Swimming the Sawa-i-lau caves

Up in the northern Yasawas, on a small limestone island called Sawa-i-lau, there is a sea cave you can swim into. It is one of the set-piece excursions in this part of Fiji, and while I would not cross the world for it, it makes a genuinely fun morning if you are already out here.

A boat drops you at the island and you climb down into the first chamber, a high, echoing cavern half full of seawater, light falling in from an opening above. You jump in off the rocks, and the cool water is a small shock after the heat outside. Then you swim.

A guide leads you between several connected chambers, some bright, some dim, the rock closing in overhead and opening out again. It is part swim, part scramble, the kind of thing that is more fun than it sounds written down, especially if you like poking into places water has carved out over a very long time.

We were there and back inside a morning, off before nine and back at the resort by half eleven, which is about the right size for it. It is not the reason you come to the Yasawas, the beaches and the boat rides between islands are. But as a change from lying on the sand, an hour swimming around inside a Fijian island is a good way to spend it.

If your island or your day boat offers the Sawa-i-lau caves, say yes. Keep your expectations sensible, it is a fun cave swim, not a wonder of the world, and you will come back to the beach pleased you went.