An unforgettable day Vanuatu's Lamen Bay

So here is one afternoon on an island called Epi, where we were based at a beautiful place called Lamen Bay, my favourite partly because of the dugongs that live there.

That morning we traipsed along a track through the jungle to a neighbouring village where we had been invited to partake in wedding festivities. There we were awed by the generosity of these people to total strangers, the vast amount of food, massive umus full of beef and the most humongous cooking pots I have ever seen. These were capable of fitting an average sized person within – we did have to remind ourselves that cannibalism hasn’t been reported in Vanuatu since 1989.

Back at the beach there was time for yet another foray under the yacht, skulking along amongst the short sea grass that yields a multitude of fascinating critters in only a few metres of water. Snake eels, garden eels, tiny octopus, thorny cowfish, banded sea kraits and turtles galore, alongside the occasional glimpse of the resident dugong make this an entertaining dive. Closer to the shore the coral bommies give shelter to colonies of anemone fish and various nudibranch, though my favourite was the large green melibe that I came across on the sand. The lack of current and depth here means you can stay for hours.  

After lunch we sailed to a reef just south of Lamen Bay that we had dived a couple of days before - Dick’s Reef is about one kilometre off shore and drops to over 50m. As we had discovered on our previous dive, it was prone to wicked currents depending on the state of the tide. Not a good site to have everyone in the water as the swim back to the boat could be challenging to say the least. Today there were a couple of outriggers over the reef with villagers diving for fish. As always, the friendliest of people, it didn’t take them long to invite us to moor outside their village the next time we passed this way.

Eric and I were quick to get in the water, the best place to be in this heat! Heading over the side of the reef we took our time engrossed in the fish life and macro activity (alias nudibranchi!). This proved to be a mistake as the deeper we went the more prolific the soft coral gardens and fans became.

Far too soon it was time to make our way back up the reef. Tuna and schools of trevally swam past while the reef was an endless source of life. Moray eels, a variety of shrimps, starfish, urchins and nudibranch, even Chinese dragons meant that our progress back was slow. Beautiful anemones and corals, all teeming with colourful fish, including the well camouflaged scorpion fish (you don’t want to put your hand on one of these). Back in its day this would have been a stunning dive site, today it is simply amazing. The further north we go in these islands the better the dive sites are becoming.

Reluctantly clambering back on board we find Reflection now surrounded by outrigger dugouts, each with about three children, ages ranging from seven to 14 years, all keen to talk to us.

Making sure the younger kids kept their dugouts safely away from our hulls was a full time job on both sides for us as Russell and Peter jumped in for their dive. The kids loved having their photo taken and showing off the fish they had caught, that was until the cry of ‘whale fish’ went out and everyone went quiet as we watched two humpback whales in the far distance.

Amazingly enough this pair slowly turned and headed parallel to the beach back towards us (we noticed at this point several of the dugouts headed for shore while the others crept closer to Reflection). There was a kind of quiet excitement from the kids and we realised as we watched the entire village come out and line up along the beach that it was a rare occurrence to have the whales in their bay. Each time the whales spouted the village burst into song which really made the whole thing totally special.

Whenever we have been lucky enough to share the water with these magnificent creatures we have noticed that they seem to sense when they are truly appreciated, or maybe they see a source of entertainment for themselves – who knows? But today was no exception and these guys just slowly turned and headed straight for us. The kids remaining with us came even closer, although when Eric asked if they were scared the answer was a definite no, but they still tried to get their canoes under our nets.
By now Eric and I are frantically taking photos trying to get that perfect shot as the whales come even closer, paying little heed to the array of dugouts around us. As the whales came within a few metres we turned to each other to say ‘do you believe this?’ only to find all the kids up on deck with us with their dugouts abandoned. Everyone was wrapped up in the moment and in awe of these huge animals that seem to have an amazing empathy with us. Passing by the end of us they both circled around and headed north, leaving us hoping that the boys below had seen or at least heard them and the kids on board wondering how they were going to get their dugouts back because they weren’t game to get in the water!

We managed to get them all back in their respective canoes, they then headed back to shore pretty fast to catch up with the gossip. The boys came up totally oblivious so we upped anchor quickly and motored to catch up with the whales, telling the boys to have their cameras ready but not what for….

We had so many experiences similar to this. There are just so many amazing things to see up here in the islands of Vanuatu that we can’t wait to get back. Lots of sites and wrecks waiting to be discovered; stunning drop-offs teeming with fish; shallow sandy bays full of fascinating tiny critters, plus much larger inhabitants. ‍

Vanuatu is a diving mecca and with an increase in professional dive operations throughout the islands more and more sites are becoming accessible.