February 10, 2026
While snorkeling in Matafonua Resort I was seeking out two creatures unique to this area. Both eluded me despite several attempts!
The property owner Darren is an accomplish underwater film maker, diver, surfer, drone & photography wizard that has a vast knowledge of the Oceans / Seas and everthing in them. He told us where to find the above but only Memo says he saw the emperor angelfish. The rest of us, including the dive masters have yet to find these two beauties. Below is video I took while in search of the spanish dancer and the rusty colored algae patties are as close as I got trying to find.
Darren took these amazing drone photos for us while we were there, he made it look effortless. Truly a talented individual and a great chef too - most of the dinners he cooked and developed the recipes too!
Who doesn't love a spectacular sunset?!? We were treated to many in this gorgeous retreat. Below is a sampling.
One of the main reasons we went on this getaway was to get our PADI open water certification. Shout out to our fantastic, super skilled and patient dive master Ellie Simons we succeeded!
The view below shows the channel to the north of Ha'apai Island and King's Island in the background. The protected lagoon is to the right and the sea and Fiji are way to the left. Here's our happy group at the beginning of the week in the lounge pit before dinner.