Good Morning and "Sota Tale"
June 30, 2025
Time for surfing! This seems to be every person’s favorite part of the trip and I can’t blame them, it truly is beautiful. We woke up bright and early and headed to the beach for a morning of surfing. Our instructor Bruce met us by the water and began his lessons teaching the students how to paddle, pop up, and maintain a good balance on the board when catching a wave. After our lesson we paddled to the area where the good waves break and before we knew it Dahra was up and already riding his first wave, an absolute natural! Also right besides him, Saylor, rocking her Rip Curl surf shirt might have caught more waves than us leaders will all summer! Starting the day in the salty water chasing each wave that comes by, especially the doubles, has to be the most perfect way to elevate moods and sprinkle excitement throughout the group. To continue our awesome day, after surfing we hopped on a boat with our Fiji Beach House Captain and headed to Yanuca Island. This spot is a very small island about an hour away from Navua by boat. The group enjoyed the ride there as we listened to Bob Marley’s top hit, “Three Little Birds.” Once we got there it didn’t take long until Quinn was sprawled out on a bench under the palm trees, coconut in hand, snoring away. Today was the perfect relaxation day after our tiring morning of surfing some Fijian waves. As we waited for lunch, Erik floated in the crystal clear water taking in the views surrounding him which were lush, green and truly the picture perfect image of Fiji. Gracely enjoyed the warm air breeze and shady spot under the palm trees as she swung back and forth in the hammock. After lunch, we had some students hop into the water to snorkel around while others got a game of volleyball going. Another wonderful day in Fiji! We headed back to our spot for some dinner and quality time together and went to bed early for another early morning of surfing the following day.
And to think that the group did a great job surfing yesterday, today we were even more impressed. For being a beginner, I think Cece had to have caught almost any wave she set her mind on. The waves today were a bit less rapid, but the group still did a fantastic job and we got some great wipe outs on the Go Pro! After surfing the group rinsed off and changed into hiking clothes to head up the way to our afternoon in the jungle! When we arrived at the beginning of the hike, we looked up the trail and realized that it was very muddy due to some recent rain. We decided that we were going to seize the day and not let a little mud get in the way!!! The hike was very green, filled with Mt. Joy in the background and had a few river crossings on the way to the final destination, a beautiful waterfall. The rushing water and swimming hole were absolutely worth the muddy trek. Since the students were in hiking clothes and not bathing suits, there was some debate whether or not it was worth getting into the swimming hole. London didn’t think twice as she splashed into the water and yelled to the other students “when else are we going to be in Fiji and be able to swim in this water!” This got the rest of the group in the same headspace and suddenly no one was worried about hiking back wet, they were just enjoying the moment together. After splashing around for a bit and hiking all the way back, just a bit soggy, the group had worked up quite the appetite. The overall post hike consensus for lunch was burgers at the beach house, and it hit the spot! We hung out by the water for a bit after lunch and hit a shop nearby for the perfect post lunch snack, lattes and donuts! After getting back to Mango Bay everyone was pretty wiped from the long day in the sun, water and mud so we all got showered and just hung out together. This group really enjoys quality time with one another and are always content just hanging out and talking which we love to do with them!
Good morning and “sota tale” Mango Bay, our ride to Pacific Harbor is here! Once we dropped off our luggage at Club Oceanus, we made our first of many walks over to the arts village for a meal: pancakes, eggs and smoothies over at the cafe. After walking back and situating in our new spot, a large bunk room, it was time to throw on those wetsuits and get in our gear for a run thru in the pool. Split into two groups, our students did an excellent job with dive masters Apy and Manoa, executing exercises like mask clearing and locating a removed regulator. The groups did so well that they finished early! Before lunch, the hammocks were set up and the card games ensued. And after a Club O lunch, we made our way straight to the beach to catch some sun while the rain sprinkles slowed. Michael made his way straight to the shoreline with sand castle structures galore, and water fights that had me in tears of laughter. Lawren kept it active with spikeball games and endless frisbee tossing. He was a champion of the group with both endeavors. While the shenanigans and games thrived, some of the group stumbled upon some hot tubs in the fancy resort right behind the beach for great bonding time. It was nice to recap and get excited about diving. Before dinner we hung out at Club O with some music, school stories and fishing, and at dinner we got a meal that many students deemed their favorite of the trip at a spot called The Establishment. Our waiter was bumping Pitbull tunes and encouraging us all to dance, especially Wilkins, who was persuaded to take his moves up on the tabletop. Afterwards everyone was exhausted with full bellies on top of a day spent in the South Pacific sun. Onto the first ocean dives tomorrow.
