KOROTOGO, CORAL COAST, FIJI

Yesterday we left Suva and traveled back along the Coral Coast toward Nadi. We're staying at the Tubakula Beach Bungalows, a 1960s-ish resort of A-frame cottages. The snorkeling here is better than at the Beachhouse, although the water in the lagoon is so shallow that at times you literally have to navigate a coral maze in order to avoid grounding yourself.

As I walked to the shoreline this morning, I startled a foot-long octopus, which inked and immediately swam to the nearest hole in the coral, where it disappeared. I then waded out into the lagoon and took some photos of corals, fish, and eels in the shallow water.

People met today:

• Mike from Alaska, who works for the government fishing for salmon in a place called Misty Fjords. (How do I sign up for that job?) He catches the fish to monitor their population, I think. He's been in Fiji since November, and actually abandoned his around-the-world trip because he likes it here so much. He's spent a lot of time in Taveuni, where he's been on 25 dives. Wow.