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Uepi divers blown away by Kavachi Volcano
June 2006

Over a year ago we skimmed out over a dead flat sea & watched Kavachi sub-marine volcano erupting. Great geysers of gas, rock & lava sprayed way into the air, like a huge fireworks display. Thick plumes of sulphur drifted over many miles of sea surface & the smell of sulphur filled the air. Gas explosions like small-arm firing & solid eruptions like artillery provided the soundtrack.

Kavachi sub-marine volcano is isolated in the Coral Sea, a bit less than 20 nautical miles south of Vangunu island, one of the hub islands of Marovo Lagoon. Guests at Uepi since that time have been spellbound by the DVD we made of that trip.

Before the trade winds begin to blow in about early June there are some flat calm balmy days. Finally everything worked out, including a reported low activity state at Kavachi, so in late May we set out to have a look at Kavachi, this time through our diving masks. Kavachi has been dived by one buddy team twice before (not Uepi divers!). The second dive resulted in the two scuba divers spending 28 hours floating around until they were finally rescued near Ngatakae island, having drifted 20 miles from their dive entry point. That's another story which will be the subject of a book being written by one of the extremely brave survivors.

At Mbotuana Island we met up with Corey from 'Wilderness Lodge'. Corey is an extreme free-diver & often collects his evening meals with a speargun whilst drifting around the ocean blue at up to 30 metres deep. No-one knows Kavachi like Corey & he has snorkelled it on many occasions. After half an hour of GPS tracking in Corey's boat, a large yellow sulphur slick appeared as the smell of sulphur filled our nostrils. The sulphur laden up-welling was strong & plumes of gas bubbles effervesced.

We anticipated a 'bottom' of about 30 metres at the vent so after a brief period to see if there were spasmodic eruptions, we hung out an anchor & tried to drag a 'hook-up' alongside the vent. Finally with about 60 metres of rope out & by backing right across the main vent, with not a little consternation by our coxswain Willie, we dug in.

The sulphur plume was right alongside our boat as we hung & it contrasted with the ultra blue ocean water. After a brief talk Jill, one of our Divecons, Robert, & myself descended the rope & found that it tracked straight down the side of the plume into the deep. At a bit over 30 meters we could barely see the 'plug' as it was a mass of swirling sulphur clouds, but brief glimpses suggested a pile of near vertical rocks. Below us at over 45 metres was the crest of a 'dune' running away from the vent. There, masses of trevally, rainbow runner & barracudda swarmed us. The dune was made up of greeny blue volcanic material which flashed a lot of red under light. The edges dropped away into the abyss. We had never seen water so unbelievably blue.

After some brief photos & video, having pocketed an ore sample each, we began our ascent as billows of sulphur and cascading gas bubbles added to the colourful atmosphere. Corey cruised by at about 30 metres disappearing in and out of sulphur clouds. We surfaced completely blown away.

During a surface interval, after a civilised Earl Grey cuppa & nibbles, Jill video-ed Corey & a now reassured Willie free diving into the clouds. The upwelling was increasing as I led the others down the anchor again. But this time I vanished into dark yellow zero visibility, unable to spot any light. We withdrew and spotted some blue water out to the south. Like SolAir Twin Otters dodging heavy cumulus clouds we climbed, spun & glided our way out, finally escaping into that unbelievable never ending clear blue. Realising there was 'no way' we could penetrate the dense clouds and as the noise level increased significantly we surfaced.

Quickly pulling anchor we rafted up the two boats, still blown away, chatting wildly about what we had seen & learnt, minds buzzing. I asked Corey why he had used his small boat & he said "Less expensive if Kavachi blows". Cannot argue with that! With the new Honda 150HP fuel miser purring away we ate up the 50 miles home to Uepi, a world away.

Kavachi is an island in the making. It was one of eight reasons Marovo Lagoon was found suitable for listing in the World Heritage (WH workshop at Uepi Resort March 2006) . At times the peak has risen above the sea & a temporary island has formed out of cooled lava. Being exposed to the open ocean swells it has always been eroded down to below the sea surface . Fascinating nature on our doorstep. Unfortunately the logistics and risk exposure means we are not offering a dive on Kavachi to our guests.

Penguin Reef has been wowing our divers. Built like a giant wedding cake with layer upon layer of coral 'icing' it is surely as good as coral gets; decorated by huge anemones with attendant colourful fish. With the season of incoming currents arriving, Uepi Point has been getting to its most active state with hungry fish everywhere. Dogtooth tuna, black trevally, giant trevally, bigeye trevally in fact any trevally at all, barraccuda, rainbow runner, mackerel & trout all out there.

A recent night dive on Uepi point was up with the best ever. It proved yet again that it is hard for cold water divers to leave 50 or 60 tame crayfish sitting there. A couple of white-tips were mesmerised by the lights & we had to break their trance to avoid collision. All sorts of fish were just lying around asleep, right out in the open. Volkswagen style slipper lobsters were motoring around. A small octopus put on such a good show we actually applauded. Eels were free-swimming & spindle cowries were nestled on the sea whips. Only on a night dive do you see the most exotic shrimps, some so timid that you have to hurriedly try for that elusive photo just knowing that only a miracle will produce it. But if it was easy we would not be doing it.

With the inner lagoon water very clear late in May we tried again to find a WWII plane wreck. Spotted by local beche-de-mere free-divers at night when one diver picked up a USA helmet from the reef & then glimpsed the aircraft in deeper water, it is proving hard to find as the exact location is difficult to mark due to few reference points. I keep hoping someone will offer me the use of a magnetometer!

One problem resulting from the recent brief political turmoil in Honiara is that hotel beds are now at a premium. So if you are planning an Uepi holiday it could be wise to plan ahead. Solomon Airlines are reportedly about to get an international airline certificate that will allow them to run their own aircraft so the international flights should improve, both with scheduling and cost.

Leana via, Grant, Jill, Lee, Rhonda and all the Uepi team.

We sincerely wish to thank the following people for use of their photographs in our website:

Peter Lange, Peter Pinnock, Oceania Films/Matt Guest, Eric Cheng, Fred Bavendam, Andy Belcher, Manuela Kirschner, Louise Murray, Roberto Rinaldi, Mark Strickland/Oceanic Impressions, Jill Kelly, Grant Kelly, Wes Kelly and Jason Kelly.