A morning wake up to jazz and we were off to grab breakfast and hop in the boat for a ride we’d done a couple days prior – back to Yanuca. The weather over in that direction looked much more promising, so we had ourselves a longer boat ride that Aqua Trek deemed us good for the big rooftop-seated boat. A most experienced diver, Stancil, had herself a fantastic time swimming around with her camera while the rest of the group went on with more exercises for the certification process. She got some great pics of everyone on a dive that us leaders couldn’t participate in due to gear priorities. After cookies and numerous rooftop jumps off the boat, the second dive went underway, and yet again another success. Everyone did fantastic. Back on Viti Levu, we cleaned up a bit and made our way back to the Arts Village, where we walked around for a couple hours. Beyond shops and treats, we checked out the interesting interior paintings and construction of a theatre and some water slides out back. The office for Fijian culture excursions was in the space, so Bure buildings were built around the center and tribal patterns lined everything we saw. After some purchases, we made a quick beach stop, headed back and then grabbed pizzas to eat under the gazebo with all our hammocks. Couldn’t beat that! In all my Moondance experiences I’ve never had a group so enthusiastic to dive, so getting into the ocean tomorrow is gonna be a blast to say the least.
Gracely– I’ve had the best time ever in Fiji!! Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to come here and meet new people and experience Moondance with them! Love y’all!! 💖
Lawren– Thank you guys for the chance to come to Fiji. I’ve had a great time and met a lot of new people. See y’all soon!
Stancil– Thank yall for continuing to send me on trips like Moondance and such. I’ve had so much fun in Fiji, meeting a lot of new people and having a great experience. I love yall so much and I can’t wait to see yall soon!!
Michael– Thanks so much for sending me on this trip, it’s been a lot of fun and we’ve done a lot of cool activities! I will see you guys in a few days, love you!
Dahra– Hope yall enjoyed not having me around for these 2 weeks. I’ve missed yall a bunch during this trip but I’ve had a bunch of fun and am so thankful 💗
Quinn– what is up mom and dad. Hope that yall are doing well I just wanted to thank yall for giving me the opportunity to go to Moondance and experience these cool things like the scuba diving I got to do today. Can’t wait to see yall soon have fun in Maine.
Wilkins – I love yall mom and dad. This is the furthest from home ive ever been and im having so much fun. We are currently working on scuba diving and it is the coolest thing ever. I have meet a ton of cool people and have so many so fun stories. I can’t wait to tell yall everything! Tell Ashby and penny i love them and you could tell Fraser and Buckley. Love yall so much and I’ll be home very soon
Erik– thanks for sending me to Fiji. Love yall and see you in a couple days.
London– hi!! I have had so much fun and I’m so grateful that I was given this opportunity to go on such a fun trip. Yall do so much for me and I love and miss yall so much!!! See you soon! 😘😘
Cece– Hi mom and dad! Thank you so much for sending me on this trip. I have had so much fun scuba diving these past few days. Miss you so much and can’t wait to see you!!!
Saylor– Bula!! Fiji is actually so cool. The views are incredible and scuba diving is so much fun! Thank you so much for sending me on this trip. I have met some of the funniest people ever. I can’t wait for 4th of July. Love and miss y’all! See you at the airport at 1am…😘😘
Mountains, Mango Bay, and Moonups
June 27, 2025
Bula families! Everyone landed in Nadi bright and early, feeling as fresh as you could be after an eleven hour flight. Meeting everyone and packing our bags into the Sigatoka River Safari bus went seamlessly, followed by a breakfast stop at Sunny’s cafe before continuing our ride up to our first village, Navula (which actually translates to “moon” in some Fijian dialects). Riding in the seats of an open truck across a river and up a steep hill to summit at an outdoor church service was an awesome start to say the least. We all put on our sarongs and embraced the kind greetings and quick tour before sitting down with children, attending the rest of the service. Time to unwind was much needed with everyone’s jetlag. Our sleeping space in these villages is a town hall so to speak, the largest building available with space for everyone to spread out after meals. Our dinner consisted mostly of chicken, rice and cassava (a starchy, potato-esc side that’s locally grown). Our night ended understandably early for the next day’s potential. Everyone responded to the culture shock and each other so well.
