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| The view from where the ships anchor |
Sam and I went on a bit of a cruising binge in 2013, on three separate occasions we ended up on the beautiful Isle of Pines. The first occasion was at Christmas 2012/2013, then again in October 2013, and then finally at Christmas 2013/2014.
The first visit coincided with a cyclone a few hundred kilometres away, so the weather was a bit damp and overcast, so damp that Sam didn't bother getting off the tender and went straight back to the ship. I went ashore to make an attempt on Pic N'ga a small hill that rises over the island at 262 metres, after eventually locating the access track I quickly realised that there would be no mountain climbing today, the track was knee deep in water. Back tracking to Baie de Kanumera I spent a couple of hours swimming and snorkelling in the beautiful water before heading back to catch up with Sam on the boat.
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Heading ashore on the tender.
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The track out to Pic N'ga was a bit on the damp side! |
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Snokelling around the rock stack in Baie de Kanumera.
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| Looking back towards the beach and the pines for which the island is famous. |
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Our second visit was a lot better weather wise, I managed to climb Pic N'ga with its awesome view of the island and all the turquoise bays. Looking down from the summit I could see the beach were Sam was waiting for me, as the tenders buzzed back and forth to the ship anchored in the Baie de Kuto. Once back on the beach with Sam we went snorkelling around the big rock stack in Baie de Kanumera, seeing plenty of colourful tropical fish, although taking no photos as my underwater camera had expired in Tahiti (probably from exhaustion!). After diving for a while we visited a few local stalls and then headed back to the ship for the sail away.
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The tender heading back to the ship.
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The rock stack where the best snorkelling is in Baie de Kunumera.
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| Baie de Kanumera. |
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The third visit was the Christmas just past, we went on a cruise with my sister Susan and her kids Jess, Seb and Tory. Whilst the kids spent the day snorkelling and mucking around on the beach, Sam and I headed over to the quieter beach on Baie de Kuto and spent the day chilling out and swimming over there. Eventually making our way back late in the day, we caught up with Susan and the kids who were contemplating whether or not to get there hair braided. Catching the tender back we then enjoyed another beautiful sail away as the sun set. I have to thank Susan, Jess, Seb and Tory as they were the official photographers today.
Jess, Seb, and Tory
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Seb thinks it looks OK.
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| Susan, Seb and Jess, Isle of Pines. |
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The Dirt.
We sailed to Isle of Pines twice with Princess cruises and once with Royal Caribbean, I prefer Princess but both lines are pretty good. The cruise boats all seem to anchor in the Baie de Kuto and you go ashore via tenders. Pic N'ga is around 4 kilometres all up, with the 262 metre summit being the highest point on the island you get a good view, make sure you go all the way to the highest summit for the complete view, a lot of people stopped when they got to the summit ridge. The best snorkelling is around the rock stack in Baie de Kanumera, however, while your welcome to swim around the rock your not meant to climb on it, a fact obviously lost on some of the punters off the boat. The best swimming is around the Baie de Kuto and it has the added attraction of being a lot quieter as most of the punters head in the opposite direction to go snorkelling in Baie de Kanumera. Don't expect much shopping where the cruise boats come in, there's a couple of local stalls, a restaurant and a small boutique, but your hardly going to do a lot of damage to your credit card.
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| Baie de Kuto. |
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| The sun setting on another great day in the South Pacific. |
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