs a bit.
My mission this afternoon, with Kelsey and Anna in tow, was to get Joshua to see a manta, even though he can’t get in the water right now. We went out on Nopes, had our polarized sunnies on and were on the lookout for anything that resembled a big moving pizza slice. Within 5 minutes, we found one. Kelsey and Anna were in the water, and Josh had his face over the side instantly. They watched a big melanistic manta cruising under the dinghy. We spent the next hour and a half swapping out who was in the water and being directed by Joshua as to where the mantas were, as his whole face was in the water. By the end, we had a group of us and about six other students, that the mantas kept circling around and back through over and over again.
Finally, it was time to head back to Argo for me to prep our breakfast of banana bread for tomorrow. Afterward, dinner was up and quickly devoured by our tired crew, who had maximum efficiency on the day off. We did a quick classic squeeze of overrated underrated, where there are always contentious topics, followed by a goood ole squeeze clap. We had some brownies, pumped some tanks, cleaned some Argo, and learned some Yachtmaster theory. Now, all our little chicken nuggets are off to bed to get some rest before our 24-hour jaunt back up to Port Denarau tomorrow.
Finally, a Happy Father’s Day to all our dads, because on our side of the world, Father’s Day has already come and gone. Shout out to Larry, my Dad, who’s currently hiking the Appalachian Trail. Go, Larry.