Swallow Caves

This one goes out to the Big Billen Kahuna! Hey, you guys should google earth this place. It gets more and more slendid everyday! I donno if it will come in, but you should try. "Vava'u Tonga" Look it up!

We couldn't believe it...for $10 USD we could rent kayaks for half a day and paddle all around the islands! We asked the lady where a good place to kayak would be. She responded with "Oh, the Swallow Caves are nice, but they are far and especially with the rough seas it would be too hard and too far." That was music to our ears! When asked for directions or a map or something, she simply said, "Oh, just once you get out of the harbour, go that way", and she pointed behind us towards the sea. That didn't really help, but we were set out to find these "swallow caves" Our first attempt to even get out of the harbour was proven unsuccesfull we paddle the wrong direction for about a mile to find there was no outlet! So back the way we came, along the island shoreline. We didn't mind, we enjoyed conversing and remembering our homemade kayak trip from Laughlin to Havasuu we did as young men. We decided that with the wind to our back we could just float down the shore out of the harbour. We'd hold our paddles up in the wind and convince ourselves that we were sailing. When we put it to the test, and Rhett lowered his "sail" I left him in the dust. Once we came arond the first point we were awed with the scene before us. Islands all around us, with lush green jungles that continued all the way to the cliffline shore. We'd paddle in shallow blue/green water along the island shore, then island hop to a different island with dark deep blue waters underneath us. We stopped once to hoot and hollar at large gathering of enourmous bats! Hanging upside down from a large tree, flying out for bugs then flying back into their tree. They must have had at least an 18" wing span...maybe even 2 feet! They were so cool! Our path....(hahaha, there is some guy in the computer lab with us, with headphones on singing computer karaoke out loud to Hotel California and Eric Clapton! Haha, he's butchering it!) Anyway, our path lead us to the Tongan beach resort where we got out of our kayaks and went into the bar to ask for directions to the caves. They showed us on the map that we were about a mile and a half away! The bar tender then showed us the point we had to paddle to. It looked far, and the gap between us wasn't protected by any islands. It was all open seas from here on. We'd come this far, so thought we might venture. Every paddle was challenged by the wind, blowing her white capped seas in our faces and over our kayaks. We thought the paddle would never end, but once it did, we realized it was undoubtedly worth it! We found the rocky cliff shore intimidating as the strong ocean currents and swells collided up against it. Once we paddled around the point, we found the first cave! A small cut in the cliff about 4 feet wide, that led into a bigger opening. The top was somewhat open with shrubbery growing and webbing out across above us. We enjoyed the rest and the sights for a few minutes, but had a felling there was more up ahead. As we exited the first cave saw our prize. Another larger cave right next to it. "Swallows Cave!" Oh you guys, probably one of the coolest things I've seen. The cave was amazing in and of itself, but the water and the sunbeams were what made it awesome. Since the bottom of the cave was somewhat deep, the water had the coolest color to it. It was like a dark dark blue, but at the same time, it was clear and clean. If you looked through the reflection you could see the rocks and reef below. Then in one room of the cave, the sun must have been at the perfect height in sky, because you could see a little pocked of water illuminated. The water in that spot was like an array of different colors, that would ripple with the water. You could look at the spotlight, then follow its rays out the top of the cave where the sun was shinning through it. We just layed on our backs, looking up and watched the swallows chasing bugs up 30 feet above us, and listened to the rising tide enter and exit the cave. It was heaven! The paddle back sucked. Something about hell on earth. I prayed for the wind to die, but Rhett realized some poor fisherman was probably praying for wind, so we decided that we should pray for strength to get home. (I secretly prayed for a boat to come pick us up, but everytime I saw one, and paddled my brains to flag it down, it either was going the other way or couldn't speak english) So we toughed it out like real men, and proved our manhood to the ocean. Haha, everytime I would get near Rhett I would hear him singing some random song at the top of his lungs, and "Disco Inferno" would gladly get out of my head, and I'd sing along with Rhett. I was the kind of experiance we thrive off of. We finally got home, and did the math. About 18 miles in 6 hours of pretty much non-stop paddling. We would have done it faster if it wasnt for that bloody wind! Anyway...thought we would make you guys jealous and share that little experiance!
We love you!