Falling in love Niue

I’ve been to many South Pacific islands but never to Niue. I was not looking for white sandy beaches, world-class restaurants or cathedrals and temples. My hope was to swim with a whale, dive in sea caves and snorkel in reef top pools.

We arrived on one of Air New Zealand’s twice weekly flights. It was warm, people were singing and we started to embrace the laid-back lifestyle of this beautiful Pacific island. While sipping cool welcoming drinks at Matavai Resort we were ecstatic to see exhaled air plumes from humpback whales up the coast. Every year humpback whales make the huge journey from Antarctica to Niue Island to give birth to their young in warm clear water.

Next morning we walked from Matavai to the HQ of Buccaneer Adventures, Niue Dive which was right next-door! We were driven to Sir Robert’s Wharf where our boat was waiting. Only 20 minutes out and we hopped into the water, swam 20 metres and were treated to a close humpback encounter especially with the inquisitive calf. Wildlife is always unpredictable and nothing is guaranteed. To have this opportunity on our first day was exciting, almost unbelievable and certainly an experience we will never forget.

Niue is the world’s largest raised coral atoll and is sometimes known as The Rock. It has no rivers and the reef edge is close to the island and drops away steeply into thousands of metres of water.

When we arrived at our dive site called Snake Gully I looked down in total disbelief. My dive guide Krystal was appropriately named because I was staring into crystal clear water. I felt compelled to ask her the question “what is the visibility”. She looked at me with a certain confidence in her eyes and responded calmly “about 75 metres”. I plopped into the water and descended into a blue abyss. I was mesmerized, it felt like freefall and in all my years of diving I had never seen such clear water.

I turned to follow Krystal who was gently caressing a sea snake (Laticauda schistorhynchus) which grows up to one metre in length and is venomous. I very soon got the impression that Krystal had done this before so I moved closer to get a photo. I knew sea snakes have a very small jaw and hoping that if it were to attack it would bite the camera and not me! I’m pleased to tell you it was very well behaved.

We swam across the top of the reef and into a beautiful sea cave where shafts of sunlight were penetrating the gin clear water. Forty minutes and many photographs later we swam through a narrow passage and slowly ascended towards a bubble cave.

As I broke through the surface my dive light illuminated beautiful limestone formations inhabited by baby sea snakes. I removed my regulator and the air inside the bubble seemed quite fresh. I need to pay tribute to Niue’s only dive operator:- Buccaneer Adventures-Niue Dive. Their five metre semi rigid inflatables were excellent as was all their gear. The professionalism of their staff was unsurpassed and the whole dive experience was made easy and enjoyable. I was impressed.

Over the next ten days we enjoyed eating coconut bread and marinated raw fish, driving our tiny rental car and meeting the welcoming and friendly Niuean people, swimming in warm blue reef top pools, more scuba diving, snorkelling again with a five day old humpback calf and soaking up the atmosphere. What more could we ask for? Only one thing…more time! We fell in love with Niue and have promised ourselves we will return.‍

Special thanks to Shannon and Krystal Hunter of Buccaneer Adventures-Niue Dive and to Niue Island Tourism.
Check out Andy’s website at www.andybelcher.com