Where is the Bay of Islands?
The Bay Islands are part of the remote northern Lau Islands which lie about 200 miles from Fiji’s mainland and near the international date line.
Interesting factoid: The international date line isn’t straight because it was made to sort of wiggle around the Fijian Islands so they would all be on the same side. Otherwise it could have been Monday in some of the islands when it was Tuesday in others.
The remoteness of the Lau Islands and the historic unwillingness of their chiefs to permit tourism both contributed mightily to the lack of postcards!
However, in the last couple years Captain Cook Cruises Fiji has developed a cruise that visits the islands.
Why go to the Bay of Islands?
Probably the primary and best reason to go to the Bay of Islands is because so few people in the world have been there. You can casually mention your visit to one-up even very well-traveled friends (or enemies)!
Another reason is that they are home to the Qilaqila Marine Reserve which is a protected reef area. We are enthusiastic supporters of the conservation efforts in no small part because they make for excellent snorkeling!
The day we visited the crew of Captain Cook put us in the water at the perfect spot for us to do a drift snorkel to where they picked us up in the boat. The water in late April was chilly and the current was fairly swift but pleasant for experienced swimmers.
Blonde wore a 5mm wetsuit and thought it was great. Brunette did not and was turning blue and shivering at the end. If you plan a trip to the Bay of Islands find out water temperatures at the time of year you’re going and plan accordingly.
There are a number of caves throughout the Bay of Islands. The one above is one we slogged through water to get into and once there walked around on slippery stones.
Some of the other caves are ones you can swim in to. We let that opportunity pass us by as Brunette was cold and Blonde had a bad experience swimming in a cave in Curacao.
Suggested postcards for the Bay of Islands
Perhaps you could send the proposed postcard above to one your friends who is an arborist but don’t tell him/her where it is so it doesn’t get unnecessary tree surgery!
This would be a good postcard because you can claim to be one of the people in the boat and there isn’t really enough detail for anyone to prove that you aren’t (maybe).
It’s unlikely that you could get away with claiming to be one of these beauties but you can say they’re some hot babes you picked up in a cave in Fiji! (And no, we didn’t realize someone else’s head was coming out of Blonde’s hat. Dot needs to take better pictures next time.)
If after seeing our pictures and reading this inspirational post you decide to go to the Lau Islands you need to either purchase a major yacht or give Captain Cook a call or a click!
Disclosure: You will be amazed to learn that we were the guests of Captain Cook Cruises. They did not force us to make up fake pictures or say anything nice about the Bay of Islands.