Wallis, showing the pass.

September 18, 2001 - Wallis - A Speck of France in the Middle of Nowhere

We can no longer remember why we decided to go to Wallis but somehow it got on the itinerary, and then, the more we read about it, the more we became intrigued by the place.

It is a tiny volcanic island 250 miles west of Samoa. Its topography is straight out of a text book showing how coral atolls form. The central volcanic island has not yet sunk below sea level (its highest point is 145 metres) and a wide shallow lagoon separates the main island from the surrounding barrier reef.

Crater lake.

Evidence of volcanic activity abounds, with lava fields and huge, vertically sided circular crater lakes, the largest being several hundred yards across and a hundred feet down to the water level. Several attempts have been made to determine the depth of the lake, so far without success, it appears to be truly bottomless.

	Crater lake.

The island is 8 miles long by 3 miles wide and there are more than 20 small sand fringed islets around the lagoon, which entirely circles Wallis with its barrier reef about 2-3 miles out. There is one marked entrance for yachts to pass through and only 35-40 yachts use it each year, making Wallis one of the least visited islands, possibly because it is just off the classic run through the Pacific. Only 4 other yachts were there when we arrived, which meant we could find our ideal, deserted anchorages.

Passage through the pass can only be made at high or low water, due to the strong tidal stream caused by the entire lagoon emptying and filling through it. We arrived at slack low water, but left an hour before low water, and barely made it through the huge waves outside the pass. If the wind is blowing against the tide, forget it, so some advance weather planning is required.