Yasawa Islands
A watch lost snorkelling in the Blue Lagoon, somewhere between Nacula and Tavewa
The Blue Lagoon sits between Nanuya, Matacawalevu, Tavewa and Nacula, at the northern end of the island chain.
A watch lost snorkelling in the Yasawas has a chance when the spot can be found again: a named reef, the beach you swam from, the place the boat anchored. The questions that decide it are how deep the water was where you noticed, and how well you can say where along the reef or beach you had been.
Ring Seekers is a lost ring and jewellery recovery service that connects people who lost a ring, wedding band, watch, keys or phone in the Yasawa Islands with a metal detectorist who can search there.
Tell us what happened and where. We find a detectorist who can reach the island, brief them with your map and photos, and tell you honestly if the odds are poor.
The Yasawas are a group of around 20 volcanic islands north-west of Viti Levu, with high grassy peaks and clear water. A catamaran runs up the chain each day from Port Denarau, stopping at resorts along the way, and turns round in the Blue Lagoon.
Get the snorkel spot named while you are still there
Guides and boat crews have names for the places they take people. Ask for the name of the spot and roughly where the boat was anchored, and write both down before the next trip goes out. If you snorkelled from the beach, pin the place you went in and the place you came out.
Then think about the last time you are sure the watch was on. A glance at the time on the boat, a photo on the sand, a strap you tightened: any of these narrows the stretch of water or shore that matters.
Places we cover in the Yasawa Islands
- The Blue Lagoon
- Nacula
- Nanuya
- Matacawalevu
- Tavewa
- Drawaqa
- Naviti
- The manta channel between Drawaqa and Naviti
- Kuata
- Waya
- Waya Lailai
- The Yasawa ferry route from Port Denarau
From Waya in the south to the Blue Lagoon in the north
The islands run in a long chain, so start by telling us which end you were at.
The Blue Lagoon and Nacula
The Blue Lagoon is a vivid stretch of water ringed by the islands of Nanuya, Matacawalevu, Tavewa and Nacula, and a good spot for snorkelling. The daily ferry ends its run here before heading back south. Say which island you were staying on and from which beach you swam.
Drawaqa, Naviti and the manta channel
In the middle of the chain, a narrow channel between Drawaqa and Naviti is where manta rays gather to feed on the high tide. It is fairly shallow, you can see the seafloor, and a brisk current carries swimmers through it quickly, with a boat picking them up again. Tell us which drift you were on and whether you wore a lifejacket.
Kuata
Shark snorkelling trips in the Yasawas run from Kuata. After a short boat ride, snorkellers float over a sandy-bottomed circle between walls of coral, where the water is not very deep. That sandy floor is a better place to lose something than open water, so say whether it happened there or on the boat.
Waya and Waya Lailai
Waya lies at the southern end of the chain, reached on the same catamaran from Port Denarau. Waya Lailai, also in the southern Yasawas, has a rocky peak that people climb for the view. If the loss came on a hike, tell us the trail, where you stopped, and whether you went for a swim afterwards.
The ferry and the boat transfers
The catamaran leaves Port Denarau each morning and works its way up the islands, picking up and dropping off passengers at resorts, and water taxis and resort boats handle the rest. Something that went while changing boats is worth reporting to the crew straight away, with the island and the time.
Handling a loss out in the islands
Your WhatsApp contact stays the same
Your messages go to one person on WhatsApp, and that person is still the one answering when the case ends.
Names of spots, not just pins
Pins can drift at sea, so the brief also carries the guide's name for the spot, the island you could see opposite and the state of the tide if you know it.
The manta channel, honestly
With a current running through the channel, we tell you plainly how your account looks before a search is even discussed.
Price, in writing
We explain the costs before any search is booked. You have them in writing before deciding anything.
Clear water, and a current in the channel
Much of the snorkelling here is over sand and coral in clear water, and the channel has a current.
High tide in the channel
The mantas come into the channel on the high tide, so that is when most people are in the water there. The current is brisk and moves you along quickly, which makes the start and end of your drift the two facts worth recording.
Reef, sand and seafloor you can see
Around Kuata, snorkellers float above sand between coral walls in water that is not very deep, and in the manta channel you can see the seafloor. Tell us what was under you when you noticed: pale sand, coral, or water too deep to see the bottom.
Questions about the Yasawa Islands
The strap on my watch let go while I was snorkelling in the Blue Lagoon. Can it be found?
Possibly, if you can place it. The Blue Lagoon is surrounded by Nanuya, Matacawalevu, Tavewa and Nacula, so start by telling us which shore you swam from and in which direction. Say whether you could stand, and whether you snorkelled from the beach or were dropped off by a boat.
My necklace came off while we drifted with the mantas in the channel off Drawaqa.
The channel between Drawaqa and Naviti is fairly shallow, but the current carries swimmers through quickly, so a chain could have come off anywhere along your drift. Tell us where the boat dropped you and where it picked you up. A loss somewhere along a drift like that is a long shot, and you would hear that from us first.
My phone went into the sea as we moved from the catamaran to the small boat at Waya.
Tell the crews of both boats, and write down the time and the island, since the catamaran runs to a daily schedule. Say whether the phone fell between the two boats or later, when you stepped off into the shallows.
An earring came out during the shark snorkel off Kuata.
That snorkel usually takes place over a circle of sand between coral walls, in water that is not very deep, so the spot itself is well defined. Ask the guide whether you were at the usual site that day. Then send a photo of the other earring, and tell us whether you took your mask off at any point.
Halfway up the rocky peak on Waya Lailai, I noticed my wedding band had gone.
Then it is somewhere on the trail. Tell us which path your resort sent you on, where you stopped to rest or take photos, and whether you used your hands to scramble over rock anywhere. Pictures from the climb, with the time on them, help us put the stops in order.
A bracelet went missing on the beach in front of where we stayed on Nacula.
Nacula is one of the islands around the Blue Lagoon, so first say which side of it the beach faces. Pin where you sat, where you went in, and any walk along the sand. Describe the bracelet, including the clasp, and whether it had come loose before.
My glasses went in the water during a sunset tubing ride.
Tell us which beach you were towed from and roughly where the tube went over. Say whether the frames are metal or plastic, and what colour they are. The boat driver may remember where the ride turned, so ask them for the name of the bay.
The key to our beach bungalow went missing somewhere on the sand.
Ask at reception first, in case it has been handed in. If not, pin the path from your door to the water and the patch where you spent the day, and tell us whether the key was on a ring with a metal tag or a wooden one. Say too whether anyone went into the sea with it in a pocket.
We were on a small-ship cruise that anchored off a different island each day. How do we work out where?
Go through the itinerary day by day and match each day to your photos. Once you know the day, the anchorage and the beach or reef you visited from it follow. Send us that day, the island name and the activity, and we take it from there.
Yasawa Islands
Somewhere in the chain is enough to begin
The island you slept on narrows it a great deal.
Send a WhatsApp message saying what you lost and whether it was on land or in the water. The island, the beach and the rest come out of our questions.