We absolutely loved our time on these islands but they come with a risk and you need to be aware before you set off
We had a fantastic time on Maratua and nothing was wrong with the islands themselves but we had a major issue when we came to leave at the end of our stay.
As a group of 4 friends travelling together, and as 2 other guests wanted to leave our accommodation at the same time we asked for a bigger boat to take all of us to the mainland the following day. There were 6 of us with lots of luggage and we were concerned about travelling in the small speedboats they normally use. The manager said he was not able to get a bigger boat as he had already booked a small boat and didn't want to upset the boatman by cancelling - we asked him to please get one for us.
These boatmen run the boats as a cartel and completely control who gets what etc
The following morning he said he was still unable to get the bigger boat which worried us greatly especially as there had been a huge thunderstorm the previous night and the sea was choppy .He assured us we would be ok though and reluctantly the 6 of us set off in 2 small speed boats.
THIS WAS A HUGE MISTAKE. Please learn from our experience and please read this. The boats we were in lost each other in very dangerous waves and bad weather, we took in water and the boatman had no compass we could not see land and we were completely lost at sea. The weather turned very nasty indeed with a torrential rainstorm, the waves were coming over the boat and the boatman had a complete meltdown and stopped the boat and just froze.
We were left extremely vulnerable and I CANNOT UNDER STATE THE RISK WE WERE IN. My partner actually moved the boatman out of his seat and took over and kept the boat moving to get us out of danger and through the storm.
At some stage the boatman produced a compass then but did not know how to use it or what direction to follow. Luckily we had a compass on us and GPS on our iphone and saw the boatman had been taking us the wrong way through the storm. WE got OURSELVES out of trouble. Had we not taken control i feel I would not be here to write this review. We arrived at the mainland, soaked and frightened.
Most trips on the boats between the islands are uneventful and these small boats are common practice transport but not all the boatmen know what they are doing. Our mistake was to assume they did and that they were experienced. Insist on a bigger boat if the weather looks at all unsettled and if they don't get one for you, stay put a few extra days until you are sure the weather is good all the way to the mainland. Ask your hotel manager to ring the coastguard. PLEASE DON'T IGNORE THIS - this was a terrifying experience for all 6 of us and it could have had a very different ending.
Go - but Stay Safe