We woke up in the morning to pancakes and papaya, playing games outside too like frisbee and spikeball. The little ones, who hadn’t started their school careers yet, came to hang out and that was the cherry on top of the morning. Wilkins, fresh off chatting with tons of kids yesterday, made the air fill with laughter and warmth from the kids with us again. Our first outing of the day was a farm tour – the way of life in the interior of the island. Walking around the grounds of where our food was coming from was super neat to everyone, with Erik and his mouth of steel trying every pepper in sight without a single wince. Most students also tried the fruit sour sop for the first time with much delight. Lunch was a similar dish to chow mein, and we let it digest and cooled ourselves off down on the river banks. After our swim/bath, our guide Semi let us get up close to the local fishing process. A net is used to narrow space in the river after sitting across from bank-to-bank for a while, followed by some fellas with spears picking apart the unlucky tilapia. Playing more games with the locals inevitably led to rugby, “the third most important thing in Fiji behind God and family.” Stancil impressed us on the field with her effort, resulting in her team’s success and overall good fun. Yesterday being a Sunday meant no games allowed in the village, so we were especially ready to get going with each other and the kids. Earlier on the farm tour, Semi showed us a sweet pumpkin that we ended up using as a part of dinner – pumpkin curry! Full bellies had us set for another early night in Navula.
And back down to the Sigatoka river we went! We faced a light drizzle but that didn’t stop the group from not only from being on time, but ahead of schedule. Tuvu hit the students with a pleasant surprise being a bit more lush with vegetation and also providing showers. Saylor had her eno hammock set up, along with a couple others, and they chilled under the palm trees post-kayaking. The woman who lived right by the hammocks was taking sweet pics of them while the biggest pink flower sat in her ear. Lunch, noodles and roti wraps, was perfect fuel for our afternoon of service: shaping up the exterior of the Tuvu Medical Center. Cece used the homemade coconut bristle paint brush well on the rocks outside in the yard, coating them with a fresh white look, while Dahra carried the big water bucket around for all the newly planted flowers, courtesy of Lawren, who did most of the digging. After rearranging and getting our hands dirty at the med center, the place looked fantastic! Earlier in the day when we kayaked in, we saw a mother and father on horseback, with an umbrella, crossing the river towards us. As they got closer, we saw an infant in its mothers arms, and they explained how they ride over monthly to the Tuvu med center to receive vaccinations… chilling! Up the road we walked a decent bit to get to a nearby snack spot, downing pineapple fanta, talking to more locals and getting some sunset pics. Down the hill later, back in the common room, we sat before the village elders for their official welcoming ceremony: Fijian songs and mantras Their hospitality was heartwarming, as is every other village in the interior. Their ceremony deemed us as establishing ourselves with them in “our home.” Passing by different villages in our travels, they’ll yell out for us to stop in for lunch. Our last night was both sad and exciting for the students with thoughts of Mango Bay moving closer to the front of their minds. Quinn asked some solid moonup questions on our church-footsteps-overlook of the whole village, a sentimental night.
Day 6 was a simple one. Our night didn’t yield the best sleep for everyone with cold weather and upset stomachs, so after resting for a bit longer, we headed down the mountains into Sigatoka town for some pizza and sun. On the way into town, Gracely significantly boosted everyone’s mood with her music recs and positive attitude – we’re greatly in debt to her for that. Sitting in the town amphitheater with our slices, we recapped the past few days and got in a little souvenir shopping before our transfer to Mango Bay. Settling into our new home for the next 4 nights went wonderfully with a sunset on the horizon and mocktails in our hands. Michael, who’s been a solid photographer all trip, got some top tier shots of the sunset. After that he showed us the sneaky great footage he’s been capturing all along. We ended up in bed around 9 o’clock, still recovering and getting ready for a big day in the white water of the Green Canyon.
