October 16 – Jean Michel Cousteau Resort, Namena Marine Reserve and Grand Central Station, The Captain’s Cafe

October 16 (Day 5 – Jean Michel Cousteau Resort, Namena Marine Reserve and Grand Central Station, The Captain’s Cafe): We got up early today for our trip to Namena Marine Reserve with the Jean Michel Cousteau Resort. The resort is just down the road from us, so we walked. Left at 6:45. Rod and Jim both have colds ☹. Our boat was a bit bigger today. There were nine people in our group. It was a 50 minute boat ride out to the reef. We went fast and it was pretty bumpy. At the reef, the guides LED us around the inside. Not quite as vibrant as yesterday but amazing, nonetheless. More new fish! We were out about 45 minutes, then back to the boat to another reef. This was “Grand Central Station.” We swam on the right side of the reef in a very deep channel. Lots of fish! Some very large. Saw quite a few sharks. About another 45 minutes. The current was strong and pushed us along. We were chilly! On the way back the boat broke down! They called for another boat, but were eventually able to fix it. Back at the villa we rested and showered. Rod was feeling pretty poorly. We did take out again period from the Captain's Cafe this time period Pam and I went to get wine while rod waited in the car. Great food again!

Rod’s Thoughts: Sheesh! I seem to always get sick for a couple of days on our trips. Could be the flying, just getting old and tired, or whatever. But I have learned: All trips are at least 10 days so that if someone gets sick, then they still have some vacation time left after recovery (assuming the illness isn’t too bad).

Namena Marine Reserve was good, but as Marg said, it didn’t seem to be as vibrant as Natewa Bay. There were lots of fish at Grand Central Station. If I had to choose between Namena and Natewa for a second go, I would choose Natewa Bay.

We usually get a villa or other accommodation with a kitchen so we can make breakfast, lunch and especially dinner. But the food in the restaurants in both Savusavu and Taveuni was so inexpensive that we ate out every night of the trip. We found we really loved the curry meals and ordered some variation of curry more often than not.