A brillaint dawn at Astrolabe Reef, Kadavu Island. [4326]
The Great Astrolabe Reef, named after the French explorer ship (1811), surrounds Fiji's fourth largest island Kadavu, well offshore at about 100km south of Viti Levu. Astrolabe is one of the world's largest barrier reefs. Small islands within the reef include Yambu where we did a Zodiac drive-by for birdwatching, and Vurolevu where, off the beach, we swam and snorkelled in crystal clear waters and brilliant sunshine.
Zodiac of birdwatchers at Yambu island. [4363]
A booby in flight, with only the tail of his catch showing in his mouth, as he flies home. [4345]
Red footed boobies high on the walls of Yambu island. [4353]
Totally unrecognisable with sun protection, underwater-specialist Rachael Crane, on the way to a dive in Astrolabe Reef. [0614]
These tiny green-blue chromis fish all disappear into the nearby hard coral whenever a larger fisher comes nearby. [0606]
Colorful coral on the Astrolabe reef. [0611]
Our guides hoped we could snorkel with manta rays, by (quietly) slipping into the water from Zodiacs. Only snorkellers capable of jumping out and climbing back into Zodiacs were invited. Two Zodiacs-full of us attempted this off a point on Vurolevu, but the one manta ray we saw was very shy and we could not get near it.
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