Niue has been a very memorable stop. Friday’s scuba dives into the caves were incredible. Dallas, Leo, and I were picked up by the local dive guide, Ian, around 8 a.m. and taken on a 20 minute dinghy ride to the site of our first dive at Limu Twin Caves. This involved a 90′ descent into a large cavern followed by a couple of narrow swim-throughs that first ascended out from the cavern and then descended into deep chasms within the colorful limestone. Along the way, we saw lion fish with porcupine-type spines, two really big banded shrimp, large blue puffer fish, two varieties of black and white striped sea snakes, and unusual spotted fish and sea cucumbers that we’d never seen before. We then spent about an hour chatting and motoring to the site of the second dive, a shallow plunge into Bubble Cave. This one was in fact a cave, as there was no ambient light, so we used flashlights to look around. Once inside, it was possible to ascend to the surface of the water, but since the cave is enclosed, the air inside was musty, misty, and pressurized, so it was necessary to equalize (i.e., hold your nose and blow out your ears) while on the surface. The cave itself was incredible with its stalactites/stalagmites (not sure which is which) and mixture of pastel colors. Water has eroded the jagged edges of the rock into smooth, curved surfaces, so smooth that it appeared as though the many of the rocks had been iced like a birthday cake. 

Ian informed us that this is where the amphibious sea cretes (the small variety of snake) go to lay their eggs, and during hatching season (which unfortunately had passed), the baby snakes fall off of the rock ledges above and onto the divers’ heads! As he said, "Real Indiana Jones sort of stuff." In fact, we saw several of the snakes lying on the rocks inside the cave, but alas, none fell on our heads! In case you are wondering, Ian also informed us that although the larger variety of snake is venomous (not the one found in the caves), they are not at all aggressive, and it would be necessary to hold open their mouths, stick your hand in, and clamp down on their jaw to get bit. So that was comforting.

Also reassuring was watching a 3-4′ white-tipped shark rise from its resting place on the bottom and quickly swim away at the sight of our dive guide. Ian wasn’t a very menacing looking character, so I think it’s true that the white-tipped sharks are more afraid of us than we are of them.  

When we returned to the boat, we thought we’d take advantage of already being suited up and finish cleaning the bottom of the boat. It wasn’t nearly as challenging as it had been in the Tuamotus (i.e., green shag carpet had not yet formed), but we were still surprised at the amount of growth, especially since our friend Paul on S/V Disa hasn’t cleaned his bottom since it was first painted back when ours was, and he has no growth at all. More evidence that you get what you pay for in terms of bottom paint. While cleaning, Dallas and I have had a chance to watch out for interesting marine life. Our best sighting was a spotted eagle ray, which apparently are rare. Instead of having eyes in the back of its head like the other rays we have seen, this one had a head that protruded from its diamond-shaped body. Dallas also saw a large squid.

Dallas and I took it easy on the boat on Saturday, while Wes and Tiff spent a second day checking out the caves and the island via motorcycle. They took several great photos along the way; here are just a few.

Tiffany (and her machete) put Niue on notice that Texas is in town!

A gorgeous day in Niue

Getting cooled off at Anapala CaveFresh and saltwater combine at Matapa Chasm 

That night we met up with our friends from S/V Disa as well as the crew of S/V Marionette (we met in Panama), who was believed to be missing for over a week. As they do not have a sat phone or other means of communication at sea, they did not contact anyone after the tsunami. Their parents’ phone calls to the foreign ministry department of Sweden simply to inquire about the potential effects of the tsumani where their boat was supposed to be somehow led to a huge story in the Swedish media, who went so far as to say that they had been caught in the tsunami (despite that they were no where near it)! Needless to say, the crew was very surprised to find out that they were being actively sought out by police in various countries throughout the South Pacific and are national celebrities back home!

After we all got caught up, we ventured out to the local rugby club where they have a disco on Saturday nights. There were about 40 young locals there, and many of them danced to the exclusively Polynesian dance music (no American top 40 for a change!). We had a really good time, although some of the single guys in our group were disappointed to find that the male to female ratio in Niue was not in their favor. There were only two girls on the dance floor (besides me) surrounded by a room full of guys.

Yesterday Dallas and I used our own scuba equipment to join up with three other cruisers for another cave dive. The outboard motor of our dinghy still needs to be repaired, but fortunately theirs were powerful enough to get the 5 of us plus our gear out to the mooring buoys of the dive company (which, like most businesses on the island, does not operate on Sundays). It turned out that the regulator we loaned out was leaking, so Dallas volunteered to use it and only dive the first site, the Chimney. It was essentially a descent into a small cave inhabited by several large painted lobsters followed by a swim down to about 90′ where there is an eroded truck that apparently got swept off the island during the cyclone that struck in January of 2004. The dive itself was a good one, but our enjoyment of it was affected by the fact that one of the cruisers did not have enough weight in his BCD and had to be held down in order to keep him from rising to the surface. In between dives, Dallas passed him more weight, and the problem was resolved. I went with the others to check out Bubble Cave again while Dallas practiced his free-diving sans scuba gear. The cave was spectacular once again, and this time we turned off our flashlights and could see just a bit of blue ambient light shining through from above.

Today we have the usual tasks to complete (clear out with customs, fill water, provision) in preparation for the two-day passage to Tonga. It looks like the wind may be variable tonight but should ease into 10-20 knots from the southeast by tomorrow, so we should make reasonable time.