18 days in Fiji (#9) Cruising with Freewind Sailing Adventures

Bula! Hello and welcome to my series on Fiji.

Before my trip I had many questions. After 18 days in Fiji (with five day cruises and four nights on an island resort) I felt quite equipped to answer a few of these questions. So, here I am, sharing with you my discoveries in the hope that you will have a more enjoyable holiday and be able to make wise decisions that will help you make the most of your time there.
 So now, onwards and forwards to the topic of day cruises.

During those 18 days, we had the opportunity to go on five different day cruises which stopped off at four different islands plus one that we didn't actually land on. Three of these were quite similar, the fourth was almost like a private charter, while the fifth was little bit more 'action packed'.

So, today, I'll talk briefly about the 'private charter' day cruise.

Skipper Ron 
(Photo taken by and copyright Maria Ngo)

Cruising with Freewind Sailing Adventures 

The first day cruise we embarked on was with Freewind Sailing Adventures. This was a cruise we had pre-booked before leaving Australia. Like many other Fijian cruises with an online presence, booking any cruise is simple and straightforward.

Ron and Joyti are the entrepreneurial couple who operate this 46 foot sailing vessel that can take 15 people for day excursions or 4 for overnight or longer. They usually sail the waters of Savu Savu Bay but also do customised trips to suit their clients.

With Ron and Joyti 
(Photo taken by and copyright Maria Ngo) 

We met Ron near the jetty of Port Denarau. The Freewind is anchored a little off-shore from the jetty so we take a small dinghy to get on it. When we were all safely boarded, we set sail in a generally westwards direction towards Malolo Island after navigating through the port area.

Freewind 
(Photo taken by and copyright Maria Ngo) 

Charting a course for the island 
(Photo taken by and copyright Maria Ngo) 

We were served tea and biscuits while we enjoyed the sea breezes and looked forward to plunging into the waters of the Pacific Ocean. For this trip it was just us (a family of four) and a European traveller. We stopped short of the island and dropped anchor after slightly more than an hour of sailing.

In the cockpit 
(Photo taken by and copyright Maria Ngo) 

You can change below deck, but as I suffer from sea sickness quite badly, I make it a point to never go below deck or into confined spaces on a small boat - I have learnt my lesson the hard way. So I was already dressed in my swimming gear and it took no time at all to put on my snorkel.

Ready for the plunge 
(Photo taken by and copyright Maria Ngo) 

One by one we jumped into the water to explore the coral reef with its marine inhabitants. Perhaps my expectations had been set rather high by colourful images of Fijian waters and marine life, but, for comparison's sake, it wasn't anything like the Great Barrier Reef or Malaysia's Tioman Island (of years ago) but it wasn't bad either (that's the Aussie understatement at work here). I was also rather distracted by my first encounter with sea lice.

Nevertheless, the water was clear and the fish was plentiful and colourful. My son had a ball and you could not drag him back on board. That was one of the reasons we didn't make it to the island. As our focus was on snorkelling rather than kayaking or sun tanning on the beach, we didn't mind skipping that part of the trip.

Having a yarn on board with fellow passengers 
(Photo taken by and copyright Maria Ngo) 

Lunch was beautifully prepared by Joyti and comprised of a tasty meat and salad roll. This was later followed with home baked chocolate cake and more tea.

On the journey back, we encountered rain. It was after all December which is when you can expect tropical thunderstorms in the late afternoon, which after a heavy downpour, generally clears up for the evening. Just as well I was still in my swimming gear as there isn't much shelter if you want to stay in the cockpit. You can always go below deck if you want to stay perfectly dry. The five of us decided that we preferred the cockpit.

Sailing back into port 
(Photo taken by and copyright Maria Ngo)

View of Port Denarau from the boat 
(Photo taken by and copyright Maria Ngo) 

By the time we arrived back in Port Denarau, the weather had cleared. The Fijian Christmas trees are in bloom from November to January usually and put out a colourful display in the shopping mall.

Dining options in Port Denarau with Fijian Christmas Tree in the foreground 
(Photo taken by and copyright Maria Ngo) 

Dining in Port Denarau 

As it was already getting on in the day, we decided that dinner in Port Denarau would be a good option. After spraying on the prerequisite insect repellant for dining out in the evening by the waters, we check out the place. There is quite a selection to choose from. We decided in this instance to go Indian and also enjoy the water views.

Dining by the water 
(Photo taken by and copyright Maria Ngo) 

There was a free fire dancing and musical performance in the centre of the shopping mall while we were having dinner. We couldn't see the show from the restaurant so it was a case of catching what we could or letting the food get cold. We did a little bit of both (!).

Fire dancing 
(Photo taken by and copyright Maria Ngo)

If you are planning to do dinner in Port Denarau at this time of year and you also enjoy cultural performances, I'd suggest that you time it better than we did. The performance was of a decent length and well worth watching.

Dinner is served 
(Photo taken by and copyright Maria Ngo) 

Catching a taxi back to our resort was a simple matter. Even at that late hour, the taxis were still operating and at the taxi stand, we were directed to a waiting taxi by one of the friendly Fijians dressed in a similar garb to those we had seen earlier in the day manning the taxi area. We had no problems returning to Denarau Island for less than FJD10. For door to door service for four people, that was good value.

Someone said 'Taxi'? 
(Photo taken by and copyright Maria Ngo) 

We arrived back safely, tired, rain washed and quite satisfied with our day's adventures - the first of many more to come.

Fijian Christmas Tree 
(Photo taken by and copyright Maria Ngo) 

Vinaka and thank you for reading and staying with me on my Fijian adventures.

Hope you'll keep reading! If you liked this post, do click like and share it! Vinaka vaka levu!