Tui Tai Diaries: Wiwi Village Update

No trip to Fiji should be without a kava welcome ceremony, and we've had some great fun in Wiwi village over the last few weeks. The actual ceremony is traditionally formal, and we are fortunate to witness use of the original methods, but the following meke dance is exciting and involving! The following are some highlights from the last few weeks:

High tide?

Chief may have had too much kava

Liga shows off his moves

A few kava facts:

- The name 'kava' is more Polynesian and many Fijians refer to the drink as yaqona.
- Traditionally women don't drink kava, although this is not really the case today in Fiji.
- It comes from the root of a pepper plant that is dried and ground up into a fine powder.
- The taste is quite earthy and the sedative effects are generally mild and short-lasting.
- It is used formally in all kinds of ceremonies, but many will just drink socially at weekends.

Dolphins AND manta rays!!

After several dolphin sightings throughout the day, it got even better when we saw a stunning manta ray in shallow water off Rabi island.

Underwater eden

Blue-spotted stingray

Some of the great diving last week was captured by our guest Brad, who plans to return to Tui Tai again later this year!

Cradling a pufferfish.

Pretty soft corals.

Scott spots an excited porcupine fish.

Christmas tree worms

Arriving in style!

Some of our guests arrived yesterday on a seaplane! It flew low right past the boat.

Anyone for empty surf?

Photos from Tuesday 4th August. Imagine what these waves will be like in the "surf season". Tui Tai will be running surf charters from November, exploring the warm turquoise waves in this remote region where crowds don't exist.

Some sets were quite sizey.

Picture perfect waves just kept on peeling along the reef.

This virgin left seems shallow at low tide, but there are mellow longboarding rights breaking simultaneously on the adjacent reef pass. Plenty of options to suit all types of surfer!

These cheeky scamps pinched Tim's helmet.

Perfect end to a perfect day.