17°46.363′ S
177°22.730′ E

Together with Henk & Marja, I visited the Denerau Island around the Denerau Marina.

The water towards the marina is getting so shallow that even with the tender it’s necessary to stay on the well marked channel. As Henk pointed out they must use dredgers annually to keep the water deep enough.

At a pier there is a courtesy dinghy dock available for 1 h. A sign states that and one is supposed to make a reservation on CH 16. What a bad utilization of CH 16! A port-ops channel would be the right one. Additionally the sign doesn’t states who needs to called. Fortunately there is nobody standing around to list up which tender arrived at what time.

The area is of a type, I haven’t seen for years and I don’t miss such areas at all. A highly developed modern area with restaurants, coffee shops, fashion shops, wine & liqour shops, supermarkets, and a few chandleries. For me it was a bit shocking after all these years in nature and on small islands.

We checked 3 chandleries, got some stuff but have to come back on Monday again then shop assistant will go with us to their other facility, which is closed on Saturdays.

Needless to say that we only spent the necessary time in this area.