The British navigator William Bligh (after which Bligh Water was aptly named) was the first European to sight the Yasawas in 1789, following the infamous mutiny on the HMS Bounty. Captain Barber in the HMS Arthur visited the islands in 1794 but they were not charted until 1840 by a United States expedition commanded by Charles Wilkes.

Did you know?
In 1789, after being cast adrift by the mutineers on his HMS Bounty, Captain Blight and 18 others in a seven-metre long boat were chased by two Fijian war canoes through what is now called Bligh Water. His men pulled the oars spurred on by the thought that if they were caught they would most likely end up the main course at a barbeque. They later arrived in Timor, finishing the most celebrated open-boat journey of all time. Not exactly in the image of the cruise ships, yachts and high-speedflyers that frequent the Yasawas today but even in their most perilous moments they could not but have been in awe of the beauty of this small part of paradise.