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Mamanuca Travel Guide
Fiji Islands
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mamanuca pictures map |
Clearly visible from Nadi International Airport, the Mamanuca Islands is a stunning collection of 23 small islands with stunning beaches and upmarket beach resorts. Situated in the lee of the main island of Viti Levu, the Mamanuca Islands boasts the finest holiday weather in Fiji - year-round sunshine, calm seas and gentle breezes. This is Fiji's tourism gem. With a choice of 18 resorts - 9 of which are on uninhabited islands - and as many day cruises from Nadi, a visit to the Mamanuca Islands is a must on any travel itinerary. Nowhere else in the South Pacific will you find such easy access to so many beautiful islands, all with perfect white sandy beaches, lots of water activities and all so close to a major tourist centre.
Scuba diving and game-fishing are both excellent along the many outer reef passages, notably the 10-mile Malolo Barrier Reef, with all major resorts having their own dive operators base and game-fishing charters. The modern marina at Musket Cove offers skippered and bareback sailing charters and hosts several International Regattas during the sailing season between May and October. Internationally famous Cloudbreak, Namotu Left and Wilkes offer some of the most challenging year-round reef surfing breaks in the World. There are many other water activities on offer including para-sailing, jet-ski adventures, banana boat rides, wind-surfing, knee-boarding and kite-surfing, with most resorts providing complimentary sea kayaks, reef snorkelling trips and hobbie cats. Exhausting by anyone's standards.
The eastern part of the Mamanucas, the area closest to Nadi and Lautoka, boast a dozen tiny flat coral islands which feature heavily in the tourist brochures and postcards. The closest of these, South Sea Island, takes just 20-minutes to reach from Denarau Marina in Nadi, the departing point for the majority of cruises and transfers to the islands. Most coral islands are tiny specks of land seldom higher than 5-feet above sea-level with shallow coral garden lagoons.
These islands support little vegetation but are idyllically surrounded by white sand and usually take no more than 10-minutes to walk around. These include Beachcomber, Tivua, South Sea, Malamala, Namotu and Navini. Treasure Island and Tavarua are slightly larger and Bounty Island, the largest of the coral islands, is covered in 48 acres of low-lying scrub and takes about half an hour to circumnavigate by foot still too restrictive for some.
There remains just one coral island in the Mamanuca Group that is truly uninhabited Tiliva you'll need to contact the village headman in the chiefly village of Veseisei to visit. All other coral islands now support either a resort or a day trip cruise yet three species of sea-turtles, Leatherback, Green and Hawksbill, unaware of this recent population invasion, still come to lay their eggs from November to February. Water to many of these islands is fed through underwater pipes from the mainland but sewage seepage from toilets and carelessness of the tourist market remains a constant threat to the surrounding lagoon and its fragile coral and marine life.
Detailed Guide for the Coral Islands
The outer islands are volcanic in nature, including the largest island, Malolo, at just over 2400 acres and hosting two resorts on opposite sides of the island (Funky Fish Resort and Malolo Island Resort). Other volcanic islands with resorts include Malololeilei (Plantation Island, Musket Cove and Lomani Resort), Mana Island, Castaway, Tokoriki and Vomo Island. The volcanic islands are a better choice for those who like the freedom to explore, trekking to summits for sunset views and finding beaches with no-one on them. They are typically surrounded by a fringing reef, usually less than 100 metres offshore followed by a steep drop-off where snorkelling and diving is great, and enclosing a tepid-warm protected lagoon with gentle lapping waves ideal for swimming.
Most of the volcanic islands have manicured white sandy beaches backed by coconut plantations and rolling hills rising no more than a hundred metres which are covered in long grass with a patches of acacia trees dotted here and there. Only on a handful of the outer islands will you find virgin tropical forests and endemic bird life. For most of the year, the grassy hills are sun burnt and susceptible to fires. Only after the summer storms from January to April do the hills turn a lush green. Water on these larger islands is collected from deep water wells which seem never to run dry some resorts utilize de-salination water treatment or barge in water supplies from the mainland when their huge rainwater-fed water tanks run dry.
In the north-western part of the Mamanuca Group, almost 1-hour 30-minutes by boat from Nadi, several striking uninhabited islands rise out of the deep ocean in breathtaking splendour. These spectacular islands are popular day-trip destinations, notably Monuriki which featured as the devilish entrapment of Tom Hanks in the 2001 film Castaway. The poor condition of the soil and lack of rain hinders the cultivation of garden plantations on most islands - hence only on the larger islands of Malolo, Tavua and Yanuya are there traditional Fijian villages. Ironically, tourism employment and shell markets are the only sources of income for the villagers and subsistence fishing and farming is becoming scarce.
Detailed Guide for the Volcanic Islands
Although commercial tourism thrives, the physical make-up of the Mamanuca Group has enabled it to retain its laid-back unspoiled atmosphere. Most of the 18 island resorts are just that one island, one resort with no neighbours or overcrowding. Roads are blissfully lacking throughout the group. Only two of the islands support more than one resort Malololailai leads the pack with four.
The largest resort, Mana Island Resort, has 160 rooms yet no building is taller than a medium-sized coconut tree. Most accommodation is in single or duplex bungalows with traditional thatch roofing to blend in with the environment. The only place commercialism is evident is on the water and in the air, jet-skis whiz around, motorboats pull para-sailors, sailing-cruises and fast catamarans ply the waters and 8-seater banderettas, sea-planes and helicopters shuttle back and forth from Nadi on transfers and aerial sightseeing tours. But paradise does come at a price. Apart from six budget resorts, Beachcomber, South Sea Island, Bounty Sanctuary, Funky Fish and the rather run down backpackers on Mana Island (Ratu Kini's and Meriami's), you'll be paying at least F$300 for a garden room and F$400 for a beach bungalow the up-market small resorts charge from F$600 per night for two people and several even more exclusive retreats cost over F$1000 per night. Staying on a small island also means you have no choice of dining except the resort restaurant, with inflated prices for both meals and drinks. Those looking to save money on their accommodation should consider staying in Nadi where rooms are far more competitively priced and independent restaurants are at hand, and instead take day cruises to various islands.
There are many day trip options available in Nadi, from spending a day at an island resort starting at F$69 per person including hotel pick-up, transfers and lunch, or taking a sightseeing trip by sail boat or sea-plane starting at F$129. Overnight cruises are offered by Fiji Fun Cruises and Captain Cook Cruises with accommodation in air-conditioned cabins. Accommodation prices at all resorts remain constant year-round, but rooms should be booked at least 6-months in advance during the winter months between June and October when the main tourism market of Australia and New Zealand are gripped by cold weather Fiji and its appealing sunshine is just a 3-hour flight away.
Flights to Mamanuca Group
Sea plane and helicopter transfers are available to all Mamanuca Resorts. There is an airstrip on Mana Island and Malololeilei Island with regular daily flights from Nadi Airport.
Local Flights
Fast Catamarans to Mamanuca Group
The mamanuca group is served by numerous fast catamarans and smaller boats, most departing from Denarau Marina off Nadi. South Sea Cruises operate a daily fast catamaran to Waya, Wayasewa, Naviti and Tavewa islands. Takes between 2 - 4 hours from Nadi.
Local Cruises / Ferries
Readers may also be interested in the following destinations:
Cook Islands Travel Guide
Samoa Travel Guide
Tonga Travel Guide
Tahiti Travel Guide
Hawaii Travel Guide
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