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Vatu Vara Island is a Fijian island in the northwest sector of the Lau Group of islands.
The island is 3 km (1.9 mi) in diameter at the base of its 305-metre-high (1,001 ft) summit and is also referred to as "Hat Island" due to the summit's shape. The limestone cliffs, some 60 metres (200 feet) in height, of the guyot and the rest of the island are covered in dense tropical jungle.
Vatu Vara is located 32 km (20 mi) west of Mago Island and some 60 km (37 mi) south-west of Vanua Balavu at Lat: 17° 26'00 S Long: 179° 31'00 W.
The volcanic and limestone island is nearly 2 miles (3.2 km) in diameter at its base. Its 305-metre (1,001 ft) summit, the highest in Lau, is a massive truncated pyramid bounded on all sides by almost perpendicular cliffs up to 200 feet (61 m) in height. The crest of the pyramid is some 40 acres (160,000 m2) in extent, and is generally flat, although pitted with holes and depressions from 6–30 feet (1.8–9.1 m) deep, some of them filled with water. At its base there is in most places a wide belt of gently sloping land, standing not more than 25 feet (7.6 m) above sea level, and forming the brim of the hat suggesting the island's profile. On the northern and eastern edges of the island the sea breaks against the limestone cliffs, which are deeply undercut; but elsewhere the island is circled by a broad fringing reef, which, off the western coast swings sharply away from the shore to enclose the lagoon. The precipitous sides of the central mass are scored by three shallow terraces, marking pauses in the uplift of the island; but these are not readily observed, being smothered under the dense vegetation that clothes the whole towering structure.
The island is a former atoll, specifically called a “Guyot”. This is an extinct volcano that has become overgrown by coral reefs to form an atoll. The flat top was once at sea level, hence the flat summit. Its distinctive size and hat-like shape is recognizable from over thirty-five miles (56 km) away, including from nearby islands such as Kaibu, Yacata, and Vanua Balavu.
The island is privately owned by James Jannard.
The traditional mythical guardian of Vatu Vara is a sea goddess (or nymph) named Sakulawe. In Yadrana, Lakeba, the Turaga Vaka family have one of their elderly matriarch named after Sakulawe, as a token of respect to one of their late blood relatives and a chief of Vuna: Ratu Masiwini; Masiwini is the great-grandfather of current Fiji National Provident Fund CEO Aisake Taito, married to the daughter of Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara. [1]
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Wōdejebato is a Cretaceous guyot or tablemount in the northern Marshall Islands, Pacific Ocean. Wōdejebato is probably a shield volcano and is connected through a submarine ridge to the smaller Pikinni Atoll 74 kilometres (46 mi) southeast of the guyot; unlike Wōdejebato, Pikinni rises above sea level. The seamount rises for 4,420 metres (14,500 ft) to 1,335 metres (4,380 ft) depth and is formed by basaltic rocks. The name Wōdejebato refers to a sea god of Pikinni.
Horizon Guyot is a presumably Cretaceous guyot (tablemount) in the Mid-Pacific Mountains, Pacific Ocean. It is an elongated ridge, over 300 kilometres (190 mi) long and 4.3 kilometres (2.7 mi) high, that stretches in a northeast-southwest direction and has two flat tops; it rises to a minimum depth of 1,443 metres (4,730 ft). The Mid-Pacific Mountains lie west of Hawaii and northeast of the Line Islands.
Darwin Guyot is a volcanic underwater mountain top, or guyot, in the Mid-Pacific Mountains between the Marshall Islands and Hawaii. Named after Charles Darwin, it rose above sea level more than 118 million years ago during the early Cretaceous period to become an atoll, developed rudist reefs, and then drowned, perhaps as a consequence of sea level rise. The flat top of Darwin Guyot now rests 1,266 metres (4,154 ft) below sea level.
Vlinder Guyot is a guyot in the Western Pacific Ocean. It rises to a depth of 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) and has a flat top covering an area of 40 by 50 kilometres. On top of this flat top lie some volcanic cones, one of which rises to a depth of 551 metres (1,808 ft) below sea level. Vlinder Guyot has noticeable rift zones, including an older and lower volcano to the northwest and Oma Vlinder seamount south.
