Things to Do in Suwarrow

Snorkel the Anchorage passage

Slide into the channel between Motu Tauta and Motu Anurangi. You hang above coral bommies. Blacktip reef sharks circle lazily. Parrotfish crunch coral with audible grinding. The current carries you. Purple sea fans sway like underwater trees. Unicornfish dart between your fins. Visibility exceeds 30 meters. You feel like you are flying above an aquatic desert.

Count coconut crabs on Motu One

After dark, sweep your headlamp across the forest floor. Pairs of glowing red eyes stare back. Coconut crabs the size of dinner plates clatter across the ground. Their blue-orange shells click against fallen coconuts. The smell of rotting fruit draws them out. You might hear the woody thud of a coconut being husked. Claws strong enough to crack human bones do the work.

Beachcomb for glass fishing floats

Morning low tide on the ocean side of Motu Tou reveals a find line. Japanese glass fishing floats lie among worn turquoise net weights. Some floats still wear century-old rope. Your fingers might close around a well spherical green float. Its surface is etched by decades of sand abrasion. It still smells of old ocean and dried algae.

Stargaze from the old wharf

The concrete slab where 19th-century whalers boiled blubber makes a fine observatory. No lights for 800 kilometers. The Milky Way spills across the sky like spilled sugar. The concrete stays warm from the day's heat. Shooting stars streak overhead. The Southern Cross hangs so low you could thread it on a fishing line.

Fish the reef edge with handlines

Drop squid bait on a handline where turquoise meets deep blue. Snapper typically bite. They fight like fish who have never seen a hook. The ranger shows you how to brace against coral heads. Waves slap your thighs. Sashimi sliced minutes after landing tastes nothing like store-bought fish. It is sweet, firm, with a hint of iodine.

Your yacht's cockpit. The anchor chain rattles against coral heads at night.

The ranger's spare hammock - strung between coconut palms for a small fee

A tent on Motu One's sand spit - though you'll share it with nesting seabirds

The old wharf's concrete platform. Surprisingly comfortable with a sleeping mat.

Under the breadfruit trees near the cook shed - shade but falling fruit at dawn

Aboard passing sailboats - many captains accept crew for the Rarotonga return