Blue Lagoon Cave Trip - Sawa-i-Lau Caves

Dear friends, welcome back to another post from the island paradise,

I told you that I spent the first few days at the resort just lounging around and diving. Once I had enough of that, I went on a few small trips around and near the island. Among them was the trip to the Blue Lagoon Cave or the Sawa i Lau Cave in the Yasawa Islands. The locals say that if a tourist hasn't explicitly been in this cave, they haven't truly been to the Yasawa Islands.

The trip started in the morning after breakfast at 9 and made a small detour to the island. Several resort visitors signed up for this trip, so not everyone could fit on one boat. Thus, 5 people (including myself) were taken on a smaller fishing boat. The view of the smaller islands with the crystal-clear water was simply amazing.

The ride lasted about 30 minutes and just like everywhere else in the world, I have a particularly funny story on Fiji as well, because I was blessed by the islands. You might be wondering what that means? I got splashed in the face by a flying fish. So we're cruising along enjoying the great view and I can see the fish jumping out of the water, but my reaction time is clearly too slow for the speed at which all of this happened, because even though I see the fish, I can't move my head fast enough. So, the fish smacks into my face with full force, right on my (safety) sunglasses, uses my face as a ramp, and jumps back into the water on the other side of the boat. My fellow travelers, except for the boat driver, hear a loud 'Smash!!' and see me holding my face and laughing like a madwoman. The boat driver saw the situation and laughs with me about my blessing from the fish. What are the chances of that?

Upon arrival at the island, we were dropped off and after a brief safety briefing, we walked a few steps into the cave. Absolutely fantastic! The cave is influenced by the sea level and has also been used as a location for a few films.

It is said that a princess hid in the cave with a young chief to prevent her from marrying another chief. A falcon, which also lived in the cave, ultimately killed the princess, and the chief took revenge on the falcon and killed it. The cave also houses the resting place and the spirit of Ulutini, the 10-headed god of Fiji. Apparently, each chamber of the caves represents one of his heads. Locals also claim that the two fish Dema Leka and Damu Balavu reside in the caves. Aside from the local legends, the Sawa i Lau caves became famous through the film Blue Lagoon with Brooke Shields. Many of the scenes were filmed in and around the caves, which put this secret lagoon on the map.

I especially enjoyed that I could do some bouldering in the cave, climbing up wherever I could, and then jumping into the water. Visiting the second 'secret' cave was also fun because it was completely dark except for the guides' flashlight. It was an intoxicating yet somewhat eerie feeling, as I couldn't see at all what was happening beneath me in the water. Probably watched too many horror movies.

After about 20 minutes, the cave fun was over, and we all slowly made our way out of the cave and into the open air. Because the cave is so famous, large groups also come here daily from the mainland and other boats, and it can get quite crowded. The island's villagers have taken advantage of this and sell all sorts of stuff and souvenirs on the small beach in front of the cave. However, I only looked at the items from a distance, as I definitely have no more room in my backpack for souvenirs. Besides, I'm already carrying enough useless stuff with me since I really can't use the winter clothes from New Zealand.

And then it was back to the resort on the small boat, and I enjoyed the ride without any more fish incidents (Hahahahaha).

More about my stay and the last days at the Blue Lagoon Resort in the next post.

Your Britta