We got on the boat to Caqalai (pronounced Thanga-lai) after a bit of a worry that it wouldn’t come and get us, it rained a lot that morning and the sea was quite rough, but we got there in the end. Photos of the approach to the island don’t really do it justice as the sky looks a bit murky! We arrived and were shown to our beautiful beachfront bure (pronounced burr-ay) and settled in.

Caqalai was gorgeous, we loved our time there. We had 4 nights, during which we planned to swim, snorkel, sunbathe and generally faff, but when we arrived it turned out that there was a dive shop where we were able to take open water courses. We decided to go for it, as we’d be able to dive in other places then too! So less relaxing, more diving and studying! There’s lots to see in the water there, we saw a lionfish, a reef shark and lots of fish we don’t know the names for! The reefs are spectacular.

The food on Caqalai was great, really tasty and varied, when we arrived we were served a big buffet of freshly caught barracuda and other Fijian dishes. The first day there were quite a few people there, but most of the time we were 2 of 4 guests in total, one couple who arrived on the Tuesday just happened to be from Billericay!!!! In the evenings some of the guys from the village on a neighbouring island sang Fijian songs to us, there was a bit of dancing, and on the sunday night we had some Kava with the locals.

Unfortunately, my camera’s memory card decided to pack in just before we left for the island so I don’t have any photos from our time there! :( We will upload Pete’s asap!

After we qualified as Open Water Divers we left for the mainland on Friday.