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Sunshine Coast
Viti Levu, Fiji Islands
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The North Coast of Viti Levu is hot, dry and sunny with its sun-baked landscape dominated by rolling hills and sugar cane fields. The coast is covered almost completely by mangrove forests with virtually no beaches and consequently it is the least developed region for tourism. However, with the delightful golden beaches of Nananu-i-Ra Island and the spectacular thatch village of Navala, this coast has many treasures to offer the adventurous traveller.
The first of the sugar towns north of Nadi is Lautoka, Fiji's second largest city with a population of around 60,000. The town is set on the waterfront with nice views to Bekena Island. There's a large market, the largest sugar mill in Fiji, a pine chip depot, the distillery (brewing Dark Rum) and many other micro industries Apart from its temples and electrical shops, or for departing on a Blue Lagoon cruise, there are few attractions of the town and only a couple of decent hotels including Waterfront Hotel.
Heading inland, the countryside is dominated by pine plantations until you reach Abaca Village, about 30 minutes drive from Lautoka City. Here is one of Fiji's two National Parks, Koroyanitu From the village, walking tracks head into the tropical rainforest to waterfalls, or along the grassy mountain ridges following the ancient walking trails that connec6t the villages of the interior. You can hire a guide from Abaca Village and walk cross country for days. For those with less time, the 3 hour loop trail offers a great variety of scenery and four waterfalls. You can stay at the Abaca Lodge run by the village.
Beyond Lautoka, heading north along the coast, the countryside is dominated by sugar cane farms and a secession of small towns acting as market centres for the surrounding rural cane farms and Fijian villages. Ba is the first of these towns. Heading inland from Ba, the dirt road meanders around the hills eventually leading to Navala Village, about 40-minutes inland, marking the end of the sugar cane belt. Navala is a delightful village setting on the Ba River with entirely traditional thatch houses (except the church and school which are made from concrete). You can stay overnight just outside of the village at Navala Village Resort, overlooking the Ba River. Accommodation is in traditional style thatch bures and you can walk or horse ride around the surrounding hills with spectacular views of the coast and mountains, or take a bamboo raft down the river. If you continue along this increasingly bumpy dirt road, you'll reach the highland village of Bukuya in about 2 hours. although if it has been raining the road will be heavy going. Bukuya has many interesting ancient legends and taboos that make a walking tour of the village a real insight into the traditions of the hill people, past and present. From Bukuya, it is possible to take the logging road back to Nadi which takes another 2 hours via the Nausori Highlands.
Heading back to the coast, the next town from Ba is Tavua with its inland satellite town of Vatukoula where Fiji's largest gold mine is located. Beyond Tavua is the stunning Nakauvudra Range home of Fiji's ancient snake god and the setting for many folklore stories. Close by is the Fiji Water bottling plant, Yaqara Cattle Ranch and the proposed site of Fiji's newest venture, the Studio City. About 40-minutes inland from here, high up in the mountains, is the village of Navai at the base of Mt. Tomanivi. Although from this height the mountain looks small, it is in fact Fiji's highest point at 1,323 metres and you can walk to the summit from the village in 3 hours. If you continued inland from Nairai, it takes about 2 hours by rough road to Monusavu Dam, which feeds much of the islands electricity, and another 4 hours through pristine rain forest to Suva City. This is 4WD access only and best approached in good weather only.
Back on the Sunshine Coast highway, it's 30-minutes by road to Rakiraki Town and the departure point for Nananu-i-Ra Island. This beautiful freehold island is one of Fiji's loveliest beach destinations and takes just 15 minutes by boat from Ellington Wharf. The moment you step onto the beach you can feel the relaxed atmosphere. The island is surrounded by lovely beaches and there are walking tracks meandering throughout its grassy hills with great coastal views looking back to Viti Levu. Nananu-i-Ra has several small resorts as well as a couple dozen million dollar residences along the southern point which is surrounded by lovely beaches. Of the accommodation, Bethams Cottages has clean simple bungalows with a lovely beachside restaurant. Sharing the same protected beach is Charlies Place which has self contained cottages with private cooking facilities. Five minutes walk over the small hill leads to the wild eastern beach where you'll find Safari Lodge which specialises in wind-surfing (this bay is considered Fiji's premier wind-surfing destination), kite-surfing and kayaking, all with professional guides and equipment. the northern half of Nananu-i-Ra has been bought by a development company and a new Hilton Hotel has been proposed. Nananu-i-Ra also offers excellent snorkelling and scuba diving and all small resorts arrange snorkelling trips to the outer reefs and scuba diving with the resident dive master.
A few miles beyond Nananu-i-Ra Island is the traditional fishing of Namuaimada set alongside a picturesque beach. Inland from the village are several lovely mountains with walks to waterfalls.
North Coast Accommodation
Taxis and Buses on Viti Levu
Public buses travel between Lautoka and Rakiraki, and between Rakiraki and Suva. The Kings Highway follows the coast to Rakiraki and then cuts inland to Suva, with most of the route tar sealed.
Local Travel Companies / Car Hire
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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