Rafting wakeup was early but the students were ready! London got her some french toast for breakfast that had everyone begging for a bite before hitting the upper Navula river! We hopped onto the bus and headed over to the River with a few surprise double rainbows on our way there. Due to some rain the roads to the River were a bit muddy, so we had to get creative with our transportation. Two trucks met us at the beginning of the road and everyone hopped out of the bus and into tailgate-seats of the truck. It was a little windy, rainy and bumpy, but our crew stayed positive and laughed the entire way. Once we arrived to the base, we had a quick safety briefing and hiked through the jungle over to our rafts. Life jackets tightened and helmets strapped our Moondance crew began our ride down the Green Canyon, upper Navula river. The air was a bit misty but the sun shinning bright created some very glistening water falls and sparkly water. It was such a beautiful ride. The rapids weren’t too crazy but just enough to keep the crew excited and a bit wet. After lunch and the second part of the rafting we headed back to Mango Bay. Some of the group wanted some time to relax after our early morning, while others were eager to keep the excitement going and jumped back into the water with kayaks and paddle boards. We floated around in the ocean and watched the sunset over the water creating colors of orange, pink and purple. A perfect end to a wonderful day. Chocolate banana milkshakes too. After the group had dinner we did our Moonup and all hungout a bit before bed. Time to get some rest for our morning of surfing the Pacific waves tomorrow!
Shoutouts:
London– Hi! I miss yall so much, I hope Hawaii is fun. I love my group and have made such good friends. Love you!! 😘 😘
Saylor– Hiii! I hope yall are having a blast in the Bahamas. I miss yall so much and love yall. I’m having a lot of fun and the girls in my group are amaze. See yall soon, Love u.🩷🩷
Dahra– Hi. Missing home but I’m having a bunch of fun. Love yall lots take care of all 3 boys for me. I’ll see yall in a week and I’m definitely buying wifi for the flight home 🙄.
Quinn– what is up mom and dad and Emma and Helen I hope yall have been great I’m having a good time beside a few setbacks I had in the village but we’re good now and now we are at the mango bay beach club and going surfing can’t wait to see u in a week
Cece: Hi mom and dad! Fiji has been so fun and I have had such a good time. Right now we are doing surfing and yesterday we went rafting. Miss you both so much and can’t wait to see you in a week! Love you!
Gracely– hey mom, dad, and Gemma!! I’m having the best time in Fiji! We are otw to surfing right now and last night we got to take the paddle boards out for the sunset! Don’t forget to feed my fish please! Miss yall lots and can’t wait to see yall soon!! Love ya!
Stancil– hey mom, dad, and grandma! I love yall and miss yall so much. I’m having so much fun. I had fun at the villages and surfing. We r going to an island right now. I hope yall r having fun back home.
Michael: Hi Mom, Dad, and Jack! I’m having a lot of fun in Fiji and I’m doing lots of new things and getting new experiences. We went to a village for a few days on the front end which was pretty cool because they live such different lives there, plus I’ve been getting a lot of cool photos while I’ve been here. Love you and I’ll see you at the beach!
Erik: Sup, talk to you at home. Love yall.
Lawren: Hey guys, having a great time in Fiji. We’re on the way to the island right now and we just went surfing earlier. Hope all is well and yall are having a great time. Fiji is a great country. Love yall
Wilkins: I love yall. I’m having fun and made many great friends. We spent 3 nights in a village and we are staying in a resort. I love everyone and miss yall but I’m having fun
Best,
Kaylie and Alex
Safe Arrival in Fiji!
June 21, 2025
Hello Fiji Families!
We heard from our leaders this morning that most of the group has landed safely in Fiji! The group is so excited to start their journey all together!
Please remember our leaders and students will be unplugged during their trips, but we will be posting trip updates throughout the next week! This will allow you to follow along with the trip. You can also follow us on Instagram, @moondanceadventures, to see more of what we are up to!
-Moondance HQ
