Schooner Island

Today we went on a boat trip to Schooner Island, about an hour and a half by boat (the Whale’s Tale) from Denarau Harbour. We were served breakfast on the boat, with unlimited drinks including champagne. Schooner Island is a proper desert island! It is tiny, and consists completely of white sand with wee bits of coral in it. After a Kava welcome ceremony we grabbed snorkels and masks and followed the guide out to the reef. It was absolutely amazing; there are not enough superlatives to describe it! We saw so many brightly coloured fish; hundreds and hundreds of black and white zebra fish, and also zebra fish with yellow stripes instead of white. There were tiny bright blue fish, iridescent multi-coloured fish, blue starfish, and lots more. The guide gave us bread which we held under the water in upturned hands and the zebra fish came swarming in to eat it; the feel of their wee mouths bumping against my hands as they scoffed the bread was amazing. 
Lunch was in big airy wooden hut in the middle of the island and then James and Jamie went snorkelling again while Kerry and I read our books on a couple of the sun loungers that were scattered around in the shade of thatched shelters. I went for another swim and gazed around at the little waves lapping on the sand. The water was so warm - like a bath! And the colour of the sea was a beautiful azure blue.
We set off back towards Denarau late afternoon and sat up on the poop deck enjoying the views. As we passed some mangrove trees we saw a flying fish jumping along in and out of the water. 
We had a convivial dinner later at the hotel’s Asian restaurant and chatted about our adventures.