Treading water next to a cliff in the Tongan islands I prepared to take my last lungful of air and plunge down, looking for the tunnel that would lead me to the drowned grotto called the Mariners Cave. Snorkel and mask in place you only have one lungful of air to get though the bright blue tunnel and burst out into the echoing chamber on the other side. It’s a rather frightening entry to a very beautiful world. The only light is filtered from outside the tunnel through the clear blue water and it bounces around off the stalactites dripping off the ceiling. The magic of the strange landscape is only enhanced by the instantaneous forming mists which happen around once a minute, in time with the swelling water outside and the pressure on the static space inside. One moment all clear and blue, the next a thick fog.

The romantic local lore of the cave, to go with its heart shaped entrance way, is that it was the refuge of a young chief and his lover.

Written by  Karren Hore.

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