Wananavu - Fantastic (Manta Ray Island)

I had nothing but good things amount Manta Ray. Owned by an Aussie (yes I got drunk with him) it catered directly towards the Westerners needs. Simple accomodation kept it cheap, yet the food for breakfast lunch and dinner was surperb.

This is where I stayed. In amongst all those trees are the bungalows, dorms and beachside bar.

None of this just eat what you're given, there was a menu and waiters/waiteresses. Beer was cheap and the cocktails were good.
I arrived with a lovely Scandinavian girl (I've forgotten both her name and nationality) and with two brazilians and a portuguese lady - all of which are studying in Australia. All were top notch people who drank a little bit with during the day. The beach area was littered with hammocks and shady tables, which I used to fill in the afternoon lazing about.

Few hardy travelelrs have the constitution to hold up here for too long.

During this time I struck up a conversation with the german dive instructor, who convinced me into giving scuba diving another shot (I failed miserably two years ago whilst in the Whitsundays). After dinner that night (and another Bula dance led by the incredibly joyous and super camp activities instructor) I sat down to enjoy the evening by sinking beers and practising my japanese.

Yuki, myself, Aoki, and Kana. They actually helped bring my confidence in spoken japanese back! We drank sooooo much.

Yup, who read correctly. Fiji happens to be a place many japanese students come to study english. Why? you may ask (I did). Well, let's have a look at what it offers. It does have a university (hence the study), nearly all inhabitants speak english, the sun is always shining, kick arse beaches, its a super cheap place to live, and the islands are within hopping distance.

This is an example of a kickarse beach. Pay particular attention too the blue water, white sand, sunny skies, green leafy trees, multiple banana seats and hammocks, oh and the bikini clad women.

So on any given weekend a bunch of japanese students will be staying at the nearby islands. This is where I met Yuki (his full name is Yukihiro. His nickname is funny because its a girls name), Aoki, and Kana. That night my japanese improved immensely as I chatted away - much to their amusement. We drank beer, practised origami, and Aoki won the limbo competitions (take that brazilians!).

Origami, that's the portuguese lady between Yuki and Aoki. When I asked her for ehr name she told me I wouldn't be able to pronounce it. I tried but failed (and now I've forgotten).

The next morning I was up early and ready for my dive. I was paired up with the fijian dive instrcutor (he was warned I was scared shitless) and holding my hand we dive deep into the ocean (maybe 10 metres). Our groups was super lucky, we saw a reef shark, a turtle and an octopus. Most groups don't see either of those three. It was an awesome 30 mins and I was relatively comfortable the whole way.

This is a grasshopper, and while not spotted whilst scuba diving it was spotted whilst drinking, both of which I consider water sports.

After my dive a sucked down a few more beers and colourful drinks whilst reading my book, chatted to the token british boys (barely old enough to drink) that were present on every island before boarding the catamaran to my next destination, the self proclaimed party island BEACHCOMBER.

My sentiments exactly!