"Voyage on Soren Larsen t ..." a Ureparapara Travel Page by cosmopolit

The Torres Islands, which lie to the south of the Solomon Islands are made up of six islands with only two inhabited. Famous for their enormous coconut crabs, pristine whithe sandy beaches, giant turtles which come up to bury theyr eggs in he sand.
The island is a volcanic cone and a massive ancient explosion blew out the entire side of the mountain and the sea breached the crater. The long steep sided bay that this created is our entrance to the island and the village settlement is at it's head. Dense jungle clings to the slopes of the high crater walls that protect the anchorage and reinforce the sense of remoteness. The worrying issues of the 21st century do seem a long way away here.

We set out towards Ureparapara - the most Northerly point of our entire Pacific voyaging . We stopped for a couple of hours at the Reefs Islands where there was really excellent snorkeling between canals, cliffs and shallow areas. Continuing up the Ureparapara with a favourable wind gave us a good sail as we arrived late in the afternoon.
Greeted by numerous canoes that came out to our anchorage, Chief Nicholson is still here and is now paramount chief of the Banks & Torres group. They gave us a great welcome and we stayed two nights here at this remote and spectacular island.