Piula Cave Pools

Because a) our captain and mates are very nice and b) conditions were right, the crew got a few hours a shore whilst at anchor. Dropped off by the tender onto sandy shores, we took a 20 minute walk through a village or two before reaching the Piula cave pools. Nestled behind a theological college, for the bargain price of 5 tala I dived through my first underwater tunnel.  When we got there, our party pretty much had the place to our selves and seclusion is something you cant take for granted. 

 Swimming in the freshwater was a luxury I'd forgotten about. living on a ship, you are surrounded by water, but its horrible to swallow, makes your skin itch and is quick to heat up in the sun. the freshwater was pleasant to have a few gulps, afterwards I felt soothed and clean and was refreshingly cold.  Through the water you could see a lot of fish, big and small.  Going deeper into the cave, with the light fading, i was ready to attempt the underwater tunnel connecting two caves. Only being a few metres long, it wasn't the toughest, however for me it showed how far I'd come in the last few years. Not long ago I could hardly swim and here I was, in the darkness, diving through a narrow passage. Although i hit my head on the tunnel roof, I'm still taking it as a win.

As we were nearly done, the peace was disturbed by non other than the Samoan Rugby team.
With all that we made the leisurely walk back to our rendavue, saying hello as we went (I told you these people were very friendly) and taking pictures of pigs, homes, flowers and buses.  After three hours, Samoa got a hell of a lot better in my books.