Just around the corner from Neiafu near an anchorage named Port Mourelle (after the Spaniard Don Francisco Antonio Mourelle who was the first European to land in Vava’u), are two well-known tourist destinations – a pair of caves in the porous limestone of the islands. Swallows’ Cave yawns cavernously above the waterline with geological features that look very much like tonsils. A small boat or dinghy can sail right into the mouth and enjoy the cathedral like ambience and the colorful Tongan graffiti scrawled on the walls. We took the requisite dinghy tour and then scuba dived to explore the cavern depths.
Close by is the second landmark, Mariner’s Cave. This one is a bit trickier to locate, because the entrance to the cave is hidden underwater. We’ve been there before but still passed it by in the dinghy, searching for the underwater opening. It wasn’t until afterwards that we spotted the two large pink graffiti arrows painted on the limestone cliffs pointing straight down towards the opening – duh!
Strong swimmers can snorkel into the cave by diving to a depth of 6 feet or so and then traversing laterally some 13 feet under the ledge before ascending to the water’s surface inside the cave. The cave offers an interesting atmospheric phenomenon. Incoming ocean swells trap air inside the cave and each time the waves recede, every few seconds, the air inside fogs up due to the water vapor cooling as it expands. The fog comes and goes every few seconds with the wave action. Lit by sunlight filtered through seawater, the water inside the cave glows with an ethereal blue.
There is a second entrance to the cave deeper down, at about 15 meters. As scuba divers we were able to come and go at our leisure, without having to hold our breath!
Mariner’s Cave is named for Will Mariner, a British ship’s boy. His ship was attacked and overrun by Tongan natives in the Ha’apai Group back in 1806 but he survived and became a favorite of chief Finau, who used Will’s knowledge of gunnery to help wage war on the neighboring islands using captured cannons from the raided privateer.
Will Mariner spent some four years in Tonga before he finally convinced the king’s son to let him leave Tonga aboard a passing English ship. He eventually returned to London, married, raised 12 children, and became a stockbroker on the London exchange. He wrote a book called “An Account of the Natives of the Tongan Islands” which is now considered a classic of Pacific literature, although at the time no one believed the veracity of his report!
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