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Some Enchanted Islands |
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Fiji offers South Pacific island warmth in an idyllic setting
It’s just after midnight, and I’m sitting cross-legged on the hardwood floor in an open-air hut with five Fijian musicians from the nearby village. In the middle of our circle rests a large mahogany bowl and a diminishing amount of kava, a mild narcotic drink that tingles the lips, numbs the tongue and washes calmness over the already serene evening.
As the band members break into impromptu slack-key guitar songs and lovely harmonies after each round of kava, I reflect on these paradisal islands. It’s only my second night, but I fell in love with Fiji the moment my nine-seat commuter plane landed on a lush jungle airstrip within sight of the ocean. The terminal? A thatched-roof shack, where my driver was waiting to take me to the boat departing for Beqa Island.
Fiji is everything you expect from the South Pacific, and nothing like the well-trodden paths of Hawaii. Tourists are plentiful, but in 10 days I found nary a high-end shopping mall (though it turns out one does exist), and both golf courses looked better fit for grazing cattle. Yet idyllic tropical scenery is in abundance. Remember that mural-like wallpaper from the ’70s with an orange setting sun, sandy beach and silhouetted palm tree? That photo op is everywhere in Fiji.
It’s the Fijian people, though, who make a visit beautiful, adding new meaning—and a genuine smile—to the “island hospitality” cliché. Though their greeting of singing, clapping and necklaces upon our boat’s landing at Beqa Island Resort is resort policy, the spirit of their welcome is felt throughout my stay. You simply cannot find a friendlier culture.
My first stop, Beqa Lagoon Resort, affords me copious amounts of this charm. With the exception of the Aussie manager, employees come from the two nearest villages on the island. Although budget-minded dive junkies are the main clientele (the resort boasts of offering some of the finest soft-coral diving in the world), guests also enjoy extensive interaction with rural Fijians. Amos, one of the resort’s multitasking employees, takes me to his village, about a 10-minute coastal walk away from the resort. We pass pigsties, villagers foraging for casaba and coconut, an old man crushing kava root, numerous prefabricated homes and one of the village’s two churches—where I read a giant Fijian Bible.
Remnants of the missionary era can be found everywhere. Yet while outsiders undeniably decimated other Pacific island cultures, Fijians can thank the remoteness of their islands for saving many aspects of their deeply rooted customs. On the other hand, missionaries did end rampant cannibalism—saving Fijians from themselves.
One of the most rewarding aspects of my stay at Beqa is the weekly walk through the jungle to visit the school of the other nearby village, where uniformed young kids sing and perform funny songs, and the visitors are expected to respond with some of their own. Returning tourists often bring gifts of needed items to the kids, who make the most out of very little.
“Welcome home,” says the greeter at the Jean Michel Cousteau Resort, on Vanua Levu, Fiji’s second largest island. If only it were home. The resort is a dream stop for the National Geographic–reading set. Each guest’s bure (“cabin” in Fijian) is fashionably modern (along with the resort), the dining area offers award-winning cuisine and views of the bay, and it’s only 10 minutes down a scenic unpaved road from the lively city of Savusavu.
But the real star at Cousteau is Johnny, the onsite marine biologist and native Fijian. In a typical day, he’ll lead a hike to a jungle waterfall, take kids or adults on day or evening snorkeling/scuba expeditions, lead tours of the resort’s mangrove plantings and explain their importance to the ocean’s ecosystem, and host various documentaries about ocean life in the bar (often starring Jean Michel, Jacques’ son) prior to dinner. Johnny leads me on a morning snorkel adventure—the current took us over several shallow reefs teeming with exotic life, including an awe-inspiring shark or two—followed by a tour of the resort’s small private island, which can be rented for a full or half-day, and includes a picnic basket, a couple of lounge chairs and total romantic seclusion.
For families and adult couples alike, Cousteau’s clincher just might be its children’s policy. The kids’ area has a plethora of activities and complimentary, individually assigned nannies. Yet while parents are free to visit the area, kids aren’t allowed to roam the rest of the resort unaccompanied. Likewise, the dining room is split into a family area and an adults-only area.
Just around the corner from Cousteau, on the other side of Savusavu, lies Namale, a resort uncannily reflective of its founder, self-help guru Tony Robbins. With grand villas perched on sturdy cliffs above the ocean and a massive dining area, the resort offers such curiosities as a bowling alley, simulated golf, an outdoor putting green, fitness room and colon-cleansing center, in addition to more conventional activities such as scuba diving, kayaking or just lounging on the small, picturesque beach.
Even more amazing, however, is my four-room villa with a giant projection screen, Bose sound system (and library of new-age CDs, naturally), indoor and outdoor showers and toilets, private infinity pool and lookout tower. The thatched roof and rustic wooded luxury compound with lavish furniture makes for one of the plushest retreats imaginable, and the cold bottles of Fiji Bitter in the refrigerator go down easy after an afternoon of wakeboarding behind the resort’s ski boat.
An altogether different experience can be found at Nukubati, off the northern side of Vanua Levu. It occupies a tiny island, originally given by locals to a German missionary. Today this comfortable, comparatively humble resort hosts many return visitors (one Kiwi leaves his fishing boat with the locals) who appreciate its off-the-grid charm. Quiksilver’s surf team reportedly discovered a world-class wave that breaks from November to March on the Great Sea Reef (the third-largest barrier reef in the world), a 20-minute boat ride from the resort. The Rusty team is said to have paid a visit as well. When the wind’s up, visitors can rent Hobie Cats.
As uniquely Fijian as kava, but far less common, is Nukubati’s traditional cookout on the beach, aided by hot rocks. Fiji’s staple root vegetables—as well as all manner of fish, crustaceans and shellfish, caught just offshore—are laid on palm leaves in a cornucopia of island abundance. Diners sit on the ground and eat with their hands.
As I feasted on this final evening and took my last pulls of kava, I felt myself in the throes of island fever—one whose only antidote is a return to Fiji’s land of smiles, sunshine and sea.
If You Go
Air Pacific, Fiji’s national airline, flies to Nadi from LAX, and its regional and many inter-island flights depart from Nadi as well. 800-227-4446, airpacific.com.
The Fijian dollar is the official currency, lately worth about 50 cents U.S. Most Fijian resorts include meals and many activities in the nightly rates. Take advantage of the complimentary mosquito repellent offered at most resorts. For more information, visit fijime.com, beqalagoonresort.com, fijiresort.com, namalefiji.com or nukubati.com.
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