Where the Blue Lagoon was filmed!

Nanuya lai lai was the first stop on our week long island hopping adventure on the Yasawa Flyer. We loved this island and stayed an extra day.

We spent most of our time snorkeling, playing cards at night with other tourists, relaxing on the beach, hiking around the island and trying to check out Turtle Island, a very exclusive, expensive resort island where Brittany Spears honeymooned.

Swimming with barracuda

The most amazing reef I have ever seen is on the other side of the island from our resort. Lying on the beach, I had no idea what kind of world was under the water just a few feet ahead of me. Sea snakes hung out in the shallow water, and further in are schools and schools of barracuda, and other types of fish that I can't remember. The barracuda were harmless, but they looked scary and were stalking us. We got stung by little jelly fish barnacles (I'm not really sure what they were, but they stung our eyes. It didn't last for long). We would snorkel together to be safe. All of a sudden we would be hanging out where the reef seemed to drop and the bottom of the sea dropped, then we'd turn around and try to get closer to the beach (to avoid Jaws). It was almost overwhelming - it was that beautiful.

I had heard that you could hike all the way around the island at low tide. Unfortunately, we attempted this without really knowing when low tide was. At first it was easy; we hiked through the trees until the terrain got too thick. The water started to get way too high so we gave up and walked all the way around the island, back to our resort. It seemed like we were stranded in the jungle at the time, very exotic and dangerous somehow.

At low tide, you can walk on a think strip of sand (sandbar) to Turtle Island, but you're not allowed to. I only walked halfway across until I chickened out. I heard a rumor that they come out and give you a note that says you will be embarrassed if you come to the island. Apparently it's a honeymoon resort, only allowing 12 couples to stay at a time. Each couple has their own private beach - this is why they don't want us to "disturb" them.

The great thing about Fiji is that you don't need to be wealthy to enjoy all that the region has to offer. These little budget resorts share the same land that the fancy resorts do, and the same beaches and reefs. Usually free or cheap kayaking and snorkeling gear are available. The only difference is you don't get a private plane to take you to the island; you have to take a ferry. But it's not so bad.