Living in Savusavu, or anywhere outdoorsy really, you develop a strong intuition about seasonal changes and weather subtleties. Sometimes you forget that visitors from faraway lands cannot be as tuned to the local conditions as you are.

Our baseline conditions for freediving are as good as it gets: good visibility, warm water, absence of swell, waves, currents, and boat traffic.

This was one of the reasons why we set up shop here in the first place.

There always seems to be that day, when you just know the summer is over. Or maybe you feel like having only one or two showers a day as opposed to three or four.

The tropical South Pacific winter brings trade winds, a more or less steady easterly flow, with postcard picture fluffy clouds and blue skies in between and a welcome breeze to caress your skin.

Trade winds also drive the clean, clear water from the vast open Pacific right into our little bay (in comparison) and with that steady flow comes our best visibility of the year. The trade off, pun intended, is, that it also brings a few degrees in temperature drop.

From our balmy 29 degrees in the summer it gradually drops to 25 degrees by mid July.

Bracing for us spoilt tropical creatures, but still plenty warm for, say Sydney or Auckland divers.

Every season has it’s charms and as the season progresses that charm wears off and turns into anticipation for change, but for now we are still innocently in love with the winter.