[password] forester11
[position] 17 05.030S 177 16.956E
[status] SOMOSOMO BAY, NAVITI ISLAND (YASAWAS)
The "must do" of Somosomo Bay is to cross the isthmus to snorkel over a WW2 wrecked plane - the story is that the pilot had to ditch the plane after flying too low and hitting a coconut tree. He walked ashore holding a gun, and was offered a cup of tea by the family that live there. The family have put a buoy on the plane, so that was easy to find ..but finding the path over the isthmus proved to be far more tricky! A search on the internet revealed that many before us had had the same problem, but nowhere could I find directions! The GPS co-ordinates for this update indicate the beginning if the path, should anyone need them! We were with the family aboard "Kena" ... and after following numerous false paths leading nowhere for about 1 1/2 hours (!) we finally found the correct one. This went through a variety of both terrain and vegetation before popping out on the beach some 45 minutes later! Never had the water felt so inviting! The wreck itself is showing its age, but is clearly a plane - now home to a huge lion fish, two big puffer fish, hundreds of tiny zebra fish and the most clown fish we have ever seen in one spot. We were disappointed not to meet Clara, an elderly woman who is reputed to have seen the crash. We'd carried over some rice, milk powder and flour to give her, but her home looked abandoned.
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