Vella Lavella Island Warnings Or Dangers

If the weather looks ominous and you don't feel comfortable crossing the Gizo Strait, then DON'T. That's not to say that you should not trust the advice of your guides. They are very good at navigating the route. However, they will not want to disappoint you and may attempt the crossing even when not safe to ensure you get back to Gizo according to your timetable. We came upon extremely rough sees and rain on the way back. The waves were at least a couple feet tall, and there were no lifejackets in the boat at all. One of the drivers told me that just a few days earlier, they had tipped over a canoe in rough seas with another traveler onboard who was dumped into the shark-infested water. They were fine but she was shaken up quite a bit. On another occasion, he sunk a canoe and lost all of his money, which he had with him at the time. I got through OK, but I was extremely unnerved by the whole situation and had the canoe sunk, we would have faced a long swim to shore with both the dangers of drowning and sharks.