Naingani and Makogai

Scream spent two nights at Naingani, in the eastern part of Fiji's Koro Sea. Naingani has a village and a resort, though we didn't visit either.

The snorkelling was good.

The anchorage is a roadstead north of the island. Reefs east and west of the anchorage provide only minimal protection from those directions. This is not a good place to be in foul weather. We were heard second-hand that the cove on the NW side of Naingani is tabu so you should not anchor there.

We spent only one night at beautiful Makogai. In the eighteen hours we were at and near Makogai we saw as much wildlife as we had in the previous four months in Fiji. We were greeted by a large pod of pan-tropical spotted dolphins. Gannets and boobies are in abundance.

We came to Makogai to see the giant clams. Each one of these clams is a meter long, and about half as wide and tall. They weigh hundreds of kilograms. The locals farm these clams and raise sea turtles as well. They appear to have farmed coral in the past.

The anchorage in Makogai is just off the village, sheltered between three islands. We anchored in 18m, sand. Despite being almost surrounded by islands and being completely surrounded by reefs the anchorage has some swell.

We entered through Daveta Yawa-levu pass in the NW and departed via Daveta Loboni pass in the NE. The range on the chart for Daveta Yawa-levu pass crosses a shoal of about 5m, so you should stay SW of the range as indicated by our waypoints.

Unfortunately the forecast for our next leg to Savusavu dictated that we leave Makogai after only one night. We had a fast if uncomfortable reach to Point Passage and Savusavu.