A ‘must do’ activity for anyone travelling to Fiji is the Sawailau Cave diving experience. Who doesn’t want bragging rights to say they’ve swam inside a cave in Fiji?

Hot Tips

• The caves are located in the south of the Yasawa Islands
• It is best accessed with a guide, so don’t try and do this one on your own
• You can get to this island via a seaplane, but if you’re a budget-conscious traveller the boat ride is wallet-friendly, beautiful and a chance to see Manta Rays (and if you’re lucky, the guides might stop the boat ride for everyone to jump in and swim with them!)
• Remember your camera!

Sawailau Island is located in the Yasawa Island group, which is known for its beautiful beaches, friendly (and some not so friendly) sea wildlife, crystal clear waters to snorkel or dive in, hiking trails, and volcanic mountains. Oh, it’s also 1000 miles from civilisation and is the perfect place to unwind and do some “once in a lifetime” activities.

Sawailau Island has an extraordinary ancient story that adds to the mysticism and beauty of this island. Legend has it that a young Chief and his lady hid in the cave after her family threatened to marry her to a rival Chief. He would swim into this cave every day to bring her food until they both could escape to an island and live happily ever after. The caves are also rumoured to be the resting place of the 10-headed ancient god, Ulutini.

We arrived at Sawailau Caves by boat, which you can book either with your travel agent when booking your trip or with your resort. To get into the caves, we had to walk down some stairs into the cave entrance, where a pool of deliciously cold water awaited us (it was a typical hot Fijian day). We took a moment to enjoy the scenery of the first cave and get acclimated to the water and our surroundings. The guides then gave us a little safety brief and led everyone to the opening of the completely submerged entrance to the second cave that we needed to swim through…yep…SWIM THROUGH.

The cave entrance was tight and dark, with only the torchlight at the end of the tunnel to guide us safely into the next cave. As we approached the second cave entrance, I took a deep breath and started to swim my way through the snug tunnel with my arms outstretched in front of me and keeping an eye on the literal (torch)light at the end of the tunnel. Soon, I soon saw a big Fijian hand grab my hand and head to safely bring me through and make sure I didn’t hit it on the top of the tunnel. Once we were in the second cave, my first thought was, “Oh my goodness, I just swam through a freaking cave!” followed by “It’s really dark in here guys, anyone got light?”. Unlike the first cave which was an open top, the second cave was completely enclosed.

We were then guided to a buoy that could hold about 10 people on it, and float/swim through the cave as the guides told us the legend of the Chief with his betrothed and the 10-headed god Ulutini. We then swam our way back through the cave (this time, it wasn’t so scary).

If you’re not comfortable with the idea of having to swim through a tight dark place, don’t worry you’re not forced to do this at all and are encouraged to spend the time enjoying the first cave.

If you’re after more information, check out the links below:

https://www.awesomefiji.com/activities/explore-sawailau-caves/

https://au.viator.com/Fiji-attractions/Sawa-i-Lau-Caves/d23-a13981 

Much love,

L

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